Lent Musings (2 of 5)

“I suck at Lent” admits Dion Oxford

T

o instantly dispel any myths that I might be creating for myself as a super spiritual person (those of you who know me already know better), I need to confess right off the top that Lent thus far for me has been a miserable failure. On Shrove Tuesday I committed to several Lenten disciplines that I would try to pursue throughout these 40 days and all but one of them has, for the most part, gone by the wayside. (The only one that I haven’t blown yet is my commitment to not shave, which I’ll get into in a later post but I’ll say now that this beard getting out of control…) I promised God that I would or would not do certain things for 40 days out of my love and commitment for Him and my desire to be more like Jesus, but the temptations for the things I promised not to eat or to do have quite pathetically proven to be greater than my promise to God. And it didn’t take long for that to happen. (It’s kind of liberating to get that out there but I feel like a total loser about it all)

So this Lent has reminded me of two very powerful truths about myself;

1. I am miserably prone to slipping over and over again back into sin.
2. I am going to die and there’s nothing I can do to stop it.

As I’ve read and reflected on the text of Matthew 6:1-18 and have allowed myself to be challenged to read scripture, the first of four themes of Lent (known in liturgical circles as the four ‘acts of righteousness’), I am made very aware of the deep sin within me and my desperate need to confess and repent of that sin.

There is darkness within me. Lent, beginning on Ash Wednesday, reminds me of that pervasive darkness and the struggle to keep that darkness in check. Lent reminds me in full force of the battle that rages within me, and the battle that rages within the world, of darkness verses light.

So Ash Wednesday, especially when reading the traditional texts that come with it of Matt. 6:1-18 as well as Joel 2:12-18, acts as a ‘reboot’ of the spiritual journey. I’m not a computer geek by any means but when my computer gets slow and sluggish I am occasionally advised to run the ‘defragment’ software in order to clean up the hard drive and help it not get bogged down in little bits and pieces that get stuck in there which aren’t necessary and only go to slowing down and confusing the computer. Ash Wednesday is God’s way of defragmenting us. It takes us out of our potential complacency and distractions, and brings us back to reality to focus on the truly important things of the Christian walk. It takes our minds off of trivial theological disputes (in the case of some of the recent dialogues on the Rubicon it reminds us that mudslinging over what version of the Bible is best or if or how we participate in sacraments, is out of step with the Christian walk) and refocuses us on things of bigger importance.

Lent brings us back to the basics of the story. And the story reveals that though the darkness is all around us and through us, and though we are born sinful and flawed (Ps. 55:5), the darkness cannot overcome the light. The darkness that followed Jesus every step of the way, and in very real ways came close to tempting Him to sin, did not defeat Him. But He did get murdered for standing firm against the darkness. His witness of light came at great cost. So too, our attempt to stand against the darkness should cost us. In fact, if it doesn’t cost us anything it’s worth absolutely nothing.

Ash Wednesday then is reboot day. It is the beginning of our walk towards Easter Sunday, where Jesus defeated sin and death. It reminds us that we too have sin within us that needs to be overcome. It reminds us that we too are on a journey towards our own death. It reminds us that, with Jesus, we too can overcome the sin and death in our own lives.

But it leaves us with choices to make. How than shall we live? What might we do to stand firm against the darkness? What disciplines might we attempt to embrace in our efforts to stand firm? When the world literally crumbles all around us (Haiti, Chile, Japan), when corrupt governments deal in death and people continue to die in the streets, when death surrounds us everywhere we look, how do we respond? Is our response to death the same as that of the rest of the world’s or are we noticeable in our response to oppression, injustice, and death?

Lent offers suggestions as to where to start with that. The first, as I’ve mentioned, is to read and take seriously the scriptures that have been given to us to reveal something of the nature of God and how we as His created beings are to respond in light of the good news of God’s love for us and for all of creation.

In my next piece I will focus my thoughts on the 2^nd of the 4 acts of righteousness, giving.

Until then I’m still sucking at Lenten disciplines, cursed with sin and longing for Easter,

Dion 

Writer: The Concise Oxford is written by Dion Oxford who, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto, Canada and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. He and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is a recovering Salvationist who currently worships at an evangelical Anglican church but still works for The Salvation Army at the Gateway, a shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbour. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.

I was a teenage fundamentalist - part nine

Keep on keeping on

W

hat keeps us afloat as we pursue the way, the truth and the life? Who guards our hearts?

When we are honest, we will recognise our need for periodic pitstops. We all need, from time to time, to pause, have a good look at our lives and own our imperfections.

We are heirs of the kingdom, we are loved by God and can embrace His will; but the key’s not yet in our pockets. Our hard-won victories, our feats in conquering our demons, may not balance with our pratfalls; our defeats. That is the truth of our human existence. When we deny it we lessen Jesus’ sacrifice, diminish God’s grace and kid ourselves into the bargain.

The truth is that our wins are not merely or solely ‘ours’. Nor are our losses. We are part of the Body of Christ, the church. We are also intrinsically part of relationships, businesses, study groups, families, congregations, communities and societies that are the richer for our efforts and the poorer for our abandonments.

One of the beautiful symmetries of the Christian faith is the dichotomy between the reform and ‘death’ of self (by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit) and the choice to live as Christians or ‘little Christs’ (that exercise of free will is ours to make, through human agency).

As the ninth doctrine of the Salvation Army states, ‘We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.’ He who comes to God must believe that He is, the Bible tells us, and he rewards those who seek Him. That seeking includes obedience to His will; never an easy process for human beings who want to steer their own dodgem cars.

Continued salvation. Continued obedient faith. We are called to rest in God, yet we also have to work out our salvation in fear and trembling. Caught between heaven and earth, that is our lot; to embrace grace while working out God’s will.

Our eternal future (life beyond this life), while certain in that will, is not bulletproof to the point of complacency or arrogance on our part. In our humanity we respond in the phraseology of that great 20th century pop-cultural prophet, Homer J. Simpson, would respond: D’oh!

We are made, as the psalmist wrote, ‘a little lower than the angels’. We reflect the image of our Maker. But there are other perspectives that distract from the loving kindness we see in the face of God.

Thankfully, we believe the grace of God the Father, the love of Jesus the Son and the communion of the Holy Spirit can save us from ourselves; our selfish harbouring of hurts, insecurities, lusts, fears, petty hatreds, professional jealousies and indignant protestations at perceived attacks on our dignity.

Scripture and prayer, meditation and the guidance of good friends and mentors have helped me look into and ‘out of’ God’s eyes. His perspective on life takes me outside of myself. This is by no means a surprise. The church has celebrated the presence of God in believers’ lives since its inception.

I have also been refreshed, throughout my life, by the arts; especially through music and literature. Also not exactly hot off the presses: God the creator works creatively.

For me, the unfortunately-named Christian muso Randy Stonehill lit up the 1980s, just as his mentor Larry Norman had scooted through the Christian cultural morass of the ’70s. A lot of my struggles with ‘who is God?’ and ‘who am I?’ were influenced by the vinyl-encased writings of the likes of Stonehill, David Meece, Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, Phil Keaggy, Kenny Marks, Russ Taff etc., etc., etc.

It was quite the growth industry in that day and age, and a large percentage of my weekly income as a teenager and young adult went in to the coffers of my local Word bookstore.

Take Randy’s feisty song ‘Angry Young Men’ (1985), which seemed to be penned in response to the scornful, self-aware lyrics of ‘Angry Young Man’ (1976) by Billy Joel.

Joel, a favourite musician of mine, had accused the morally earnest of ’self-righteous rage’ and said that ‘just surviving is a noble fight’ (instead of pursuing a ‘pointless point of view’).

Stonehill, however, said that passion - anger - can be a righteous gift. ‘Rest assured when Jesus comes again,’ he thundered, ‘He’ll be looking for some angry young men. ‘He wants some angry young men with fire in their eyes, ones who understand what Jesus gave. Ones who have grown weary of the world and all its lies, ones who won’t forget they’ve been delivered from the grave.’

That kind of holy passion is rare. In some instances we find ourselves in danger of channelling our inner Ned (Flanders) in a parody of faith, a jarring bundle of cultural twitches and a lack of self-awareness.

The media view of Christianity, the projection of the Ned Flanders of the faith, is less than complimentary. Drag yourself through life in boredom and clouds of judgmental misery. But we believe Christ came to give us joy. To give us life in all its fullness. To help us help others through the Spirit, our desire to live obediently and our actions that, in love, prefer one another.

Pray hard, act justly, live hopefully.

Just as to be assured of our salvation we need to exercise our faith, so we (to practise our faith helpfully) must exercise our minds and guard against the small-mindedness and bureaucracy that stunts our spiritual growth and practical work.

Consider this cautionary tale from William Booth’s In Darkest England and the Way Out (1890); one he qualifies by stating ‘I am somewhat slow to credit this incident; anyway it is true in spirit’.

‘There is a story told enough to be true about a young girl who applied one evening for admission to some home established for the purpose of rescuing fallen women. The matron naturally inquired whether she had forfeited her virtue; the girl replied in the negative.

‘She had been kept from infamy, but she was poor and friendless, and wanted somewhere to lay her head until she could secure work and obtain a home.

‘The matron must have pitied her, but she could not help her as she did not belong to the class for whose benefit the Institution was intended.

‘The girl pleaded but the matron could not alter the rule, and dare not break it, they were so pressed to find room for their own poor unfortunates, and she could not receive her.

‘The poor girl left the door reluctantly but returned in a very short time, and said, “I am fallen now, will you take me in?”‘

‘The matron could not help her… matron could not alter the rule… she could not receive her.’

The underlying reality of this possibly real, possibly fabricated story is that the matron chose not to help her.

Does the parable of the Good Samaritan ring true for anyone? Salvationists are just as capable of being Pharisees, Levites and ‘passers-by’ as anybody else. Booth’s anecdote is hardly an inspiring example of Salvationism, or - more importantly - an example of an obedient faith in Christ.

God protect us from the niggardly, bureaucratic, love-deficient matrons of this world, the dog-in-the-manger Marthas who would rather boss their sisters around in the kitchen than sit at the feet of Jesus.

Bureaucracy and regulation overcame compassion and common sense. The exercise of power and control was more important in that scenario than the needs of the individual.

Therein lies the Army’s doom.

By grace we are saved through faith, that none should boast. But not everyone who calls out ‘Lord, Lord’, not everyone who bleeds yellow, red and blue, will recognize or enter the kingdom of God. May God spare us from being a parody of grace.

Let me leave you with more words of wisdom from that same song, ‘Angry Young Men’.

‘You’ll be tempted, tried and tested, there’ll be wars the devil wins, but God’s love is not a license to lie there in your sins. He understands the human heart, His mercy is complete, but His grace was not intended as a place to wipe your feet.’

Amen, Randy. 

Writer: Barry Gittins is a Melbourne-based writer, lifelong Salvationist, husband (to Trudy) and father(to Emily and Benjamin) who seeks God in everyday encounters. A frustrated poet and playwright, he has worked for the Salvos’ Australia Southern Territory in various roles since 1991: as a journalist (for Warcry, The Young Soldier/Kidzone, The Musician),technical writer and CD-ROM author in corps program (mission development), senior review editor (Warcry) and editor (On Fire). He currently works as a social program and policy consultant (writer/researcher) for the social program department.

Fishers of Men and Their Mysterious Sage

Why did Jesus specifically choose fishermen?

I

n the first century, Jews were not fond of any open space of water, seeing it as the abyss, the place where spirits dwell. That’s why the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost when he came walking on the water (see Matthew 14:26), and why Jesus sent demons into pigs that immediately went into the water and drowned (see Matthew 8:28-32). 

There were not too many fishermen at this time due to the fact that the water was not considered a safe place to work. This meant that fishermen were at least a brave group of people.

The most compelling reason that Jesus chose fishermen, and the one that first century Jews would have recognized as being a sign that Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, has to do with a prophesy in Jeremiah.

“‘…the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when men will no longer say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of Egypt,’ but they will say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, who brought the Israelites up out of the land of the north and out of all the countries where he had banished them to.’ For I will restore them to the land I gave their forefathers. ‘But now I will send for many fishermen,’ declares the Lord, ‘and they will catch them’” (Jeremiah 16:14-16) NIV.

Jesus sent his disciples (a large percentage being fishermen) to fish for the lost sheep of Israel who had been spread out among the lands.

“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men’” (Matthew 4:18-19). 

“These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: ‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel…’” (Matthew 10:5-6).

To see a rabbi with disciples would have been no reason to take notice of Jesus and his group in first century Israel. But to see him gathering fishermen as disciples was one more reason why the Romans and the Jews took notice of this mysterious sage from Galilee.

In His dust,

Johnny

Writer: Capt. Jonathan Gainey was born in Jacksonville, FL in June, 1969. He has been married to Staci, the daughter of retired Salvation Army officers, for twenty years and they have four children ages 18, 16, 12, and 4. Jonathan was commissioned as an officer in June of 2002, and is currently serving in his third appointment in New Bern, NC, USA. He is working on a Masters of Divinity from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is the creator and manager of the Flocks Diner website, where his passion for learning and teaching is expressed and shared through writing and a weekly podcast.

Lent Musings (1 of 5)

Lent for Dummies - Like Me (by Dion Oxford)

F

or those of us who grew up not paying much attention to the Christian calendar, Lent is a season that has often passed us by without even noticing it. Protestant piety made a point of rejecting everything associated with the higher liturgical traditions, for many very good reasons I might add, but sadly threw away a lot of great proven spiritual practices along the way in an effort to purge itself from the many legalistic trappings that can come with liturgical worship.

But in the past few years as I have begun worshipping in a more liturgical tradition, Lent has become of crucial significance to me in my Christian walk. When I started trying to observe the season, I originally needed a “Lent for dummies” lesson. So, as I suspect there are others out there just like me who are interested in Lent but know very little of what it means or where it comes from, here’s my feeble attempt at offering my own flawed version of “Lent for dummies”.

What does the word ‘Lent’ mean?

The word ‘Lent’ has a lengthy evolution. In Latin, the word quadragesima was used to refer to the 40 days leading up to Easter. In the middle ages, the English word ‘Lent’ emerged which means, quite simply, spring. (Which comes from the German word Lenz and the Dutch word lente) This derives from the German root for ‘long’ due to the fact that in springtime the days visibly lengthen. (Notice that ‘Lent’ and ‘Lengthen’ are very similar)

The practice and Purpose of Lent

(This entire section comes from http://www.crivoice.org/cylent.html)

“Originating in the fourth century of the church, the season of Lent spans 40 weekdays beginning on Ash Wednesday and climaxing during Holy Week with Holy Thursday (Maundy Thursday), Good Friday, and concluding Saturday before Easter. Originally, Lent was the time of preparation for those who were to be baptized, a time of concentrated study and prayer before their baptism at the Easter Vigil, the celebration of the Resurrection of the Lord early on Easter Sunday. But since these new members were to be received into a living community of Faith, the entire community was called to preparation. Also, this was the time when those who had been separated from the Church would prepare to rejoin the community.

Today, Lent is marked by a time of prayer and preparation to celebrate Easter. Since Sundays celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the six Sundays that occur during Lent are not counted as part of the 40 days of Lent, and are referred to as the Sundays in Lent. The number 40 is connected with many biblical events, but especially with the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness preparing for His ministry by facing the temptations that could lead him to abandon his mission and calling. Christians today use this period of time for introspection, self examination, and repentance.

Lent has traditionally been marked by penitential prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Some churches today still observe a rigid schedule of fasting on certain days during Lent, especially the giving up of meat, alcohol, sweets, and other types of food. Other traditions do not place as great an emphasis on fasting, but focus on charitable deeds, especially helping those in physical need with food and clothing, or simply the giving of money to charities. Most Christian churches that observe Lent at all focus on it as a time of prayer, especially penance, repenting for failures and sin as a way to focus on the need for God’s grace. It is really a preparation to celebrate God’s marvellous redemption at Easter, and the resurrected life that we live, and hope for, as Christians.”

Where do I start if I want to participate in Lent?

As I have attempted over the past few years to go deeper with Lent, I have tried to observe the four emphases of Lent that traditionally are derived from Matthew 6. These are;

1. Scripture (Matthew 6:1-18)
2. Giving (Matthew 6:2-4)
3. Prayer (Matthew 6:5-15)
4. Fasting (Matthew 6:16-18)

Hopefully you will find reading the Matthew passage through this lens would be a helpful start if participating in Lent is new to you. And if you think it’s too late to try some of these disciplines this year, hear me plead with you that it is not too late, lest we slip instantly into the legalistic pitfalls that can come with practicing the spiritual disciplines!

So, over the next 4 Lent Musings, I will focus on each of these areas individually as they relate to my own life and my attempt to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before God.

Longing for Easter,

Dion

Writer: The Concise Oxford is written by Dion Oxford who, along with his wife, Erinn, and daughter, Cate, live in Toronto, Canada and are committed to journeying alongside people in the margins of society. He and Erinn have spent a combined 30 years working amongst folks who are living on the streets of Toronto. Dion is a recovering Salvationist who currently worships at an evangelical Anglican church but still works for The Salvation Army at the Gateway, a shelter for men experiencing homelessness. He and his wife see the solution to homelessness as the church taking seriously the two great commandments of loving God and loving our neighbour. He likes to read, write, fly kites, cycle long distances, watch TV, play in his band and hang out with his friends.

Deeper shade of grey | Faith House 20

A Familiar Story of Fate…

Icaught the end of a radio programme and heard the all to familiar story of falling numbers, the challenge of encouraging people to attend, the problem of a loss of identity as people seek community and family elsewhere.

I heard the history of a journey of popularity and social norm to modern day aversion and lack of popularity. I listened how once centre of communities were now being turned into flats, their cohesive influence in society lost to property developers and speculators. How people preferred really to spend time at home rather than frequent the once national institution. I listened to the sociologist lamenting the loss of ‘community building’ and social capital, pointing to the ramifications on an already fragmented and fractured society.

A man interviewed was the grim reaper, painting a dark gloomy picture of near distinction of a fast disappearing institution. “The stats speak for themselves…the problem is the bureaucracy, it is strangling the life out of us, it not as simple anymore we have so much paperwork it is killing the Public House off rapidly…”

Now there’s a thought - bureaucracy as the metaphorical cuckoo!

Writer: Capt. Gordon Cotterill lives in London, England, is married to Kate and has two daughters Bethan and Eryn. He has been a Salvation Army officer for ten years and ‘cut his teeth’ in ministry with his wife as the corps officers at Poplar in the East End of London. The lessons he learned there in his day-to-day ministry, amid the chaos of the inner city, continue to shape his understanding and passion for biblical and grace-centred mission. His latest appointment as Spiritual Programme Director at the William Booth College, London now offers him the opportunity for the fusion and exploration of ‘mission’ and ’spiritual formation’ while trying to inspire a new generation of Salvation Army officers as to their role in God’s plan for His creation. Gordon keeps a blog where he mulls over themes of mostly, mission and spiritual formation. 

Values in Policy Making

Paper title: Values Orientation in Decision and Policy Making
Author/researcher: Donald Gates
Country of origin: Australia
Publication/completion date: January, 2010
Length: 303 pages
Keywords: The Salvation Army, values, policy, decision, management, leadership
Abstract:

 This thesis deals with problems encountered by decision and policymakers in multifaceted environments. Although rational information is an essential input in decision and policymaking, the process is fraught with many limitations including deficient knowledge, differences in values and ideologies and ambiguities of justice outcomes. Despite this, there is a need for decision and policymakers to reflect on the ethical and social justice questions their policies raise.

› Continue reading

The Holiness Movement: Dead or Alive?

 Is there a Holiness dichotomy here? asks Joe Noland

I

‘ve been thinking a lot about holiness lately, simply because often our theology doesn’t seem to jive with the way we treat each other internally - administratively, officially and otherwise. I detect a holiness divide, separating the internal from the external. “Others” is reflected in our compassion toward “the last, the lost and the least,” those being exploited on the outside, whilst there is little patience or consideration for those not living up to our standards on the inside. There appears to be a holiness dichotomy here.

Social justice is big now, whilst injustice within sometimes gets lost in the translation. Leeriness of the holiness messenger, oftentimes makes the message suspect, unfortunately.

Keith Drury tackles this subject in a paper titled, The Holiness Movement: Dead or Alive? (Link: http://www.crivoice.org/hmovement.html) He lists eight factors contributing toward its death, with number seven perhaps capturing the reason for the ambivalent feelings expressed above. 

1. We wanted to be respectable.
2. We have plunged into the evangelical mainstream: “Holiness people” became “evangelical people.”
3. We failed to convince the younger generation.
4. We quit making holiness the main issue.
5. We lost the lay people: “We have generals without armies. Strategy, but no soldiers.”
6. We over-reacted against the abuses of the past: “While the abuses of the old holiness movement were glaring (and perhaps responsible in part for our own overreaction), the abuses of our own generation have been no better.”
7. We adopted church-growth thinking without theological thinking: “Pastors became CEOs. Ministers became managers. Shepherds promoted themselves to ranchers.”
8. We did not notice when the battle line moved: “The doctrine at risk in many holiness churches is not entire sanctification but “transformational conversion.” We may need to stand at Luther’s side awhile before we can rejoin Wesley.”

One needs to read this paper in its entirety in order to grasp the full essence of his message. Whilst not agreeing with all that he says, most of it makes perfect sense. And those of us claiming to be part of a holiness movement should sit up straight and take notice.

Writer: Commissioner Joe Noland’s ministry can be summed up in three words: chaos, creativity and controversy - three elements implicit in any successful innovative endeavor. Cecil B. DeMille, renowned producer of Biblical epics, once wrote, “Creativity is a drug I cannot live without.” Joe’s mantra reads, “Creativity is my drug of choice.”  Access Joe Noland’s complete bio, among other things, by clicking into his website.

A blessed Easter period for theRubicon community

Listen …

 Do you hear what I hear? … asks Wayne Rumsby

I

 believe in The Eternally (and currently) Creative Triune God.  I believe that Trinity is relational, and therefore communicative. I believe that God speaks into the moment in a variety of ways, including through the ancient scriptures, through other believers, through nature, circumstances and occasionally even in ways that are mysterious and perhaps a little abstract. 

I clearly remember the first time I ever heard God actually speak to me. I was very busy praying for someone else who was in a desperate situation and then He spoke very clearly, “It’s you that I’m trying to reach”. It made all of my small hairs stand up. It was as if I were listening with every part of me, including those small hairs. How did I know it was God? The voice was full of love and hope.

I didn’t tell anybody, at least until I couldn’t hold on to it anymore. I shared it with a friend who told me that he’d had a similar experience. He was a police officer, not the friendly ones you see standing near the road work crew with their warm cup of Tim’s, rather the type that deal with the bodies of victims of violent, and disturbing crimes. He got to a point where he couldn’t take it anymore. He drove himself to a quiet spot and took out his service revolver and decided to end his life. Then just as he raised the gun to his head, he heard The Voice, one word, his given name. It took a while to sink in, but what God was saying to this desperate and confused man was, “I know you”.

To many, the idea of listening to God is just for those crazy folks who talk out loud to themselves on a crowded subway. Many who hold that view don’t believe in God at all. Others, who share my faith in a living, loving and relational God, believe that everything God has to say is recorded in the Bible. They don’t actually come out and say that, because the scriptures themselves suggest that God can’t be contained in such a manner. So, even to those who believe that God cares, the idea of taking an extended period of time to listen to Him can seem a little strange.

Let me explain that when I say, “listen” I don’t simply mean to give attention with the ear. What I really mean, is to pay close attention, and that really requires all of my senses and more. I often said to my students, when I was teaching woodworking, “you must listen to the wood, it will tell you what it wants to be.”  When I ride my motorcycle I listen to it, and it speaks to me in ways that can’t always be heard. Furthermore, as a hearing impaired person I have had to learn to listen with my other senses. So, when I say listen, I mean totally.

This process of listening totally, with all of your senses, and then some, is a process that requires sifting the details. When I ride my motorcycle, there are many sensations and I must pay attention to. I must sort through them separating the useless or irrelevant information from the useful. There are many sounds and vibrations, some come from the bike and some from the road or from other vehicles. If I am unable to discern which is which then all of the information is useless. Sometimes it requires an extended period of listening or paying attention. I may keep notes, look for patterns, and watch for wear patterns in the tires or the chain sprockets.  I often talk to others who ride, asking them for feedback. I may even talk to the company who made the bike or check my owners manual.

My listening to God time includes, prayer in the form of me speaking out my feelings to Him. My listening time also includes reading scripture to remind me of the character and patterns that I need to listen for as I pay attention. Solitude is also helpful, just listening to nothing. And, my listening time includes working with my hands, cuz that’s who God created me to be.

I encourage everyone to listen to life. Sift life in order to separate the truth from the lies. Truth brings hope and healing, the lies bring doubt and death. Even if you don’t believe there is a living God who cares, He will be revealed, because all truth is God’s truth. Listen with all you heart and mind, but don’t be surprised, that if in the middle of the sounds of war and terror, famine and disaster, you hear, hope, healing and love.

Writer: Wayne Rumsby is at least a fourth generation follower of Jesus Christ. In his late 30’s Wayne responded to an invitation to visit an inner city mission in the heart of Toronto. At the time he was working as a graphic designer. It wasn’t long before he left his job in the fast paced ad business, in the glass towers, to become a full time missionary on the streets and in the alleys. The focus of his mission was to help the marginalized discover God through meaningful work. For most of the past decade Wayne was helping people discover who God had created them to be, by teaching them to make beautiful furniture in a woodworking shop. Today Wayne and his wife Linda are working with the team at 614 Regent Park with the very same vision, helping people discover who God has created them to be, and more.  

Living and Dying for Humanity

Found within the scriptures is a powerful and compelling love story between God and humanity. And the story begins with this almighty, magnificent and all powerful being lacking nothing and perfect in every way opening his mouth and creating us from start to finish. He begins dreaming out loud, and from the imagination of God humanity is born. He then places us in an oasis of endless beauty and pleasure and decadence and he tells us to enjoy the fruits of the land and to enjoy God and to enjoy each other. And even after we fail greatly and from that came the fall of humanity where sin and death entered into our story God loved us and nurtured us and never stopped dreaming over us. And from there we find tale after tale of God painting the picture of his love and great passion for humanity. We read about God revealing himself to his people, revealing different aspects of his person. And giving human beings like you and I the opportunity to change our circumstances and futures, and step into incredible moments and thereby alter the history of the world. He even allowed us the chance to work alongside HIM to create the future and accomplish his will and destiny for mankind. In the scriptures there is moment after moment where God literally steps into situations and pulls people out of slavery, and out of danger and fights battles on their behalves,… And then there are these beautiful stories of quiet, intimate moments that people just like you and I got to enter into with the Author of life, and they were changed, never to be the same again. And throughout the entire OT we read about this Saviour this Messiah this hope coming for us. That from the beginning God was planning to rescue us. Planning to make a way for us. And we see humanity from start to finish dream of this hope.

 And then nothing, for 400 hundred years,… absolute silence…

 And then … it happens!

The moment humanity had long anticipated arrives. And it comes not in the way that anyone expected, not in the way that anyone was looking for,… but God comes for us…. While we were feeling the most forgotten, God comes for us…. In the most beautiful, quiet, unassuming way, he is born of flesh and blood.

 Our God comes for us.

And the Bible tells us that from a child Jesus grew in wisdom and stature. God grew amongst us. He learnt and listened, he sought wisdom and knowledge, he sat at the feet of God and he grew into the man that would rescue humanity. And when it is time, he steps out from his home and he begins to walk among us. God all wrapped up in flesh then reaches out and begins to touch people. He loves those the rest of the world deem unlovable, he washes the feet of a dirty world and he blurs the lines between cultures and race and religion and customs and traditions to bring people together and to show us, to demonstrate to us that we are one. That we are the sole occupants of his heart. That we are what he desires. That we as all of humanity, then and now and to come are his passion, his love, his longing and yearning.

And we as we so often are, are so fickle and one moment we shout his name and lift him up and exalt him and cry out you are God and in our next breath we are cursing him and spitting at him and tearing him down with our words. 

Proving that while God walked among us we never really recognised him for who he truly was..

And what happens next is so savage and so violent and so unexpected, it’s almost hard to contemplate…. But we brutalise him, we beat him and torture him and using one of the most violent forms of capital punishment…

 We. Murder. God.

But here’s the part that to the rest of the world makes no sense,.. He planned it that way. He knew what was to be and yet God still CHOSE to come for us. And he spent time growing and learning and seeking God and wisdom and insight so that he could better serve humanity with his life. Not just in that one powerful, earth shattering, life changing moment where God gave up his life for us. But in every single moment that Jesus Christ walked among us as flesh and blood.

Every single moment of Gods life on earth counted for something and we are given that very same opportunity, for our lives to mean something. For our lives to stand for something and give testimony to something much greater than ourselves. Our lives are to be used up, to be poured out, not to be preserved and wrapped up in cotton wool.

There is a sense sometimes in Christianity where we begin to civilize Jesus and civilize the Gospel. But you see to an outsider it’s just completely uncivilised. When you look on the cross with fresh, new eyes, it makes no sense. The cross was violent and savage and barbaric! And for some that hurts their dignified sensibilities. As Christians we can get to the point where we over-spiritualise everything, somehow we’ve managed to take an uncivilized act of pure love and civilize it. I met an awesome lady in Gympie about 6 months or so ago, who said to me in anguish, “we’ve sanitised Jesus!” how true that is! We sprout off verses like John 3:16 which are incredible Scriptures about the passion and love of a wild, dangerous God for his people and we make them feeble and irresolute. In stead of looking at the cross and seeing it for what it really is, the moment when God stepped into our world and began to engage with humanity in such a way as had never been seen or heard of before. It was the moment that mankind was saved from hell and grave and given a second chance whilst we were most undeserving, and letting the truth and knowledge of that love transform us and from out transformation become people who love in an unjustifiable, unexplainable kind of way.

We cannot allow ourselves to grow cold! Not to the passion and love and sacrifice of our God! Not to the cross!

But what can happen to us sometimes after being a Christian for a while is we start to fail to see that the birth and life and death of Jesus is even more beautiful, even more poignant and potent and captivating and earth shattering than we may have even first realised. That the way Jesus lived and died was in its purest essence a demonstration of how we also are to live and die. That the God of the universe, the almighty Sovereign and creator of heaven and earth came not just to give us life in eternity but to give us life on earth, and we know this to be true because the scriptures, the word that is God breathed tells us so, in John 10:10 when Jesus himself says “I came that they may have life, and have it in abundantly”. I love the message version of this scripture it reads: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.”

This is not just a message for Easter this is a message for every single day of our lives!  This is the very foundation of our faith. Jesus stepped into space and time and changed our stories forever, he made a way for man to come to God, he paid the greatest price for love.

And what we need to realise is that the way he walked among us can tell us more about the way he wants each of us to live and die than we may have previously noticed. That in dying for LOVE Jesus was pointing the way to life … to the only life that would fulfill us and to the only life that really counts for anything, and that is a life of love, servant hood and significance. That in giving up our lives to serve God and serve humanity life does not end, but becomes more beautiful and magical and enchanting than it was to begin with. And that in becoming more like Jesus we don’t abandon being human, but become what God originally dreamt of when he spoke humanity into being.

Writer: Sally Joy Morgan’s life maxim is, ‘Dream, Risk, Create’, in fact the entirety of her passions and hopes both past and present can all be summed up in just those three words. Determined to always walk the road less travelled, Sally is passionate about two things, God and humanity and endeavours to give her life for both. Sally is a keen preacher and writer and looks forward to investing more time in these areas in the future. After serving for two years at Gympie Salvo’s as the Assistant Church Leader and Youth Pastor, Sally is back home with her family and friends in Brisbane where she attends North Brisbane Salvo’s.