Tag Archives: christianity

Psalm 103 – The Eternal & I: Intertwined.

Posted in AccessTheStory, God by

We looked at Psalm 103 at AccessTheStory rhythm this morning. Two questions were asked:

1. What do you learn about God?
2. What do you learn about us? 

I grabbed two highlighters (one orange, one blue) and marked the words that described or were relevant to a) God, and b) me.

As I read through the 22 verses of Psalmy-goodness I soon realised the lesson for today was simple: The Eternal and I are intertwined.

My orange & blue highlighters had created a picture of the relationship that defines me.  A visual that showed how God (the Eternal) and I, interact, cross-over, relate, come together, compliment and oppose all throughout this story.

We are body, emotions, mind… He is Eternal. (v1-2)

We offend, He forgives and releases. (v3)

We are sick, He heals our diseases, more than any doctor. (v3)

We are famished and withering, He fills us with beautiful things and satisfies us. (v5)

We are weak, He makes us strong like eagles. (v5)

When we are crushed, wronged, enslaved, raped, murdered, He is just and makes the wrongs right. (v6)

We cross the line, He is patient. (v8)

We struggle against him, He lovingly stays with us. (v8)

We make mistakes, He doesn’t punish us like we deserve (v10) but instead takes away all our crimes. (v12)

We revere him, He expresses love. (v13)

We are temporary (v15-16), He is Eternal (v17).

(…. you get the picture….)

It seems you can’t get to far with one highlighter before you need the other, and then before you know it, you swap back again. The Eternal.. His people… Him… Me… We are intertwined.

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I’m done defending God.

Posted in God by

[Originally published 5th October 2012]

Bet you’re wondering what the heck I’m on about. Am I crazy? Well, probably, but that’s not the point…

Recent life experiences have been showing me there are some elements to the missional lifestyle that need some tweaking. Some responsibilities are mine, some are not. Here are some thoughts…

1) I’m done defending God. He doesnt need me to fight a battle He’s already won. 

My idea of being a good witness involves knowing the truth (check!), believing it (check!), living accordingly (trying to!) and telling others about it (whenever I get the opportunity). But when I get a chance to talk about it, I will no longer jump on the defence (or worse, the attack) as if I have something to prove. God can and will do the proving for Himself.

“Sometimes the idea of mission seems like a gathering of an army to go and conquer something. It seems goal specific, like the default is about us achieving something for God. Gaining some kind of authority.” (Some thoughts from my friend and teacher, Tim Hein) 

But we’re not actually called to do something for God and establish His authority – He has plenty of that all by Himself. There’s a difference between those who bear witness to authority and those who carry it.

2) I’m done trying to impress people with my theological understanding. (Like I know that much anyway…)

When I was recently faced with the truth that one of my friends had a terrible time growing up, do you think I had some deep theological answer for them? Nope. I was speechless actually. I just wanted to cry and give them a big hug.

I’ve realised now that my ‘training’ was about shaping my heart, mind, character, & aligning my life with Gods purpose for me. It’s not about my spoken language. All too often I find that there are no words to say when someone shows you how deep their hurt goes, how broken they are. Instead I think about James 2:14-20 where it says “I will SHOW you my faith by my DEEDS.” (NLT, emphasis mine)

Note: It says deeds. Not bible college degree…

Deeds. Behaviour. Attitude. Lifestyle.

(Seems more action based than spoken word, no?)

3) I’m done telling God where He needs to go.

I wonder what God thinks when we rock up in someones life and say to Him, “Righto God, lets get to work!” I imagine him rolling his eyes and thinking, My dear beloved, bless your cotton socks, but do you not realise I love this person like I love you and have been here since the beginning of time?

Perhaps instead of trying to lead God and inviting Him to work with us, we need to get behind Him, and see what He is already doing in the hearts and minds of people. That is the message I am to carry, not one I create myself, expecting God to turn up and support whatever I’m doing. (How obnoxious!)

4) I’m done working in isolation.

A large part of my job involves me managing a project that sees 6 different teams, each operating on different Saturday nights, serving and helping all kinds of people in need on Hindley Street, Adelaide.

The individual teams may not know each other or cross paths much, but when we gathered all the team leaders recently, we heard so many stories about the same people each team were encountering and supporting from week to week. Amazing!

I sat back and thought to myself, what an incredible example of what it means to be a part of a mission that is bigger than just your individual activity. 

Isn’t that what the Church is meant to be? A global movement of believers, who by a seemingly unintentional system of seed planting, are in fact impacting the world through God, for God.

So…

I’m done defending God. He doesn’t need me fighting His already-won battle.

I’m done trying to make an impact with my words when our actions speak louder anyway.

I’m done trying to make God move somewhere when He just wants me to go where He already is.

I’m done working in isolation and I need to better represent the global movement I’m actually already a part of.

Instead, I will continue to dedicate this life to becoming the person I was created to be*, partnering with what God is already doing, bearing witness to a growing movement of  Christians awakening to what it means to BE the Church, not GO TO church.

Just saying.

J xo

(*I am so far from perfect, thought life was worthless, until You showed me who I am. Not here by mistake, no luck, only grace. I’m on my way to who I am. Not who I was. Not yet what I shall be. (Sample of lyrics from “I Am” – by Kirk Franklin)

A story that shapes hearts. Including mine.

Posted in AccessTheStory, God by

[Originally published 9th March 2012]

It’s been almost four years since a local church easter camp hosted the raw and unpolished pilot of Immerse. That weekend marked the beginning of an incredible journey for me, and many others (it would now seem). Having just returned from my tenth (!!) Immerse experience, I felt it fitting to mark the occasion with a reflective blog of sorts.

We recently spent five days with this years Year In The Son students on a journey through the greatest story ever told. A story that breaks down preconceived ideas about a God that was once distant and unobtainable, and reveals his loving heart and relationship with his creation.

The setting was beautiful.

{Horseshoe Bay, Port Elliot.}

 The students were inviting, fun, adventurous and ever so sarcastic… (That last bit could be something I inspired and maybe even encouraged… whoops!)

The Story was confronting, challenging, inspiring, restoring, encouraging and motivating. We wondered about what it would have been like to be there – what we would have seen, smelt, felt, tasted…?

{The separation experience}

Once again, I saw a genuine community form around laughter, prayer, inclusion, and the courage to ask questions we may not have the answers to – yet. We dared to venture into the realm of the heavenlies and walked out with reshaped hearts.

{Re-telling the story with some artistic flare.}

{Inside the story room}

We even played duck, duck, goose. (Sadly, no photographs were taken of this.)

But at the end of the day, the reward is not in the friendships made, the laughs had, or the new range of instagram photos I have to share. (Although they are all great things, of course.) No – it’s when you read the thank you letters from your students and you can’t hold back the smile….

“… to experience the bible in such a practical way has made it come alive!”

“… I’m actually excited to pick up my bible now.”

“… I’m feeling more confident in my faith and loved what I learned.”

“… the way we received it, I think it will stay with me for a long time.”

If I could selfishly ask for any more than this, it would be that the story inspired a new group of movement makers, dedicated to sharing the story with others.

Perhaps there will be many more that will mark a number ten against their list of Immerse experiences. I surely hope so. Not because it is some revolutionary answer to contemporary youth ministry in Australia (although, I do occasionally wonder…) but because the journey of these past four years has made me, shaped me, taught me and led me to the very position I am currently in. And let me say, the view from here is amazing. A little scary at times, admittedly, but amazing nonetheless.

To my four special girls, you were indeed a sprinkle of delight in my life. (Get me a bucket.)

😉

Just saying.

J xo

Don’t box me in.

Posted in God by

[Originally published 20th December 2011]

I feel I should start with an admission… a confession.

At a younger age, I went through the “Hillsong-dream-phase”. I secretly wanted to be the next Darlene Zschech, a feeling that I admit contributed to me going to Bible College to study Music Ministry. But I grew up, I got over it, moved on, and don’t need to post inflammatory blogposts to vent about how it’s Hillsong’s fault that I once idolised Darlene.  If anyone is to blame for my Darlene-aspirations, it’s me. But I don’t think there’s much wrong with finding a role-model  in who was one of the best in the field I wanted to work in. Isn’t that just part of growing up? So that’s what I did – I grew up, realised there is more to ministry than writing the next big contemporary worship song, and more to church than four walls and flashy lights… and annual reports…

My friend Andrew recently posted a blog about the issue of Christian consumerism and the profit vs giving debate in mega-churches like Hillsong. A lot of what Andrew wrote is fair, and to give some context to what I’m about to write I encourage you to read it. However, since we are all entitled to our opinion, I’d like to respond. (Andrew is actually a personal friend of mine and we are not strangers to friendly debates over such matters. I am confident he will enjoy this… hehe)

I should start by saying that I don’t much care for the “Hillsong – profit vs giving” issue.

What I do care for is the assumption that we* are all like Hillsong, or want to be like them. Don’t box me in.

(*faith-filled Jesus freaks, aka the average Christian.)

I also care about the link between Christian consumerism and Jesus. Whatever is wrong with the “mega-church”, it’s not Christianity that is the problem. The heart of the Gospel is (as it has always been) about sacrificial love, the restoration of brokenness and the service of others. If this message has been warped or misunderstood along the way, it’s not Jesus’ fault. Humans are not perfect and sometimes we get it wrong. But just because some of us get it wrong, doesn’t meant we all do.

Don’t box me in.

On that point, while I often enjoy and appreciate the work of Banksy, I do find his image of Jesus offensive. Why? Because it’s not His fault. It falsely depicts that the cause of Christian consumerism to be rooted in Jesus and the cross. This is ridiculous. How can a man who willingly gave up his life, never owned much, didn’t search for fame, be at the heart of consumerism? #confusedface

I don’t believe that ‘in Churches, size matters’. In actual fact, size doesn’t matter at all. Furthermore, the ‘size’ of a ‘church’ is open to personal interpretation anyway. Big or small churches, what’s the difference? We’re all part of a global community of believers anyway – it’s up to you how you distinguish between the individual groups within the worldwide community. If you do that by dividing us into buildings with various signage that reads “Baptist”, “Lutheran”, “Uniting” or even “Pentecostal”, that’s your prerogative. I for one, don’t see the walls. I just see the people.

In a faith community this large, (I’m talking globally now) there’s bound to be differences when you break it down between the individual or smaller groups. But just because we all believe in the same God, please don’t assume we all aspire to be like the biggest, loudest, richest and best-dressed one of us. We don’t all aspire to be like Hillsong.

Don’t box me in.

I do, however, agree that the entire church should be the example of giving to the rest of the world. I also believe it should also be the example of love, acceptance, growth, truth, justice and everything else that Jesus lived and died for.

Dare I suggest that if you dared to dig a little deeper, or ask around, you will find a growing number of Christians that DON’T follow the Hillsong model, that care less for slick Sunday Services, great looking buildings and worship teams. I haven’t actually purchased a Hillsong album for a long time. The Christian faith DOES in fact thrive in people’s living rooms.

And it’s often these low-profile groups of believers that fund various works both locally and globally.

I can tell you about a gathering of hundreds of young Christians that regularly give of their time AND money to fund and participate in a project that protects, cares for, and celebrates teenagers in Adelaide. This same group of Christians are now responsible for an operation that aims to do the same thing in the heart of Adelaide’s city during peak night times on Saturdays.

This operation isn’t a “mega church”. But it is the church doing something pretty ‘mega’ in my eyes. The coolest part is that you won’t find this group of Christians in one particular building each Sunday. It’s scattered all over South Australia. It’s still church though… ‘cos “the church” is a movement of people. Not a building.

Don’t box me in.

There may be some problems with how mega churches do what they do, but they are only one part of a much bigger, less definable, global community of Christians who all do things differently.

I believe my responsibility is to live my life according to the truth I know. Not point the finger at those who I deem worthy of my judgement.

Don’t box me in.

Just sayin’