Month: December 2014

Dreams Deferred

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About a month ago, I wrote about an opportunity to join a charity ride on the Great Ocean Road with 25000 spins. The ride is happening in February 2015.

I decided this a morning that I’m deferring participating in this for 12 months. It’s a bit crazy when I wake up with a sick feeling in my stomach from the anxiety of doing something  that I want to do!

Physically, I think I could be up to it, certainly getting there by February. Last weekend I did a 53 km ride with no ill effects, so the idea of working up to 100 km in a day is really no problem.

I think I was starting to put too much pressure on myself in a way that isn’t good for me.

So The Great Ocean Road is now in the 2016 bucket. I’m going to sign up early and give myself lots of time to prepare and fund raise.

In the meantime I hear there is a thing called Bike For Bibles in April.

Isaiah 40:1-11

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Isaiah40.1-11I thought it might be instructive to construct a “Wordle” from the passage I am preaching this Sunday.

The size of each word is proportional to the number of times it appears. The “her” is Jerusalem and the “he” is the Lord.

As usual, it’s all about relationships- God and His people

Reflection on Mark 1:1-8

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Scripture

“I baptise you with water, but he will baptise you with the Holy Spirit.”

Observation
Isaiah the prophet wrote, “I will send my messenger to prepare the way.” Mark tells us this messenger was John.

John appeared, baptising in the wilderness and preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins. Everyone came out to confess their sins and be baptised.

John told them that someone more powerful and more praiseworthy than him was coming. While John baptised with water, the Messiah would baptise with the Holy Spirit.

Application
John was the one who prepared the way for Jesus to come in. He prepared the hearts of the people for a new move of God.

John was not the main player. He pointed people to Jesus who would baptise with the Holy Spirit.

We are not required to convert people, but just to point them to Jesus. It takes a Saviour and the Holy Spirit to bring a person to salvation. All we can do is show the way.

Prayer
Thank you Lord for John the Baptist whose role was to prepare people for what was to come. Help me to likewise show the people around me that they need Jesus. Amen.

Are You Being Persecuted?- Rachel Held Evans

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A very thoughtful piece from Rachel Held Evans. I especially like this “The whole story of Advent is the story of how God can’t be kept out. God is present. God is with us. God shows up”

 

Are you being persecuted?

There is a pernicious rumor that resurfaces every Advent season and spreads across social media faster than a cold in a kindergarten class. 

It’s the rumor that God can be “kept out” of Christmas. 

You may have heard it from Kirk Cameron or an anchor at Fox News or an army of culture warriors who have once again worked themselves into a frenzy over the “War on Christmas.” Galvanized by fear, they storm checkout counters to demand that clerks issue them a “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” and cry persecution when inflatable manger scenes are moved from public courthouses to private property. They pine after the good-old-days when Christians could force Jewish kids to sing Christmas carols at school and they demand that every gift purchased, every mall opened late, every credit card maxed out must be done so in Jesus’ name or else Christ will be “kept out” of Christmas. They do it because someone told them that God needs a nod from the Empire to show up, forgetting somehow that the story of Advent is the story of how God showed up as a Jew in the Roman Empire.

In a barn.  

As an oppressed minority. 

To the applause of a few poor shepherds.

The whole story of Advent is the story of how God can’t be kept out. God is present. God is with us. God shows up—not with a parade but with the whimper of a baby, not among the powerful but among the marginalized, not to the demanding but to the humble. From Advent to Easter, the story of Jesus should teach us that God doesn’t need a mention in our pledge or on our money or over the loudspeaker at the mall to be present, and when we fight like spoiled children to “keep” God in those things, we are fighting for idols. We’re chasing wind. 

Full article here

 

Reflection on 2 Peter 3:8-15

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trust

Scripture

But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

Observation

With the Lord, a thousand years is the same as a day. He is not slow to keep His promise. Rather He is patient, holding back the day of judgement until all who are willing come to repentance.

The Day of the Lord will come unexpectedly like a thief. The old earth and heavens will be destroyed and replaced by a new earth and heaven.

We ought to live as the people of light not in darkness, looking for eternity and being spotless and blameless.

Application

We live in the end times. Jesus could return at any time. We think it’s been a long time, but from God’s perspective we are only in the third day.

We think that God is slow to keep His promises. The problem is with our appetite for instant solutions and our inability to see the long term. We need to learn to look at time in the light of eternity.

Prayer

Thank you Lord that you are working in my life. Sometimes I can’t see this because I want quick fixes. Please help me to trust in your timing. Amen.