It’s worried me that I haven’t had much effect on getting people interested in God. “Yes, but,” someone said, “why bother trying to tell people anything about God if they’re not interested? Like Jesus said in Matthew 7:6, ‘Don’t give dogs what is sacred, and don’t throw your pearls to pigs.’” 

But didn’t Jesus himself tour town and country to wake people up to the new world and new humanity God sent him to get started – to people who mostly weren’t interested back in his time too?  

Did it bother him that they weren’t interested? Yes, he felt deep compassion for people wandering clueless through life like lost sheep – but he also told his disciples in Mark 6:11, that if “any place will not welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” If they won’t listen, you have no further responsibility to them. Your conscience is clear.  

So when Paul and Barnabas were expelled from Antioch by the Jewish leaders, “they shook the dust off their feet” and “as a warning” or testimony too – just like the warning Jesus gave to the Jews who rejected him, that “it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for you.” 

It seems harsh, but Jesus laid it on the line with them: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him,” John 3:36. You either accept that or you don’t, and if you don’t then you face God. And in saying that, Jesus’ job was done. It was now over to them.

And Christianity through the ages has made that pretty clear too. We come with a simple message: “Listen to what God said through his Son and eternal life is yours. That’s the kind of God he is. Good news, eh?” 

It’s the best news ever, because what have we humans come up with that’s better? We’re stuck in this endless merry go round of life and death, with no clue what life is for. Same as the people in Jesus’ day. 

We, like Jesus then, have pearls to offer, a message of great news for people and the planet. But if our pearls are treated like pig swill, there’s no need to flagellate ourselves for it. Brush off and move on.     

Daniel – part 2 (part 1, March 17)

Seven years into his reign, Nebuchadnezzar 11 had become the most powerful man in the world. He didn’t tolerate opposition or threats by other empires like Egypt, and he certainly didn’t take kindly to the king of the Jews refusing to pay the tribute owed to him from his victory over Judah in 597 BC. 

But he was also God’s “servant,” Jeremiah 25:9. God used this powerful man to punish the Jews for refusing to heed Jeremiah’s warnings to them to stop “serving and worshipping other gods,” verse 6. So in 587 BC Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Judah, and took the Jews into captivity in Babylon for “seventy years,” verse 12. By this time Daniel had already been in Babylon for 18 years, and was probably in his early thirties. 

A lot had happened to him in that 18 years. Nebuchadnezzar had established a three year training school for the brightest and best “to enter the king’s service,” Daniel 1:3-6, including Daniel and others in the royal family of Israel.  

But God had a purpose for him too. He gave Daniel “knowledge and understanding of all kinds,” verse 17, so that at the end of his three year training course he and his three Jewish compatriots came top of the class – and “ten times better” than all the others too, according to Nebuchadnezzar (verse 20). So God is using both the king and Daniel, and like two lines on a graph they’re about to converge to provide an amazing story for us as our world now becomes more and more like Babylon. 

The similarity takes shape in chapter 2, in the dictatorial manner of the king, who has a troubling dream and demands an interpretation from his astrologers, or else he’ll “cut them in pieces and have their homes turned into rubble,” Daniel 2:5. It reminds me of similar dictators during the pandemic who demanded vaccination or else face loss of privileges, loss of contact with family, loss of jobs, careers, education, unemployment insurance, reputation, bank accounts, and even loss of medical care.  

And just like Nebuchadnezzars’s threat, people’s lives in our “Babylon” were cut to shreds and businesses were turned to rubble. But under that kind of threat to his own life and career (verse 13), what did Daniel do? Did he curl up in fear, march in protest, run for his life, leave the country, demand his constitutional rights, hire a lawyer, or – or what?….(part 3, March 31)          

When Paul arrived in Athens in Acts 17, it was a bit of a culture shock, because “All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived in Athens spent their time doing nothing but talking about and listening to the latest ideas,” verse 21. Imagine that: being able to sit around and do nothing but discuss whatever the latest “new” ideas are, verse 19. 

But isn’t that a bit like our world today, because we too have our share of rich globalists who seem to be doing nothing but meeting together to talk about and listen to new ideas for saving the planet. But what they’re coming up with is quite bizarre, like getting us all to eat insects rather than meat, or get all of us driving electric cars, or get us all vaccinated with experimental drugs, or get us all herded into 15 minute cities, or control our every move through surveillance, or block out the sun to cool the planet – and whatever else they can dream up, outdoing each other with their nonsense. And millions of people support the craziness – not because it’s tried and tested, but simply because it’s “novel” and new. 

We live in a world hooked on novelty, witness those who line up outside stores for hours to grab the latest new technology, or those swooning over ridiculous new ideologies like biological men becoming “women” and allowing them to compete in women’s sports. It’s ludicrous, but it’s novel, it’s new, so “let’s try it and see what happens.” Like what happens to children being sexually groomed by cross dressing adults in school. And then make sure it happens by censoring and shaming anyone who disagrees, and ridiculing those who talk of consequences and damage. 

We’re all being treated like guinea pigs by bored and weird people who lust for the power to see their nutty ideas come to fruition, no matter what damage to people or the planet. Which made me wonder what God would have us Christians do. 

We’ve got one thing in our favour, in that nothing God asks of us is novel or new or untried. It’s all tried and tested. It works. And for centuries it’s worked wonders in shattered and empty lives.

So we wait while the world revels in its nonsense until the consequences are too great to ignore, and shattered people are ready to listen to what God has to offer – just as those bored, restless Athenians were willing to listen to Paul in Acts 17. “Got any new ideas?” they asked him. Yes, he said: God exists and we are his children (verses 24-29), so try that on for size and see what happens.  

I woke up at 2:00 am, my mind thrashing away about things I was falling behind on, the new pains I was getting, the horrible way people dealt with each other in the movie I watched last night, and on and on it went. My mind was all over the place, like a herd of startled wildebeest.

It worried me, because if I don’t have the power to bring just those thoughts “into captivity,” how can I bring EVERY thought “into captivity to Christ,” as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:5?

I can’t. Once my mind gets started on something it’s impossible to get it to stop. Just like Eve who couldn’t stop thinking about the forbidden fruit, or the Israelites who couldn’t get their minds off wanting what other nations had.

But why would God give us a mind like that? Why give us the remarkable ability to think, but not the ability to control everything we think, as well? Why give us powerful drives and appetites but not a powerful braking system that automatically kicks in every time our thoughts race out of control or drift off course? It’s like giving a teenager the keys to a Ferrari and expecting him to drive at the speed limit. Of course he can’t. So why would God expect us to keep our minds at his speed limits too, when he gave us minds that can’t?

Because, Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, our helplessness allows Christ’s power to be made perfect in us. What we lack in our brains is the power of Christ, and what better way is there of helping us admit it and want it, than hurtling through life in a Ferrari approaching a right angle bend and finding the brakes don’t work? That’s me at 2:00 am; I’m a Ferrari with weak brakes, a mind full of racing thoughts I cannot control, and it’s scary, because where might my thoughts take me if I can’t stop them?

We know the answer to that, because look at the state of our world today, with its endless and unsolvable conflicts in families, nations, between neighbours, and even among religious people too, and all because we cannot stop the thoughts in our heads that stir these conflicts in the first place. Clearly, then, we need a power in our brains that we don’t have, and that’s what Paul came to realize, but it turned into something wonderful, because any time his own brain failed him, he could turn to Christ for the power to bring his thoughts into captivity, and Christ’s power was right there for him.

Staggeringly, there are people who believe this life is it. Good, bad or ugly, the end is the same: You die, and “that’s yer lot, chum.”

So all those people who lived a horrible life, in poverty and polluted cities, in constant threat of lunatics and psychopaths, who lived out their lives in unceasing pain, damaged by poor choices and drugs, who were scammed, cheated and lied to, were stuck in unhappy marriages, and had to watch their kids be consumed and groomed by filthy minded deviants, and all of it without justice ever being done – and people casually say, “Well, that’s life, chum, that’s all there is, so suck it up because there’s no hope or proof of anything better.” 

And that’s acceptable? By whom, pray tell? 

Not by Christians, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus, who all believe in justice, because of one crucial point: that this life isn’t all there is. There’s a life after death, preceded by a day of reckoning in which all of us are held accountable for our actions in this life now (Romans 2:5-11). Bad people get what’s coming to them. But people who tried their level best to live by the Golden Rule, live a good life in accord with their conscience, and brought up their kids to be responsible citizens – surely, there has to be justice for them too, right?

Absolutely right, say Christians, because that’s why Jesus came to this earth as a human being, to take upon himself every injustice ever done in all human history, take the suffering and punishment it all warranted and deserved, and without doing one wrong thing himself be falsely charged and put to death at the hands of self-righteous hypocrites gleefully using their power to get rid of him. So he knows what injustice feels like, all right.  

We’re not alone, then, when we’re tormented by injustice too. And what a relief that three days after Jesus was unjustly murdered he was raised back to life again, and given the power to deal with all this awful injustice going on. And it’s so good to know that God “has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed,” Acts 17:31. 

We cry out for justice, because God built that into us. As children we’re incensed if something isn’t fair. And we’re in a world right now that cries out for “equity.” Well if we don’t get it now – because it’s simply beyond us to create it – the good news is: justice will be done, the proof of which was God “raising Jesus from the dead,” verse 31.

The pandemic evolved into a nasty face-off between governments and the people they were elected to serve. Which brought to mind how fortunate we are as Christians knowing we have a high priest who deeply cares for us and hears our concerns (Hebrews 4:14-16), so that we’re not drawn into hurtful and divisive mud slinging, and nor are we contributing to the already overheated rhetoric being spewed out by social and news media. We have all that we need – as Peter phrases it – to “escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires,” 2 Peter 1:4.  

And how deeply thankful I am for that, because I could just as easily yell in defiance, “My life, my choice, my freedom – so back off!” I’ve come to realize, however, that all three of those claims, “my life, my choice, and my freedom” are redundant in the kingdom of God. I don’t have to defend them or base my emotional well being on them. My life, for instance, is totally secure eternally because my life is now ”hidden with Christ” (Colossians 3:3), I’m “united with Christ in his resurrection” (Romans 6;5), and I’m “seated with him (already) in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 2:6). My life into eternity, and my worries in this life too, therefore, have been totally taken care of. 

But how about “my choice”? Surely one’s freedom of choice is sacred, and given to us by God, right? Yes, but evil is way too powerful for us to make right choices. There’s only one human who truly had the freedom to choose, and that was Jesus. And fortunately, he’s thoroughly willing to live his ability to make right choices in me. So that’s a worry off my mind too.  

Ah but, what about “freedom”? Surely, no one should have such control over us that we are subject to their whims and psychoses. But millions have died fighting for freedom against such tyranny – which is ironic, because if you’re dead you don’t get to experience that freedom yourself, do you? And meanwhile, Jesus said it’s the truth that makes us free, not fighting. So long as I’ve got the truth, then, I’m free. So that worry is taken care of too.  

So I looked in Scripture for how Christians dealt with government resorting to unsavoury tactics, and discovered their (Christian) concern wasn’t their personal freedom, it was the freedom to get the good news about Jesus to the public (Acts 4:17-20). Any threat to that and they went to God to deal with it, and in no uncertain terms too (verses 23-28). 

Paul said the same thing in 2 Thessalonians 3:1-2 as well: “Pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread…and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men.” 

That’s our concern, then, not crying in defiance, “My life, my choice, my freedom – so back off!”

How do you pray for those in government, big corporations, mainstream media, the justice system, the medical profession, universities and schools, who make it blatantly obvious that they care for nothing but their own reputations, pay packets and egos, and they’re oblivious to the suffering they’re causing others? 

Psalm 109 comes to the rescue, which amazingly David put to music when he prayed about the uncaring, lying, hate-filled, slandering, awful people he also knew who clearly “never thought of doing a kindness, but hounded to death the poor and the needy and the brokenhearted,” verse 16 (The Message). 

The tone of David’s prayer for such people is shocking too. He asked God to “send the Evil One” and “dispatch Satan” to give such people a short life, make orphans of their children, have strangers like vultures pick them clean, and “may there be no one around to help them out” too. Strong words. And there’s more of them too – about God making these awful selfish people homeless and penniless, and wiping their names from memory. And since they find no pleasure in blessing others, may they themselves be cursed every day of the week (verses 6-17).

Well, that doesn’t sound very nice, does it? But David knew exactly what these people were like, because he was one of their victims. They’d broken his heart too (verse 22), made him an object of scorn (verse 25), and reduced him to skin and bone (verse 24). He knew the effect these awful people had, and it was more than he could bear. 

So he prayed, “May (all these awful things mentioned above) be the Lord’s payment to those who speak evil of me,” verse 20. In other words, “Bless ‘em good!” – the “good” being that they get the point that “God stands at the right hand of the needy one,” verse 31. That’s what they need to know, that God is real and he cares. Whatever it takes, therefore, to “let them know that,” verse 27, is what we can pray for.

We can also pray, as David did in verse 26, for God’s help to save us “in accordance with his love” – to “bless us good” too – so we don’t end up bitter and frustrated because of these awful people, but rather, because we know from this Psalm that God is all for us praying our hearts out to him, we experience his calming love like David did.  

In Matthew 19:16, Jesus was asked: “What good thing must I do to get eternal life?” And Jesus replied in verse 17, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only One who is good.” 

Well, if only God is good, how can we be good then? Jesus’ disciples wondered the same thing, because if no one is truly classed as “good” in God’s sight, “Who then can be saved?” they asked in verse 25. 

Jesus “looked at them and said, ‘With man this is impossible,’” verse 26. No way can anyone be classed as good enough to be saved. To which Peter replies: “But we’ve left everything to follow you, so what’s in it for us?” There should be some sort of reward for all our sacrifice, right?

Absolutely, Jesus replies in verse 29: “Everyone who has left home, family and livelihood for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.” Ah, so that’s what classes us as “good” enough to receive eternal life, is it? It’s leaving all those things we hold dear to follow Jesus. 

Well that solves that then. Or does it? Because according to Jesus in Luke 14:26, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even hate his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” What? I’ve got to hate my family to be classed as “good” too? 

Fortunately, Jesus explains what he meant by that in verses 28-33 – that there’s a serious cost to following him; it’s like carrying a cross (verse 27). And they knew what that meant all right, because carrying a literal cross back then meant the loss of everything. So, “Are you up for that?” Jesus is asking them, because nothing less than that was good enough for being a disciple of his. 

But imagine what that must be like for a university student, under enormous pressure from professors and students alike to conform to the prevailing unscriptural fads, and under pressure to get good grades for his own future, leaving little time for studying Scripture. Being a disciple of Jesus can seem impossible in such circumstances.

And Jesus said it would be, too. But he also said, finishing off Matthew 19:26, that “with God all things are possible.” So trust him in all our impossible circumstances and see what happens, because in Jesus’ eyes that’s what makes us good. 

Daniel – part 1

Daniel grew up in a world much like ours, knowing firsthand the scary disruptions to normal life caused by the stupidity of egotistical politicians and the evil ambitions of power hungry psychopaths. 

Daniel’s king Jehoiakim, king of Judah, for instance, endangered his people by “doing evil in the eyes of the Lord,” 2 Kings 23:37 – a really stupid thing to do because God had Nebuchadnezzar 11, king of the Babylonian Empire, besiege Jerusalem in 605 BC and cart Jehoiakim off to Babylon along with other members of the royal family, including Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Daniel 1:3-6. 

So Daniel, probably still a teenager, finds himself in a country very different to the country he’s grown up in. And there’s no going back to the “normal” he knew back home either. His life for the next 70 years (or more) will be spent in a new world, with new customs, new rules, and very different views to his own scripture-based lifestyle and education. How then will he cope with such changes?

I can relate to that, finding myself in a world now that feels very different to the world I knew before the pandemic. Never in my life had I experienced lockdowns, required social distancing and masking, no jab no job mandates, censoring by social media, vaccine passports, regulations constantly changing, state control of media, respected doctors and academia deserting their foundational principles, families being irreparably divided, and threats of police action for daring to protest. And not ever daring to question “the science,” either.

I’d never experienced living in such a ridiculous, clownish world, made worse by outright lies and cover-ups of essential information that tore at my trust in just about every institution I had respect for before. Put that together with the unscriptural sexual lifestyles and ideologies being pushed by Christians and non-Christians alike and my mind was in a whirl.  

How does one cope in such a world, where what we knew has been turned upside down, and the state wants to control our every thought, word and action?

But Daniel found himself in exactly that kind of world too, that didn’t tolerate any questioning of its authority or mandates either. So what did he do? And especially when the government went a step too far. How did he cope with that as well?….(part 2, March 24)

I’d love to show my kids that what I’m part of is real. But how do I put it in terms that don’t sound religious or “churchy”? 

Take the verse in Philippians 4:6, for instance, which says, “Don’t be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God,” verse 7, “which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” 

It’s an amazing promise, which gets right to the heart of our being human, because who doesn’t have “anxious” thoughts? But Paul says: “It doesn’t matter how many worries you’ve got, just take them all to God and he’ll settle your mind down.” 

But how did he know that? It came from the reality of experience, because when he (and friends) in 2 Corinthians 1:11 turned to God in their desperation, Paul found himself being lifted out of his misery and hopelessness. It was like being “raised from the dead,” as he put it in verse 9. Like the time he was dumped for dead outside a city, but picked himself up and went right back into the city to carry on from where he’d left off. Talk about a “peace beyond understanding” and having his “mind and heart guarded” against giving up. 

It was experiencing such rescues again and again that gave Paul the confidence to say what he did in Philippians 4:6.  

Experience has taught me that too, that turning to God in my desperate times when I couldn’t carry on a moment longer, I was lifted out of my hopelessness and given an energy I didn’t have in myself to keep going. And this is what our kids can experience too, a life of amazing rescues from desperate situations that enable them to keep going as well.

Which is why I turn to God on their behalf (Galatians 6:2), just like Paul’s friends did for him, so my kids have real experiences that prepare the ground very nicely for it to dawn on them one day that they were rescued by a real God who cares for them. 

And they may never darken the door of a church building to get them to that point. It will be the reality of their own experience.