Is God's judgement an unreasonable belief?

One of the challenges of the book of Revelation is it confronts us with the reality of God's judgement. This issue is one of several 'problems' people have with Christianity but unfortunately the issue is often not given the chance to be dealt with in an informed and helpful way...from both Christians and non-Christians. 

To think through this and other 'problem' issues more carefully I'd highly recommend Tim Keller's Reason for God. This really is a very helpful and liberating book which both sympathizes with those who doubt and shows the plausibility of faith in Christ.

Anyway, rather than me tell you about it, watch the author himself (below), or head to http://thereasonforgod.com

Please call or email the Crossroads office if you wish to order a copy. It will be about the best way you'll use $20 all year.

The Divine bail-out: What Jesus would say to Wall St

Given the unchartered global economic waters we now seem to be in, and given everyone seems to have an opinion about what the problem is, I've been thinking about what Jesus might have to say if Wall St was prepared to listen for a few minutes. Surely a crisis of ‘Biblical proportions (as some have said), deserves some thought as to what the Divine might actually be thinking. So here’s a few thoughts about what Jesus would say.

Jesus would say, "Greed is dangerous"
    “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
    Now we all know that materialism is limited and empty, we know there are more things to live for than how many cars you can fit in your garage, but we are still so easily driven by senseless greed.

    Jesus again says in Luke 9:25 

      "For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?"   That is, there is something soul destroying about the storing up and pursuit of more stuff. What purpose does it serve? How does it actually help you? How can you go on accumulating more while others struggle to survive? What has happened to your soul if you keep pursuing this?

Jesus would say, "Money can’t bring security"
    This is key to greed. Why do we want more and more and ever increasing returns? Because we want certitude, we want a grounding, we want security. And this is linked very closely to status, acceptance, social kudos, self-affirmation and importance.
    For many, the key to success and enjoyment in life is, they hope, economic prosperity. But surely the very fact that people worry about money, is evidence that it is not secure.
So Jesus warns in the sermon on the mount 

        “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matt. 6:19-20)
     Imagine what Wall St would do with that advice? So many would be out of a job!

Jesus would say, "Give to bless and prosper others"
    The Bible’s picture is to see people freed up from their love of money, because they are to love God and others more, and they use what they have for the blessing and prosperity of others. A radical generosity is what is urged.
    What’s the point of having 100 cars in your garage? You can only drive one at a time. So get rid of the excess, and bless others. What good is being payed 2 million a year if you just buy yet another property that you might visit someday? How does that help anyone? How does it help you?

Problem: You can’t legislate generosity
    Now that’s part of what Jesus would say, but it doesn’t actually do much good because you can’t legislate generosity. You can’t make people live this way, even if they know it’s right.

Problem: We can’t change the human condition
    Jesus ultimately didn’t come to change economic policy, no he came to change something harder than that: the human condition. So what Jesus would say to Wall St is that the way you’re devoted to and worried about money is grounded in a deeper problem.

Jesus would say, "Greed is idolatry"
     Ultimately what people have done is that they’ve put their confidence and hope in something that isn’t worth it and can’t actually help...it's idolatry, and it's diabolical! Idolatry is to build your self-image, your hopes, your future on something that is a God substitute.
We keep thinking money will bring that for us, it calls out to us, it looks so attractive. 

But Jesus says, 

       “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or   he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.(Matthew 6:24)
What a warning this is. You can’t ultimately trust both, one will rule over the other.

So if the condition of the human heart is to forsake God and create idols, and especially money in the west. And if you can’t legislate generosity so people will do what they should with their money what can be done?

The Jesus bail out: Jesus would say, "Get really rich!"
    The only way I can change and see the world as I should is to realise that God offers me something better, richer, deeper and more lasting than Wall St. So the Jesus bail out is to get really rich, by grabbing a hold of what is far more valuable.

Don’t you love this picture we get in Matthew 13:44
     “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
    Jesus speaks about finding something so valuable, its’ worth is incomparable to all you have and you’d easily trade everything to have it. To know Jesus, to know you have his blessing and favour, to be in his family…well that is of far more value and importance than to know Wall St and to have it’s blessing and favour. 

    For Jesus brings and offers all the riches of heaven for eternity for free to us, but at the highest price to him. For he though God, became human and laid his life down, giving up his riches, to forgive our poor, idolatrous hearts. And if this be true, then to be connected to, to be part of the divine bail out is actually the best investment, the most beautiful and safest place to be.

Jesus would say, "What a difference I bring"
    So what is the 'cash' value of all this? Well you can start treating money like money, rather than serving it as your God. It can now be used to bless and love others, it can be used to invest in things of eternal value. Indeed if I understand and am grabbed by the gospel, I want to put my money into the things that matter to Jesus, because nothing now matters more to me. And it means I've truly found happiness, joy, security, certitiude...all the things we long for.

    Money, Wall St. is a brutal master. It will let us down and when you fail it offers no hope. Jesus, will never abuse you like this, cannot let you down, and when you fail will forgive and restore you.

Now there's a bail out plan we need.

Over to you: Your questions about Satan

I'm wondering what questions you have about Satan and evil and the like. We all have a few tucked away there somewhere.

Given the back half of Revelation must be the most thorough treatment on the subject in Bible, I'm keen to know what you want to know. 

So what worries and uncertainties do you have? 

What gaps are there in your understanding that intrigue or frustrate you? 

What have you heard said before that you're not sure about?

You ask, and we'll seek to give an answer both in the blog, but also in the talks in the weeks ahead.

Spring review: Discussion groups summary

     The following is a summary of the discussion group notes taken during our September review. Many thanks to Trish Collins for working through the hundreds of ideas, thoughts and comments that were shared. If you wish to see the notes in full just leave a comment and we can get them to you. We're not hiding anything...

My thoughts on what we discover.

     It's important to read these comments alongside the survey (see post below). Also it needs to be said how well people were wanting to engage with these issues not to create the perfect 'me-church' but so we can be a more effective community growing followers of Jesus.

     Probably the most common feature or critique is our ability to genuinely love, connect, care for and encourage each other and those we hope will become part of God's Kingdom. People want to connect more and see our congregation do a better, deeper job...and that's a great thing! 

     There are a number of good suggestions about how we can be making the most of our Sunday nights and a genuine desire for people to be engaged and serving more in the mission of the church.

     It is clear that we need to work harder at loving and laying our lives down for each other. Many people are doing a great job seeking to already implement a number of these suggestions, but there is also a humble confession that more personal engagement needs to be encouraged in these matters.

     You may not agree with some of the comments that are made. Or you may feel that your comments are not represented well. With 200 people discussing things in groups it's not always easy to get the perfect weighting. But hey, this is what our wonderful scribes heard and took note of on the night.

     

What will be done with all this feedback?

     Next week the Gospel group leaders and the CitC task force will be meeting and going through the results. Given all the info we have got, we are in a position to not only assess how we are going as a group of people, but also to ensure we work on the key areas so we can see the gospel go forward in 2009. I will report back to the congregation what is discussed.

     Please read through the following and keep praying for our church...well actually, Jesus' church. We want to ensure we do what we do for him first and foremost.

     Comments, thoughts and further input is welcome.

___________________________

Q1) What is something that you really appreciate about CitC?
     There were a variety of responses to what people most appreciate at CiTC. A majority of groups mentioned the bible teaching. The faithful, biblical foundation to all the sermons was a highly appreciated factor. Also, the relevance, approachability and challenging nature of the teaching were noted. Two other areas that are also highly appreciated are the friendly, welcoming people and the songs/music program. The format of the service (the informal nature, the singing, supper after etc) and the atmosphere of the service (again informal, relaxed & friendly) were commented on a few times, and other areas such as the room we meet in, gospel groups & social events were included.
     The stand out factor of what people most appreciate about CiTC is the bible based preaching.

Q2) Do you think we are good at welcoming and connecting new people into our church?
     A ‘yes’ or ‘no’ category was used to collate answers to this question. Most groups filled out more responses in the ‘No’ column indicating a possible dissatisfaction with the welcoming and connecting at Crossroads.
Groups identified many reasons as to why CiTC is not good at welcoming and connecting people. Most of these comments fell into two categories – one was the difficulty of identifying newcomers the other was the difficulty in making friends. Within the newcomers section the size of the congregation seemed to be a major factor, which was the basis for comments like ‘hard it know if people are new or not’ and ‘some people spotted as new while others aren’t.’ Also mentioned was how people were left standing or sitting by themselves often and how everyone seems to leave it up to someone else to do the welcoming.
     Building meaningful friendships also seems to be a frustration, a highly noted cause for this is due to cliques within the congregation making it hard to break into groups or conversations and making it difficult to connect and engage with others. Some groups made mention of the segregated nature or our congregation, whether students and workers, or Australians and internationals that leads to these cliques.
     The ‘daunting’ foyer of Manning Clark is also seen as a hindrance to welcoming and connecting people.
     There were some very positive comments however that mentioned how everyone does mingle and there aren’t many cliques! And some that referred to the 5 minute breaks in service, and the pre-service coffee as useful times for connecting. The welcoming team were noted as doing a good job at targeting people however needing to do some more work on the follow up.

Q2a) How can we be doing welcoming and connecting of new people better?
     There were many helpful ideas and suggestions for how CiTC could improve on our welcoming and connecting. Most suggestions focussed on things that could be changed or improved on the night. This involved placing key welcoming people at strategic places (near doors, at back of room, first at supper etc), mentioning gospel groups each week and the opportunity to join them, mentioning the welcoming / info table, making everyone wear nametags and reminding everyone in the congregation to be mindful of people who are new and sitting or standing alone.
     There were other comments that also indicated that it is the responsibility of each individual to be connecting and welcoming. More encouragement and emphasis on the responsibility of each congregation member to be taking the initiative in this area is desired. And support for each other as we befriend new people was suggested.
Creating opportunities for smaller groups to interact and discuss the sermon on Sunday nights was a popular suggestion that would allow more connection and it was noted that the review discussion groups were already an example of how it could work and how good it was.
     There were some helpful comments for connecting with people beyond Sunday night. These included an increase in social events (lunches & coffees mid week, monthly or fortnightly events) and more encouragement to attend them, building a bridge between CIF & CitC, connecting people of similar age groups and having activities targeted at these groups, inviting people to events face to face (not on facebook), linking people with similar interests, having a regular ‘newcomers’ dinner before church and involving more people in organising events. It was also noted that gospel groups could be the initial group to be inviting new people to, so that when they come to church they already know some people.
     All these suggestions give possible ways to create a genuine culture of welcoming and connecting but also indicate that we are aware it is up to each of us individually to be looking out for new people and approaching them.

Q3) Do you think we are being faithful at making the gospel clear and relevant?
     Many of the responses to this question were contradictory – even just within singular groups. However there was definitely more of a positive response to the clarity and relevance of the gospel at CiTC.
Many groups noted the verse by verse approach to studying the bible and mentioned the concise, in-depth, contextual nature of the sermons as helpful in this area. Groups expressed other positive opinions including the consistent theme of the gospel at every service, the time to discuss during the sermon, the clear applications with practical examples, the outline/handouts, question time, use of powerpoint and technology, the courses offered to learn the basics, the connection between gospel groups and sermons and the openness of the pastors to discuss disagreements.
     Some comments indicated an uncertainty about the faithfulness of the gospel preached mentioning that without much existing bible knowledge the sermons are sometimes hard to understand, that the preaching can be very long and heavy and doesn’t always answer the questions we have.
Some groups thought that CiTC has not achieved clear and relevant gospel teaching mentioning that there is a very academic approach to our preaching which assumes a high educational standard and caters to a particular learning style that some people find difficult to connect with, along with the difficulty for non/new Christians to engage without the base understandings. Contradicting to this there was a comment that the sermons were too basic, and could be a bit more challenging.
     Most of the concern for this gospel teaching centres on less educated people or non-Christians.

Q3a) How can we be doing this better?
     There were lots of useful ideas for how the gospel could be taught with more clarity and relevance at CiTC. The comments were roughly divided into four main categories; how to do this for non Christians, ideas for Sunday night services, the intellectual nature of the sermons and the application area.
     Non Christians: A desire for more notification when it will be a sermon aimed at non christians was expressed. The suggestion that topical themed nights might be helpful or even dedicating one service each week to a simple evangelistic talk rather than the complex teaching. Engaging non Christians better through courses, discussion groups or question times are other ideas.
     On the night: Question times, testimonies, use of powerpoint and multimedia, explanation of why we do things (eg read bible, pray etc), shorter sermons, follow up questions and reviews of the basics were all ideas of how to improve this gospel clarity and relevance on the night. A particular, practical comment was giving time for people to find the place in their bibles before starting reading.
     Intellectual nature: Explanations of words, maybe even a glossary and awareness of complex language and concepts are suggested ways to balance the sermons a bit more.
     Application: A desire to have more in-depth, practical application from the sermons was a noted suggestion. This could be achieved by examples, discussion questions for after church, a better understanding of demographic (ie: not just students and workers), an encouragement to have and write questions to the pastors and running more courses for different stages.
     Letting people know about the blog and using it was also thought of was a way to engage better with the gospel.

Q4) Do you think we are good at loving and serving one another?
     A majority of groups discussed comments to this question that indicated an uncertainty about whether or not we are good at loving and serving one another. Some groups thought that the combining of congregations has created many opportunities to serve, that coffee and supper after church are helpful, small groups were highly noted as places where this love and service happen, and the fact that many non Christians keep coming regularly to church is a testament to the love and service present at CitC.
     However, the size, transitory nature, time constraints and lack of mingling at church are noted as reasons as to why we are dissatisfied with the love and service at CitC. A major factor seems to be that we don’t know how or where to love and serve and we don’t know who needs to be loved and served. Groups indicated that there are a few people who do lots of loving and serving and don’t give others the opportunity. Also that there are people who should be better cared for during the week (eg, the sick, the sad etc), that the noisy, public foyer makes it hard to have meaningful conversations, and that there aren’t any specific individuals asking for help.

Q4a) How can we be doing this better?
     The main way groups thought we could love and serve each other better is by knowing each other better and knowing needs. A desire for more information, opportunity, knowledge and understanding of how to serve each other was a definite theme. Along with more encouragement to be bold in this area and clearer teaching on how to reach out to others.
     Having forums for people with common interests to interact, knowing where people work, knowing who needs prayer, who is sick etc were ideas to improve on this. The practical implementation of these ideas involved creating smaller gospel groups, having a key contact person to go to for assistance or help, having a process to convey needs to the congregation and sharing prayer points somehow. More women’s and men’s events or prayer networks was also a common theme along with linking gospel groups together.
     Other ideas were encouraging the older/mature members to “adopt” newer/younger members for connection and growth together, encouraging more spontaneous hospitality and designated welcoming responsibilities (at supper, during service).

Q5) What is something that you think is an area of weakness as we seek to be "growing followers of Jesus" at CitC?
     There was diverse range of responses for areas of weakness at CiTC. Only a few were commented on more than once, they included connecting and linking people into church, the lack of community due to cliques and the intimidating size of the congregation. Many comments were reiterated from other sections of the review. 

     Some new comments about areas of weakness included a lack in the community awareness and reaching out from CiTC, a lack of awareness about the other congregations of Crossroads, not enough prayer and that it’s not a very emotional and expressive church.
     Overall the main area that seemed to be of concern was the connection of people into the congregation. 

Q6) What sort of things would you like to see more of at CitC?
     Again, the varied range of responses to this question were extensive. Clearly there are lots more things people would like to see at CiTC! Specifically, a desire for a more external focus was evident (evangelism, outreach events, local missions, hospital visiting groups). 

     However, most comments related to things within CiTC that there could be more of. Super suppers featured, as did more songs / time allocated for music and more practical applications from the sermons. Regular men’s and women’s events that are targeted at specific needs, prayer breakfasts, workers interacting with each other more during week, more prayer, more communication with other churches, more question time, more training were all noted. But the most commonly expressed desire was for more social events outside of church. Groups wanted more opportunities to meet random people, more random dinners, more mixing between churchgoers, more activities, more social contact etc.

Q7) What sort of things are you personally being challenged to do in regards to serving God's kingdom At CitC?
     Many groups noted lots of different ways they were being challenged at CiTC. A lot of comments related to serving (knowing where and who and how), interacting with non Christian friends and sharing the gospel with them and most of all people are challenged to prioritise God and put Jesus at the centre.
     People are challenged to meet someone new at church each week, or welcome a newcomer, they are encouraged into various practical ministries (kids / youth, welcoming, church set up, CIF, in the workplace etc) and groups mentioned the challenge to be fostering deeper relationships and loving each other to build community.

Book review - 666 and all that

This really is a very helpful book that guides us through some of the scary and confusing issues that come up when we start thinking about the future and God's plans. John & Greg do a fair bit of 'mythbusting' especially regarding some of those vexed and much argued areas of the rapture, the tribulation, the millenium, the anti-Christ, the end of the world,...and of course that particular number. There's some great stuff on how to be reading apocalyptic literature properly without having to do some theological degree.

I especially appreciated chapter 9 'The fate of those who have never heard the Gospel', which is no doubt an issue we've all struggled with. Also there is some wonderful stuff on the hope we have in Christ, the reality and expectation of heaven and what happens when we die.

This book is a great companion to our current series on Revelation and it covers the breadth of the Bibles teaching on some key issues we perhaps don't always talk about really succinctly...the book is only 200 pages. It will give you great confidence in the future....and probably clear up a whole heap of areas you often 'muse' over, but don't quite know what to do about. Get yourself a copy!

Letting Jesus reign...now!

In Revelation 11:17-18 the 24 elders worship God and say:

  “We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was,
for you have taken your great power and begun to reign.
The nations raged, but your wrath came,
and the time for the dead to be judged,
and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name, both small and great,
and for destroying the destroyers of the earth.”

     I wonder, how often do we really give some time to thinking through how good it is that Jesus reigns on the heavenly throne? 

     How often do we really look forward to fully experiencing the new creation according to Jesus? 

     Can you imagine a world where things work, where true authority is expressed and followed as it should be, where whatever the King says, everybody willingly follows?

     There are so many aspects of heaven in view in Revelation but the good, powerful and just rule of Jesus is one that we really need to come to terms with. In heaven no-one can or would ever want to argue with the perfect will of Jesus. There is no heavenly suggestion box as to how things could be run better. Heaven is relentlessly and joyously good because the forever king rules both for and over his precious people.

     But here’s my thought: if the heavenly reign of the King is enjoyed forever, what are we doing to ensure he reigns right now in our earthly experience? Yeah I know we are not in heaven yet, but do we perhaps fail to appreciate how the reign of the King is to reign in our lives today?
     When Jesus speaks through his word to us today, should we not be as quick to respond in joy and thanks as those in heaven? How so many problems and struggles we face would be avoided if we simply trusted what our King said in the first place.

    So here’s the challenge: are you prepared to really let him reign, to let the gospel set the direction and agenda for your life? Would set your sights and your heart on the glorious end point in heaven, and make decisions in your life that affirm and point to what will be happening for your eternal life?

Have a read of Rev.7:9-17 again, and then read chapter 21 and 22. Be excited by John’s heavenly vision….and let Jesus reign in your life…he’s very good at it.