Christmas Is for Those Who Hate It Most

Christmas Is for Those Who Hate It Most

A great article causing us to think Christmas a bit differently.

Theology Matters - Dug Down Deep - Joshua Harris

If you've never read nor bought a book on theology, here's a great way to start. We're selling these on the bookstall at the moment.

Less than two minutes with Dave Irving

It will be wonderful to have Dave join our team next year. He'll be heading up the FOCUS ministry at the ANU.

2 minutes with Andrew Lubbock

The Lubbock's head back to Italy next week. They are doing an amazing work. How about watching this video and praying for them and what they're doing?

Two minutes with Andrew Lubbock from CMS NSW on Vimeo.

The difficult and wonderful need for forgiveness

Forgiveness questions

What does the gospel show us when the person who has sinned against us doesn’t acknowledge the hurt they have caused us? What if that person is no longer around for us to even confront them in their sin against us? What if we have been the victim and someone else has got away with something with little hope of justice or reconciliation? Does this mean I am still called upon to forgive? Do I have to become a ‘doormat for Jesus’ and just cop it? How can I deal with ongoing residual anger and pain?

Well it’s not as if the Bible is silent in these areas indeed the gospel touches directly upon all these areas.

The need to point out someone’s sin against you.

Where possible someone’s sin against you should be pointed out in love with the desire to forgive and reconcile. Following the pattern in Matthew 18:15 this should be done not after you’ve had a big whinge about the person to everyone else, but to them. Perhaps one of the reasons some of us struggle to forgive someone their sin against us is because we’ve never actually articulated how they have wronged you. It is just hard to absorb pain and sin, and much easier if the person acknowledges their guilt and changes their ways.

It's not always that easy

However sometimes it’s far harder because they don’t repent or even see they’ve been at fault. Or, they continue to sin against you. What then?

So let’s take the hard example where someone divorces their Christian spouse. The Christian wants to stay married, but their spouse wants things to end. The hurt here is immense. Can someone come to the point of forgiving their ex-spouse this sin of walking out on a marriage? Well yes I believe they can and they should. This doesn’t mean hiding the truth of the hurt and pain it has caused, but it does mean the Christian will not slander nor fertilize revenge for what has happened. One is the fruit of bitterness, the other the fruit of forgiveness.

However, at the same time if the ex-spouse is being unreasonable and ruthless is seeking to take advantage from the new divorced situation, then applying for and seeking justice is entirely appropriate. Can forgiveness and justice be held together at the same time? Yes I believe so because that is actually what the gospel is all about.

But is there really forgiveness if there’s no repentance?

Well I suppose in a way at this point the person has scorned your desire for forgiveness and reconciliation. It is offered but it’s not enacted from their side so they will not benefit from it, but I think the willingness and desire to forgive needs to be there otherwise you’ll never be able to let go of the hurt.

Loving your enemies

This is an important and startling feature of God’s Word. A powerful enemy who continues to perpetrate evil against you is surely one of the gravest situations to be in. What does the Bible say in regards to this kind of situation. Well firstly the Bible seeks to comfort because God hears the voice of the oppressed. He is not far from those who suffer wrongs. Secondly those who oppress others arouse God’s anger. God is not passively sitting in the background, but his sovereign plans include justice being done. Both of these truths are great comforts to those sinned against. This means that God is always bigger than our enemies and they will not stop the progress of God’s good purposes. (Check out Psalm 10 & 73 to see something of this perspective)

The New Testament takes this even further in that we are told to love our enemies. To do good to those who hate us. Now this goes against every fibre of our being and yet God’s way will always bring blessing to the one who trusts in him so this will always be right for us. Check out Matthew 5:43-48 & Romans 12:14-21 where this is made explicit. What does loving your enemies mean? It means seeking their blessing, longing for them to know Christ and hoping they will turn from their sin. It seems in this situation seeking to forgive is a very powerful way of showing them the love of Christ they so desperately need.

But it’s not fair!

Yes I know it’s not. Which is why the only way we can ever actually do this is through recognition that we ourselves have been God’s enemies and yet in great mercy and kindness he has brought to forgiveness to us. And not just in saying the words, but in moving to action which involved the Cross of Christ. If I have truly seen the glory of Christ then I will know the weight and cost of his forgiveness to me. This will move me to want to reconcile (if possible), forgive and bless even those who have hurt me the most. Indeed the very occasion of my hurts draw me again to the very cross of my saviour who’s love for me frees me from the need for residual anger, the ongoing frustration that justice has not been done to me and the obsession to seek revenge. So the gospel, if understood rightly, makes it intolerable to harbour unforgiveness and to mutter curses against another. It leads you to do what might seem impossible, because you’ve been braced and thrilled by the impossible love and wonder of the cross.

Stepping out in forgiveness

If you are struggling with bitterness and hurt stemming from unforgiveness then I encourage you to really think through why. Have you approached the person with truth and love? Or is that even too hard? If so then you need to appreciate once again the depth of Christ’s love for you. Your bitterness and ongoing gripes will actually become a dangerous criticism and complaint against God, for in affect you are saying his ways are not to be trusted.

Perhaps it is not possible to speak to the person because they have died. If hatred or pain always wells up whenever you think of them you need to take this to the Lord and trust his abounding love and understanding. He is good and sovereign and the deeper reasons for holding onto hurt need to be addressed. The gospel has the power to do this because our very identity, joy, hope and purpose need no longer be captured by the oppression and sin of others, but by the grace of our saviour. The desire and the ability to forgive is not just a great blessing to the one who sinned, but also to the one sinned against. For at this point we are drawn ever closer to Christ whose love and mercy and forgiveness rules are hearts and conquers even our deepest hurts.

Grace in the here and now

Paul Tripp has a really helpful post on the power of God's grace.

He explains four aspects of the “nowism” of the gospel and what grace will do to you:

1. Grace will decimate what you think of you, while it gives you a security of identity you’ve never had.
2. Grace will expose your deepest sins of heart, while it covers every failure with the blood of Jesus.
3. Grace will make you face how weak you are, while it blesses you with power beyond you ability to calculate.
4. Grace will take control out of your hands, while it blesses you with the care of One who plan is unshakable and perfect in every way.

I encourage you to check the whole post to see these unpacked.

Our natural drifts away from godliness

Here's a great warning and encouragement to be proactive in our Christian life from Don Carson.


One of the most striking evidences of sinful human nature lies in the universal propensity for downward drift.

In other words, it takes thought, resolve, energy, and effort to bring about reform.

In the grace of God, sometimes human beings display such virtues. But where such virtues are absent, the drift is invariably toward compromise, comfort, indiscipline, sliding disobedience and decay that advances, sometimes at a crawl and sometimes at a gallop, across generations.

People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, and obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord.

We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance;

we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom;

we drift toward superstition and call it faith.

We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation;

we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism;

we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.

Taken from D.A. Carson, For the Love of God, volume 2, Jan. 23 entry:

It's a women's issue too

Make it Count - Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott live via webcast

Here's a special opportunity to hear from our political leaders in view of this years federal election.
Crossroads will be hosting a webcast open to all from 7pm on June 21 in the Copland Theatre, ANU (end of Kingsley St).

Creative ideas for more generosity

During last Sunday's sermon on Malachi 3 Dave encouraged us to think creatively about how we could be more generous and how we could actually enjoy God more by giving to his agenda and cares in our world. So he encouraged us to be creatively sacrificial and suggested that simply by not buying coffee and lunch so regularly each week, it could make such a difference in our capacity to give.

So imagine not buying coffee or lunch for just 3 days of the working week. Very conservatively, even after the expense of making your own salad and sandwiches at home (shock horror I know for some of us), that would mean we had at least $30 extra to give. That's $120 a month, a for 48 working weeks that's $1440 a year that can be used for gospel blessing. That's huge.

And that's not to say we can't enjoy lunch or coffee, or that working lunches are to be banned.....these are good things to be received with thankfulness to God. But as the Gospel excites us and fills our vision we'll actually enjoy making changes and sacrifice to avoid building treasures on earth in view of the wonders of heaven.

But forgoing buying lunches and coffee is one suggestion......what other ideas might people have in both big and small ways as to how we can avail ourselves of more generosity in the things of God?

Guilty feeling Christians?

The reality of guilt within the Christian life something we have all probably thought about. Sometimes we feel guilty when don't need to. Sometime we don't feel guilty when we certainly need to. Check out Kevin deYoung's excellent little article that I think really helps in this whole area.

Are Christians Meant to Feel Guilty All the Time?

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Simply God |

A great little article on understanding the attributes of God....well, trying to understand anyway...

Simply God | Culture analysis | Sydneyanglicans.net

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New TV show for Christian men.

I hope it's not just for Christian men...

New TV show for Christian men. | News stories | Sydneyanglicans.net

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The struggle Christians have with the homosexual debate

Here's an insightful article on why Christians always seem to come out as the losers in any debate on homosexuality.....and some helpful ways to steer things in more helpful directions.

Jennifer Knapp & Larry King: Why We Always Lose this Debate

The offence of the Prosperity Gospel

I mentioned briefly how repulsive prosperity theology is to the Christian gospel.

I haven't heard it argued against in a stronger or more confronting way than this.

The Rage against God

This looks really good.

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Atheists 'fuelling sectarian conflict'

An expert in sociology says atheists or people without a specific religion are creating the most problems for inter-faith tolerance in Australia.

Check out the article on the ABC website here....you don't often have someone come out and say this, let alone the media publishing it.

Re-thinking ‘ministry’ and making it ‘incalculable’.

Given our current series here’s few thoughts on the potential for ministry in our congregation and gospel groups. If we all took on board, it would be hard to even measure the gospel benefit to us all.

If we think that ministry is just the public preaching and teaching of the Bible, or the ‘pastoral counselling’ that the professional pastor types do, we are in strife as a church and so are our gospel groups. The public preaching and teaching of the Scriptures is vital, it sets the agenda, it should be powerfully making a difference. The pastors meeting up with and encouraging people to gospel living and trust in the midst of sin and difficulty is likewise is important, but we underestimate greatly what real ministry can be done outside of this. I believe it’s incalculable.

Let’s think about the ministry of encouragement. That’s not the patting on the back and telling someone their ok and the world is ok and everything will work out fine. No it’s the sharing, the speaking the truth, the urging, the speaking of biblical truths for the benefit of another. It sounds so unexciting, so….normal.

But it makes a gospel world of difference….

I believe the passages we’ve been looking at in church recently (Ephesians 4:11-16; Hebrews 10:19-25) and we could add Colossians 3:12-17 all urge us in this direction. That thoughtful, deliberate, considered gospel speech to one another will make a world of difference. Where the truth is spoken in love and where the glory of God and the honouring of Jesus are the goal and passion of our lives…what amazing ‘ministry’ would be done amongst us.

In fact imagine we had even 30% of people on Sunday night or at our Gospel groups during the week turning up having considered how God can use them to spur another on in the truth. Such that they sit beside someone deliberately, they think during the sermon who they can share God’s truth with and how they’ll do it. Where they will ask even just one person how they can pray for another. Where they call up that person during the week to see how there doing and tell them they’ve been praying. Where they even simply express quite genuinely how they appreciate having a conversation with another about the things of the Lord. What this person has done is to trust God and put his Word into practice and gracefully, lovingly, faithfully encourage and help others in the same.

Can you imagine how awesome your gospel group will be if half the group are switched on like that?

Can you imagine how awesome church would be Sunday night with that kind of humble, Christ-centred love and trust?

That’s powerful ministry going on and it leads exponentially to more gospel ministry and love and trust happening all over the place.

This is not meant as a criticism really, but often people say to me how they want to get involved at church and don’t know what to do. My response in always, ‘Look around’. Ministry fundamentally is not task or project or event management. Those things are important because they are meant to promote relationship and people and talking and sharing and obedience…the real stuff of ministry.

So the personal ministry of encouragement, revolutionises churches. And we all know the opposite kills churches. Gossip, jealousy, boasting, factionalism, vulgar speech, anger, disengagement….that ruins lives.Gospel love and encouragement saves and transforms them.

So let’s be a congregation excited to be involved in the incalculable potential of real ministry amongst us. Let’s come ready next time we meet and see how God will use us for his glorious purposes as we build each other up in love.

If you want to consider this whole area more download The Ministry of the Pew by Col Marshall here. Make sure you download the article marked 4.05

Talking about Jesus...back on the public agenda

Check out Anton's thoughts on the Crossroads South blog.