Articles By Christianityworks

Jesus is the only human being in all of history, who was able to choose the time, place and circumstances of His birth.

And what does He choose? He chooses the scandal of illegitimacy, as He was conceived out of wedlock. He chooses an uncomfortable one to two week journey for His parents from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census. He chooses to be born not in a palace, but a draughty stable in the middle of the stench of animal faeces and urine. Just imagine as that little baby – Jesus – drew His first breath, the Son of God’s nostrils were filled with the stench of animal excrement. So … what does this say about the God who chooses these circumstances for Himself?

Easter is offensive. Easter is difficult to look at. That’s what it is.

Jesus is the only human being in all of history, who was able to choose the time, place and circumstances of His birth.

And what does He choose? He chooses the scandal of illegitimacy, as He was conceived out of wedlock. He chooses an uncomfortable one to two week journey for His parents from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census. He chooses to be born not in a palace, but a draughty stable in the middle of the stench of animal faeces and urine. Just imagine as that little baby – Jesus – drew His first breath, the Son of God’s nostrils were filled with the stench of animal excrement. So … what does this say about the God who chooses these circumstances for Himself?

Now when I think about the retail outlets of Christianity (we call them “church”) I guess there are plenty to choose from that dish up a good “product” on Sunday. Seems to me though, the thing that’s much harder to find is a church that customises its “programs,” learns your name and makes you feel welcome.

Over and over again, God tells us in His Word that the most important thing of all, is love. Indeed that the hallmark of our faith, the one thing that more than any other demonstrates to the world that we truly are His disciples, is the love we show for one another. And over and over again … we seem to fail dismally at that.

It seems to me that in many churches the program has supplanted a sense of spontaneous community. I had one person suggest on a recent blog post that maybe it’s because we’ve lost our social skills – we’ve forgotten how to be a community … so we start manufacturing it.

When you’re dead and gone and they put an epitaph on your headstone, what will it say?

Easter is offensive. Easter is difficult to look at. That’s what it is.

Why is it that God takes us so close to the edge so often? I mean, isn’t there an easier way? The theory of course is pretty straightforward: because He wants to grow our faith in Him, right? That’s the theory! Now I don’t know about you, but the theory is pretty hard to chew on when you’re out there on the edge facing some crisis; a set of absolutely overwhelming odds.

How do you hear God speak to you?

And never is the answer to that question more important than out there on that stormy ocean. Because if we believe in Jesus, it’s out there in that storm that we kind of expect Jesus to show up. It’s out there in that storm with our lives in danger of being swamped, that we need power and direction. And yet so often, it’s out there in that storm that we discover the shallowness and directionlesness and powerlessness of our relationship with Jesus.

Back in my days training to be an Army Officer they taught us a lot about leadership. Problem was I was much too young and immature to ‘get it’. I graduated as a Lieutenant firmly convinced that my rank gave me power and the higher the rank that I was able to achieve, the more power I would have. Soldiers don’t follow you because of your rank- they follow you out of respect … and respect is something you earn.

The military is a great metaphor for understanding the difference between control on the one hand and influence on the other, because when a soldier follows an officer, they sometimes have to follow that officer into battle.

I left the military and became a “consultant” – working in organisations where not only did these “civvies” just not get it, but as an advisor I had no executive authority. I couldn’t decide to do things and then just tell people to do them. I could only advise, cajole, guide … it was like herding cats.

It was in that place that the difference between influence and control hit me in the face like a wet fish.

At first I hated it – but it wasn’t long and I began to realise that right from the beginning – even in the wonderfully structured and organised world of the military – leadership had always been much more about influence than control.

In the late 1990’s, a survey conducted among 1,600 active Christians in German-speaking Europe came up with a shocking finding. Over 80% of those surveyed could not identify their God-given giftings. Would it surprise you to know that God is absolutely and utterly passionate for us to discover who He made us to be and what He made us to do?

They say that an atheist is someone who lives out their lives as though there is no God.

And sometimes we find ourselves, despite believing passionately in Jesus, living our lives quite independently of Him; in effect being both a believing Christian and a practicing athiest at the same time. Scary thought that, eh?!

Some years ago, I wrote a short book called How to Get Close to God. The truths that I discovered in God’s Word about being close to Him (or not) were so simple, so straightforward and so direct, that I was a little embarrassed even to call it a “book.” So over the next few posts, I want to share the 5 powerful truths in that book with you – the five simple steps to a deeper, more intimate relationship with Him.

And the first step in getting closer to God is simply to know the truth!

Again, this second step is so simple. So straightforward. It’s laying hold of the truth that the moment we believe in Jesus, the moment we set course on a life lived for Him, He sets up home … in us.

The very reason that Jesus went to the Cross was so that we could be one with Him and the Father. And when we live out a demented, worldy set of priorities that squeeze Him out of our schedule – what we’re in fact saying to Him is this:

Lord, I know you died on that Cross so that I could have an intimate relationship with you … but frankly, I’m just too busy!

Perhaps that seems a little harsh at first … but how else would you put it? How else would you stand before a battered, bruised, bloody Jesus dying on the Cross, look Him in the eye and explain the yawning gap between His passion for intimacy with us, and our pathetic response? Well?

It turns out that community isn’t something that just happens anymore. It’s something we need to choose to become.

Proximity no longer guarantees community, because our culture has gone through a tectonic shift in my lifetime, from a collective to an individual mindset.

I left the military and became a “consultant” – working in organisations where not only did these “civvies” just not get it, but as an advisor I had no executive authority. I couldn’t decide to do things and then just tell people to do them. I could only advise, cajole, guide … it was like herding cats.

It was in that place that the difference between influence and control hit me in the face like a wet fish.

At first I hated it – but it wasn’t long and I began to realise that right from the beginning – even in the wonderfully structured and organised world of the military – leadership had always been much more about influence than control.

I, like just about everyone else, thought that satisfaction was about what I could get out of life. So I worked hard. Big house. Flash car. But I used to listen to that Rolling Stones classic - I can’t get no satisfaction - and it struck a chord with me. Because that’s exactly how I felt on the inside. At age 36 I met Jesus in one of the darkest places of my life. Pitch black it was except for the gentle light that was Jesus. And the more I got to know Him, the more it seemed to make sense to me to give away what He’d given me.

Is my relationship with Jesus the most important thing in my life? Absolutely. But if I just love Jesus and then don’t do anything about it, somehow the whole thing becomes really … hollow. There’s a reason for that. It’s because … Faith without works is dead (James 2:26).

And there’s a phrase that appears over and over again in that story. David inquired of the Lord … Let me encourage you to spend some time in God’s Word, reading each of the accounts of what happened when David inquired of the Lord and let the mighty love of God teach you and strengthen you and mature you through His Word.

How do you hear God speak to you?

And never is the answer to that question more important than out there on that stormy ocean. Because if we believe in Jesus, it’s out there in that storm that we kind of expect Jesus to show up. It’s out there in that storm with our lives in danger of being swamped, that we need power and direction. And yet so often, it’s out there in that storm that we discover the shallowness and directionlesness and powerlessness of our relationship with Jesus.

The other day on the bus – there was a young Jewish teenager wearing a black yarmulke. The thing that almost knocked me off my feet though was that machine-embroidered onto the yarmulke was … wait for this … the Johnny Walker Whisky logo. I must have looked at it a hundred times to make sure I wasn’t seeing things!

The whole point of the yarmulke is that it symbolises submission to God. This grossly defaced yarmulke is a picture that will remain with me always, because it captured for me what it is to live a life full of the outer trappings of religion, and yet to completely miss the point of the greatest commandment of all – to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. It is the picture of many a Christian life actually, one that is captured so brilliantly in God’s own Word:

For people will be lovers of themselves …holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Tim 3:2-5)

When you’re dead and gone and they put an epitaph on your headstone, what will it say?

The single most frequent prayer request that we receive is for the salvation of a loved one – son or daughter, husband or wife, grandchild … So many people have been waiting for so long for God to save their loved ones. So many have shared the Gospel with them until they’re blue in the face and still … nothing. Well – it’s time to let the Holy Spirit breathe some of His freedom into your heart.

Have you ever said something that you’ve ended up regretting? Sure you have. Me, too. And once it’s out there, you just can’t take it back. Words … words are such powerful things. A good word costs so little, but yields so much. A bad word takes such little effort, yet can destroy a relationship that’s taken a lifetime to build. It turns out that not only will sticks and stones break our bones but names really will hurt us!

The single most frequent prayer request that we receive is for the salvation of a loved one – son or daughter, husband or wife, grandchild … So many people have been waiting for so long for God to save their loved ones. So many have shared the Gospel with them until they’re blue in the face and still … nothing. Well – it’s time to let the Holy Spirit breathe some of His freedom into your heart.

Easter is offensive. Easter is difficult to look at. That’s what it is.

Have you ever said something that you’ve ended up regretting? Sure you have. Me, too. And once it’s out there, you just can’t take it back. Words … words are such powerful things. A good word costs so little, but yields so much. A bad word takes such little effort, yet can destroy a relationship that’s taken a lifetime to build. It turns out that not only will sticks and stones break our bones but names really will hurt us!

Easter is offensive. Easter is difficult to look at. That’s what it is.

And there’s a phrase that appears over and over again in that story. David inquired of the Lord … Let me encourage you to spend some time in God’s Word, reading each of the accounts of what happened when David inquired of the Lord and let the mighty love of God teach you and strengthen you and mature you through His Word.