Sand Castles

We are so fortunate to live in close proximity to a beach, and we take just about every available opportunity to go there, being a family of beach lovers.

Our activities there are varied, and dependent upon the weather, naturally. Sometimes our beach visit may just be for the purposes of a long walk, or to sit on the sand and relax. Other times we will take our dinner there and eat at the beach, or take the dog for a walk at the times he’s allowed on there.

Our kids too will do various things – play amongst the beach huts, ball games, fossick, and of course they’ll swim when the weather’s warm enough. Sometimes when it’s not quite warm enough too.

Most visits, irrespective of the weather, will involve some form of building or tunneling. From elaborate sand castles, to water channels, to plain holes – our boys in particular just enjoy digging around in the sand, making something. This can keep them occupied (and quiet, and not fighting) for hours.

As I’m watching them build and dig, and occasionally helping or adding some words of wisdom, I’m thinking ‘as soon as the tide comes in, all that hard work is going to be washed away’. In the back of their minds they know it too, that by morning, there won’t even be a sign of all the hard work they’d put in just the day before.

Sadly, as I look around my community, I see people who similarly spend lots of time and energy working hard building their own little ‘castles’ of stuff and basking in their accomplishments. Yet at some point in the future, it will all be gone, not a trace will remain.

Jesus told a parable about a rich man who made plans to keep tearing down his barns to build bigger ones to house his ever increasing crop yields. He thought to himself that with so much stored up, he could take life easy; eat, drink and be merry. But God reminded him that he could die any day, and then who would get what he’d set aside for himself. And Jesus said a person was a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.

It’s easy to get caught up in, the need to work and toil to make wealth for yourself. To buy things for pleasure’s sake. To get ‘stuff’ to make you happier.

I think Jesus was right – these things are all temporary. And one day they’ll be gone – or you’ll be gone.

But one thing the Bible espouses is that a relationship with God is one that can last forever. Perhaps we should be putting just as much effort into this as we do building bigger barns?

A sand castle looks good for a day.  A life lived unselfishly, a life of giving and loving and seeking after God, well that looks good forever.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Graffiti

I have a confession to make – when I was a teenager, I was a graffiti-ist.

Not a graffiti artist, because what I did wasn’t art.

On any surface I could find – school walls, railway stations, shops, bus shelters, fences – I would scrawl my nick-name. Sort of like old-fashioned ‘tagging’.

Now as a middle-aged man, with teenage sons, I cringe in shame and embarrassment when I think of this immature boy skulking around with a black texta concealed in my pocket, looking for the next place to record my name.

As I reflect and look back, I ask myself why I did it. What was my motivation? And I guess it was really a pretty poor attempt to be known, to have my name recognised, to seek notoriety, to achieve some local peer fame.

Alas, some of these desires can tend to linger on in life despite subsequent maturity. If I’m not careful, I can still find myself seeking to be recognised, to be admired, to have a degree of fame.

I think there’s a bit of that in all of us, if we’re honest. It is really tough to be truly humble, to do everything we do anonymously. We tend to have within us a desire to seek recognition and congratulations and admiration. Social media forums, such as Facebook and Twitter, make it easier to broadcast about ourselves, and can be traps for the person seeking after humility. (I have to question myself sometimes – why write these articles? Is it for recognition or to genuinely help others on the journey?)

One guy got it right though – Jesus was as humble as you could get. On many occasions he warned those who were on the receiving end of his miracles not to tell anyone. Jesus never sought power, never sought fame, never even sought recognition. He didn’t try to take over politically, religiously or culturally. When he rode into Jerusalem, he chose a donkey. What a sight that must have been! Jesus wasn’t after fanfare or prestige.

For those of us convinced Jesus was the Son of God, this is even more incredible. That one with such power and authority would humble himself to come to the earth to live amongst the people. To be born to poor parents, in a stable, in an animal’s food trough. From birth to death, Jesus was Mr. Humble.

And the Bible contains a promise that those who follow Jesus as the Lord of their lives will receive God’s Spirit, which will help make them more and more like Jesus. This includes the eradication of self-seeking, and an ever-increasing desire to do good deeds anonymously, to show kindness and compassion anonymously, to move quietly through life without seeking to put our names up in lights.

Or on walls, or fences.

It feels good when we’ve done something noteworthy - that no one else needs to know about.

As a boy, I wanted to be known far and wide, and to see my name appear everywhere. Now, as a Jesus follower, there’s only once place I want to see my name – and that’s in the Book of Life, hopefully waiting for me when I check into Heaven!

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Good News

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” 

So announced the angels to the shepherds in the Christmas story of the birth of Jesus recorded in the Bible, in the Gospel of Luke.

The word Gospel means good news, and it was good news of great joy that the angels were announcing. One of the other Gospel writers, Mark, starts his book, his story of Jesus, with the words, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”

Can you remember the last time you received some good news?

Maybe it was good news that was of great joy. The birth of a baby, the all-clear from the doctor after some tests, a reduction in a bill you had applied for, a child who had been away is coming home. Good news, when we are on the receiving end, can lift our spirits in an instant.

But I wonder, how long since you were good news to someone else?

Offered to help someone who was in a difficult situation, shown someone compassion and empathy, made contact with someone who haven’t seen or heard from in a while, gave a gift to someone when it was totally unexpected and maybe even undeserved.

Father Lou Heriot, writing on this theme, says “We often expect others to be Good News for us. Now is a time for us to be Good News for some others. In these days of gloom I think it would be a real Christmas gift to others if we became realistic bearers of Good News. Jesus would like that of all of us.”

The angels announced good news 2000 years ago. And Jesus is still good news for all who choose to follow him.

May we each not only be bearers of good news, may we be good news to someone who really needs it.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Hide and Seek

We’ve all enjoyed a game of hide and seek at one time or another.

How long since you’ve played? I still find it great fun.

It’s such a laugh to play with small children, who think that if they can’t see you, then you can’t see them. As long as their face is hidden, even if just behind a pair of tiny hands, they think that they can’t be discovered. Usually they’re giggling at the same time!

As children get older, they understand a little better the concept of hiding, and due to their small frame are able to hide away in some pretty hard to discover places. It’s amazing though that when they find a great hiding spot, often they’ll return to that exact same spot, time after time, making them easy to discover.

Then over time they become really good, puzzling even the cleverest adult. But the longer it takes for them to be found, the more they begin to worry that they might never be found, and I’ve often had my kids reveal themselves because they thought I had stopped looking for them and they might have been stuck there forever.

As an adult I come up with some great hiding spots, only to discover that my belly is sticking out, or my feet, or my hair, and I’m easily detected. Or that cupboard I used to be able to fit in has somehow shrunk, and the door is left ajar – a tell-tale sign that I’m in there.

Did you know that hide and seek is one of the earliest activities of man recorded in the Bible?

Early on in Genesis we have Adam and Eve, who have broken the rules by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, and, knowing they’ve done the wrong thing, they try to hide from God among the trees in the Garden of Eden. God calls out “where are you?” and like little kids inexperienced at the hide and seek game, Adam calls back – “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.”

How amusing that they thought they could hide from God.

How sad that ever since, people have felt they have been able to hide their ‘sinful’ behaviors.

The writer of Psalm 139 knew there was no hiding from an all-seeing, all-knowing God, declaring ‘Is there any place I can go to avoid your Spirit? To be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, you’d find me in a minute – you’re already there waiting!’

You can’t play hide and seek with God. God always finds you!

But the great news is that God always forgives you.

Better to bring it all out in the open, to confess our failings, and to receive the wonderful gift of divine forgiveness. Don’t be a hider. Be a seeker.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

The BBQ saga

We need to introduce a compulsory new subject into our school system. Urgently!

We need to teach ‘Assembly’ – the art of putting things together that you have bought that come as flat-packs - all in parts and pieces in a box.

Everything I buy seems to come in a box, full of screws and nuts and bolts and washers…

My most recent purchase was a BBQ – and it came in a box! So I had to get the screwdrivers, spanners, hammers – and then open up that little book entitled ‘assembly instructions’.

I read them carefully. I looked at the pictures. I counted out all my parts and pieces. I sorted everything out, took a deep breath, and began.

Things seemed to be going well as I continually referred back to the pictures, back to the instructions – until I realized I had the legs on around the wrong way!. So everything had to be undone and redone.

As I got to the end of one stage I realised I had a piece left over. I could see where it was supposed to go but I couldn’t get it to fit. Fortunately a friend was visiting, and I showed him the offending, ill-fitting piece. He was able to quickly identify that it was supposed to go on the inside, not on the outside where I was trying to put it.

While I was thanking him profusely, he quietly pointed out that the legs were on the wrong ends. Aagghh. How could I have got things so wrong? I had the instructions, I had the diagrams. I thought I was following them correctly.

With this correction of a friend, I was able to get things right, get it all connected and tightened, and was able to enjoy the fruits of my labour at dinnertime. And I was only short 2 nuts, which I must have put somewhere they weren’t supposed to be. Almost perfect.

Christians have the Bible, we have the teachings and the example of Jesus, but sometimes, no matter how carefully we think we’re reading the instructions, we get the application wrong. We misinterpret something, or misunderstand how it’s supposed to be applied.

As I came across the problems with my BBQ construction, I was heard to say “stupid BBQ” “these instructions are wrong” “they haven’t made the BBQ properly!” when all along it was the incorrect following of the instructions, and my handling of the pieces that was wrong.

Unfortunately, many outside the Christian faith see the mistakes that Christians make and either say, “stupid religion” “the Bible is wrong” or “the whole God thing makes no sense”.

And those who call themselves Christian can easily get discouraged by the mistakes and misunderstandings and misbehavior of themselves and/or their fellow believers.

I encourage you Christians to keep at it, keep referring to the instructions, listen to the counsel of a friend, and don’t be afraid to undo and start over again in matters of following Jesus.

I encourage those outside the Christian faith not to blame God or the Bible or religion in general for the awful mistakes and misapplication that followers sometimes make. They’re just learning and trying to put things together in the way that the manufacturer (God) intended.

And to the Minister for Education, please teach my kids how to assemble flat-packs, so I don’t have to endure another Saturday afternoon like the BBQ assembly day again.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

WWJD?

I guess you’ve seen or heard of the acronym WWJD either on bracelets or stickers or badges. For some it’s just a fashion statement, for others it’s a constant reminder of the message – What Would Jesus Do?

I’m led to believe that it originated from an 1897 novel by Charles Sheldon about a small-town pastor who encourages his congregation to live a year based on that question. In each situation to consider what Jesus would do, and act accordingly. It was picked up in the late 20^th century and became a Christian marketing sensation.

Thomas a Kempis was a 15^th century monk who hundreds of years earlier wrote a piece with a similar sentiment entitled The Imitation of Christ, exhorting people to do just the same thing – to imitate Jesus in all the situations of life.

Author Ed Dobson recently took things a little further. He determined to live for an entire year exactly how Jesus would have lived. He ate kosher, grew his beard, observed Shabbat and all the Jewish feasts and festivals. In addition, he set a goal to read a Gospel a day (the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), so that within 12 months he would have read (or listened to, as the reading became tedious) each Gospel story over 90 times. So keen was he to discover not just how Jesus lived, but what he taught and modeled, and to live that out as best he could.

He found it very difficult. The lifestyle to some degree, but to live out the teachings he found even tougher.

I find it difficult too.

To love your enemies, to give to anyone who asks, to turn the other cheek. Much easier said than done.

I’m comforted somewhat by the fact that those who were with Jesus as he was teaching these things, and modeling them, even they found it difficult. And they had a living, breathing example right in front of them. They were with Jesus himself!

So is it just too hard? Should we forget trying to imitate Jesus and live out his teachings?

I have found that it requires me to start afresh each day, with a fresh resolve, to do the best I can to live according to the teachings and example of Jesus. He said we were to take up our cross daily, and to follow him. For me this means not living by my own human instincts and desires, but living by my God instincts. And persisting on a daily basis in spite of my failings.

And when I do this, when I give living like Jesus my best shot, I find my life so much more fulfilling, so much more satisfying, so much more joyous and rewarding.

I believe that Jesus provides the absolute best blueprint for living on Earth. Why not read the Gospels through a few times and see if you agree?

Then may we all do our best, each and every day, to live as imitators of Jesus.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Images of God

I treasure the pictures that my children drew of me when they were quite small.

Their kindergarten efforts at making a Fathers’ Day card were often accompanied by a hand-drawn image that they believed represented me, their Dad. Their very first attempts usually featured eyes and a mouth which was smiling, inside a circle on top of two long sticks. As the years passed I developed a body, which was usually adorned in brown and gold stripes representing the football team I barrack for. I in time also grew hair – at first just a few long single strands, in later years a messy mop, then also a big nose and big ears, which is pretty close to the mark!

Now that my older children are teenagers, their attempts to draw me now would include the correct eye colour, silver-flecked hair, and a body somewhat in proportion to the real life model, whilst still including the big ears.

As God’s children, we too can sometimes create an image of God that is incomplete or inaccurate. And that is the image we hold tightly to. The God who is always angry, or always watching to catch us out, or God who is distant and uninterested, or the God that controls every minute details of every human’s life. The God who loves us but never disciplines, or the God that disciplines because He loves us. The God who is always testing us, or the God that always lifts every single burden.

I read recently of a man describing how his view of Jesus changed throughout his life. It began seeing Jesus as a sheep-carrying, tender-hearted, friendly softie. It developed and changed into hero, and at other times things like guru, teacher, miracle-worker, rebel, and Saviour.

The Bible describes God in various ways, highlighting different characteristics, and these can be seen in the life and person of Jesus. And they are broad and detailed – not stick-figure like. With the most important being the capacity to love.

As my children matured, they were better able to represent their picture of me.

As God’s children, we mature through various spiritual disciplines and activities such as our reading of God’s Word, prayer, service etc. And hopefully as we mature, we are able to form and represent an image of God that is closer and closer to the real thing.

May we each learn to hold our mental images of God a little more loosely.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Obedience Over Instinct

We have two recent additions to our family. They arrived a few weeks apart, and these little ones are cute and adorable. They can’t talk, but we feel like they can communicate through the little noises they make. They are nursed and cuddled and very well looked after.

We are now the owners of two guinea pigs.

But it has caused a major upheaval in our household. Not with the humans, but with our dog.

Our dog has a bit of this, bit of that, but is primarily an English Springer Spaniel with a fair bit of whippet. Can’t you just picture these breeds of dogs in their natural state? Little furry creatures that scurry along the ground and through long grass are precisely what they were born to chase.

So our dog is beside himself. He is just super keen to get these creatures into his mouth. So he will attack the hutch incessantly. Scratching, yelping, lunging.

My kids were shocked when I meted out some discipline. A few smacks on the rump to let him know that I did not want him annoying the life out of our little guinea pigs – literally.

“Don’t do that, Dad. Poor dog. He can’t help it”

My response, “He needs to learn obedience over instinct.”

As soon as I said it, I thought of a spiritual parallel.

The Bible says that we have all been born with instincts, and that our natural instincts are to tend towards behaving in ways that are displeasing to God. Our instincts pull us towards greed, selfishness, disregard for others, prejudice and a whole range of things that we do that are in conflict with God’s designs for the world.

God gave the ancient Israelites some commandments, ten in all, but Jesus distilled them down to two – love God and love others. Yet this loving others bit goes against our instincts. See it’s not just loving people that we like and get along with, but we’re called to show love to all people, like them or not, whether they’ve hurt us or had conflict with us or wronged us. And that’s hard.

And I feel like God says, “It’s hard – but you need to learn obedience over instinct”. And through that obedience we demonstrate our love of God. Because when we disobey, and go according to our human instincts, and don’t show love to others, we separate ourselves from God.

Obedience over instinct.

Just as well for me that God offers forgiveness too.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Let's Stick Together

My age isn’t always reflected in my taste in music, but today it probably is.

The song going through my head this morning was the old Bryan Ferry classic “Let’s Stick Together”. The song is actually a plea from a married man to his spouse not to leave him. But it also reminded me of the passage in Ephesians 4 where Paul says, “Always keep yourselves united in the Holy Spirit, and bind yourselves together with peace. We are all one body…”

I learnt recently that the fire ant has a body that is denser than water, so it doesn’t float. But when a storm comes, the colony of fire ants join all together and form themselves into a life raft that can float for weeks. Tiny hairs on their bodies trap air bubbles, so thousands of fire ants that would normally struggle and drown in water as individuals, when they join together, they can ride out the flood.

This is the design, too, for the church. That we would be united. That we would stick together. That we would work together as one in the service of Jesus. That there would be peace in the church as we function all together as one body.

When that is in operation, we can ride out any flood.

Let’s stick together, come on, come on, let’s stick together.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Staying Clean

Each day in Philadelphia, in the US, if you walk down by City Hall you will see a long line of people standing in the footpath, apparently waiting for something. A cross-section of humanity in age, ethnic origin and appearance. Further enquiries would reveal that these people were on probation or parole and were waiting to take their daily drug test to show that they were staying clean.

One of the challenges as a parent of young children is trying to keep them clean. That goes for some teenagers I know too – who seem to think it’s OK to skip having a shower for a day or two or three.

Staying clean – it’s a basic, hygienic function that most of us engage in every day. Washing, bathing, brushing. A daily cleaning ritual to keep our human bodies clean.

 

This has spiritual overtones for me too. It’s OK to do things to keep the outside clean – but what am I doing on a daily basis to keep the inside clean?

When our sins are forgiven, we stand before God clean (2 Peter 1:9). And we know that if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9). So to remain pure, to have a heart that is pure, a good daily habit to get into is the seeking from God of forgiveness.

Perhaps add it into your physical washing routine – pray while showering, or while washing your hands, or while brushing your teeth – “Lord, yesterday/today, I failed you by… please forgive me?”

Let him forgive you on a daily basis, as has been promised – and may we each live every day clean in the eyes of God. Clean bodies, clean minds, clean souls.

Colin Lane

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Christ In Art

One of the more enjoyable excursions while I was in London last year was to the National Gallery. They had an extensive exhibition showing of Christian art.

I spent half a day, wandering from room to room, using it as a time of worship. Immersing myself into the scenes depicted, reminding myself of the stories being portrayed and thanking God for things like creativity and for His works throughout the centuries.

Of course, the way that Jesus was represented varied quite markedly, from artist to artist and from era to era. From features bordering on feminine, to the ethereal; European, Mediterranean; glorious and triumphant, to suffering and weak.

Jesus had many faces.

Initially I found some of the images quite off-putting. “That’s nothing like what Jesus would have looked like”. But I thought later that throughout Christian history, artists have just been depicting Jesus in the context of their culture, both in time and in place.

Something that we are inclined to do. Which I think is quite OK.

And I’ve since also reflected on the words of Jesus found in Matthew 25:40, ‘whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’.

And recognised my own failings - I can quite easily overlook this in some people, thinking ‘that’s nothing like what Jesus would look like’.

Author Leonard Sweet says, “We will never know what Jesus looked like, because he looks like everyone at every time. It’s not his physical presence outside of us but his resurrection presence inside of us that is the handwriting of the gospel anyway.”

As I view Christian art now, I try to concentrate less on the facial features of Jesus shown in the art, and more on the heart features that can be found in me.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Easter 2012

My favourite cartoon character is the Road Runner. Fast. Cheeky. Never gets caught. Always chirpy! I want to get a Road Runner tattoo, but I’m a bit old!!

Poor old Wile E Coyote tries everything to catch him, but only manages to blow himself up, fall from great heights, get hit by a freight train and have things drop on his head.

Must admit, I have many more days when I feel more like ‘Wile’ than I do feeling like the Road Runner. Disappointments, falls, failures. Particularly in the spiritual aspect of life.

I know how Peter must have felt, when standing around that fire, having witnessed Jesus being arrested, pretending he didn’t know him.

I’ve done that.

Either outright denial, or just keeping quiet when there was a nice little opening to insert my faith and convictions into a conversation.

In Luke’s Gospel, he mentions that Peter followed the arrest party at a distance; near enough to see Jesus, but not near enough to be seen with Jesus. Then, after denying Jesus three times, and the cock crowing, Luke says that ‘the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter’. And Peter went away and cried bitterly.

The anvil on the head. The dynamite exploding. The fall from a high cliff.

Guilt.

How hard we try in life to avoid this feeling. All sorts of blame, and justifications, and excuses. So we don’t have to feel guilty.

It’s not a nice feeling.

Peter shed tears – tears of guilt, of remorse, of regret.

In the ensuing days came the cross, and the resurrection. And before long another fire, this one built by Jesus on a beach.

And forgiveness was given – three times.

And the guilt was gone.

That’s what Easter does for me. I feel the guilt of my sins, as I should; I feel the hurt that I cause my Lord when I deny Him or keep quiet; the cross makes me feel guilty.

And I shed tears.

But the resurrection wipes it all away. Like Wile E Coyote, I’m able to pick myself up, brush myself off, and ready myself to pack more explosives or paint tunnels on cliffs and resume the chase – full again of hope. Forgiven. I serve a Risen Saviour.

Max Lucado said ‘Mingle the tears of the sinner with the cross of the Saviour and the result is a joyful escort out of the canyon of guilt’.

May that be your experience this Easter.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

The Christian Pilgrimage

Paul Elie once said: 'A pilgrimage is a journey undertaken in the light of a story. A great event has happened; the pilgrim hears the report and goes in search of the evidence, aspiring to be an eyewitness. The pilgrim seeks not only to confirm the experience of others first hand but to be changed by the experience.'

Two things came to my mind as I read that quote.

It reminded me of the gold rush. Hearing the stories of men who travelled from far overseas in search of gold. They had heard that gold had been discovered around Ballarat and Bendigo, and they set off in search of the evidence, to be changed in the form of wealth. Amazingly many docked in South Australia and travelled by foot to the gold fields, in search of participating in this great, potentially life-changing event.

And it also I think nicely sums up my Christianity. The story - the great story - of God Himself coming to Earth in the form of a man. Then a most miraculous event - the resurrection. Jesus, Son of God, alive and living by His Spirit.

I've heard the report, I want to see for myself. I'm always in search of the evidence. I want to confirm the experience that others have had with this risen Christ, and I want to be changed by that experience too. I want to enjoy all the riches of Christ Jesus.

But the Christian Journey is not a one-off event, like a visit to Mecca. It is a life-long journey, exploring the mysteries and the depth of God, experiencing God in new and different ways, following in the footsteps of Jesus all the way to eternal life.

A pilgrimage. A life-long one, walked often on narrow paths, at times alone, at times through wilderness, at other times beside green pastures and peaceful waters. On mountain tops, and through valleys.

A pilgrimage possible through grace.

A pilgrimage towards love personified.

Come with me...

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

There is a time to be born and a time to die.

There is a time to cry and a time to laugh.

There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven.

These words from the Bible remind us of the different seasons of life, and how life is a journey of different experiences.

One of the privileges of being a Christian Minister is the opportunity to conduct funeral services, and to journey with people in their time of grief, a time or season that we all must face at times during our lives.

For some the passing of a relative or loved one is a blessing, as it brings an end to a lengthy period of pain & suffering. Yet on some occasions death is a shock. The person we know and love is gone in an instant.

For each of us there’s a time to die, but we don’t know when. It’s one of those seasons of life that we can’t control.

And usually when someone goes suddenly, there remains so much unsaid. And we look back and our perspectives change. The little things, the annoyances or the grievances, become so unimportant. And we realise yet again the message of Jesus - that in this world, by far the most important thing is not power, or wealth, or status, or possessions – it is love.

In this grand epic story of life, we need to learn to love those that share this scene with us, even those who frustrate or annoy or hurt us. We need to learn to forgive and dispense grace. And we need to let those we love know that we love them, as often as we can.

Today is Valentine’s Day, a day where love is expressed. Restaurants will be full, florists overwhelmed, chocolates devoured. Love is in the air, kisses everywhere.

What a shame we only focus on love one day a year.

‘Cause it’s always a time to love, It’s always the season to love. God, help us to love. And help us to be expressive with that love – not just in a romantic way, but with all those in our lives.

It’s always the season to love.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

The Near Miss

Can you look back on your life and pick out moments that changed your life forever? Not events – my wedding changed my life, positively, of course, but moments? One minute life is heading in one direction, and all of a sudden, in a split-second, everything is changed.

Sometimes it can be a catastrophic moment; other times the moment might have appeared as mundane but later proved to be monumental.

Take a moment to think….

There can also be moments in our lives that had the potential to be life-altering, but passed without incident.

When my son Cody was 5, in his first year of Primary School, I was walking him home from school. Through a couple of quiet, leafy, suburban streets, then a wander along a path across a large expanse of grassed parkland, before we came to a major road – a single lane road, median strip, 4 lane road, median strip, single lane road and then onto the footpath for the short stroll home.

It was a clear, sunny day, and he was sharing with me all the highlights of his day. We strolled through the park, and approached the road and made our way to the pedestrian crossing. We crossed the single lane and waited at the designated spot to cross the 4 lane road once the traffic lights had turned red.

For some reason, Cody looked right, and seeing no cars coming, took off across the road at a gallop. But he hadn’t looked left. If he had, he would have seen 2 lanes of cars driving at 60 kph straight at him.

I could see them.

I yelled “stop”. Tyres screeched as panicked drivers slammed on the brakes.

For once, Cody did as he was told. He stopped. Turned, and ran back to where I waited.

His life was spared my mere centimetres.

One moment I was enjoying the company of my much-loved son. And in a flash, his life could have ended, and my life would have been turned upside down.

Had any of those narrow escapes?

We hear sayings like ‘live this day as if it’s your last’, but we don’t.

We hear sayings like ‘make the most of every moment’, but we don’t.

The Bible says that one moment we will be living life as normal, next moment the Son of Man will come. That eternity is always potentially only a moment away.

Each of us is always only a split-second away from a life altering, or life ending moment.

Make sure you’re right with God.

(And yeah – live today as if it’s your last etc etc)

Prayer - because we want to

Do you think Jesus prayed a lot because he wanted to pray, or because he thought he should pray?

This question caused me to stop and reflect recently.

Because I have really struggled for a long time to move my prayers from the “should” category to the “want to” category.

I can remember so many suggestions and exhortations from ministers and other Christians to set aside a specific time to pray each day. To designate a prayer chair, or to go to a certain place at a certain time each day. To get up early and ‘spend time with the Lord’. Prayer should be this, or prayer should be that, but it should be time dedicated solely to God. Done quietly, purposefully, sitting still.

For some people, I know, this works great, and much joy and peace and victory comes through this daily ritual of prayer.

But I struggle.

I resonated with some words that John Ortberg recently had to say – he also struggled to ‘set aside time to pray’. And when he did, and was praying, he felt tired, or not fully present.

That’s me. After a minute or two I can’t think what to say, and if I quieten myself to listen for God, my mind just wanders off in a million directions, or I fall asleep! I recently drew up a circle of prayer – a list of people that I want to pray for regularly. Those closest to me I pray for often, and as the circle moves out the frequency lessens. I go to my list at the beginning of each work day, and it’s really helpful, but even if I have 10 people to pray for, I can’t seem to go for more than a minute or two!

John Ortberg consulted a prayer coach who gave him this suggestion: “For the next week, don’t pray. Instead, take 30 minutes each day, and go do something you love to do. Something that makes you feel alive. And invite Jesus to do it with you.”

The next day, he went to the ocean, took his shoes off, and started to run, and invited Jesus to cone along. “And I found the strangest thing. When I thought I was supposed to be talking to him I found it effortful and difficult. Now that all I had to do was invite him, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. I found myself effortlessly talking with him about ideas for sermon series, about concerns over my children, about needs of my church…and sometimes I just found myself wanting to point out pelicans and the waves to him.”

This is how I prefer to pray too. My mind works better when my body is moving, so each morning as I exercise, I invite Jesus to be present, and as my mind wanders over the various aspects of my life and the people in it, I lift these to God. These are the times when God gives me ideas, and revelations. Where my concerns seem to get lighter. Where my praise is richest and most heartfelt.

Prayer is a real mystery. I don’t know how it works, I just know it works!

And what works for me may not work for you.

And I guess what I’m trying to say is don’t let anyone give you the formula or the recipe or the prescription for what prayer should be. Explore all the different ways suggested. Give new and different things a try. If you’ve got something working for you now, stick with it. But remember there’s no set way, no set time, no set length, no set format.

It’s just communication with the Divine. An intersecting of soul and Spirit.

So find what works for you.

If that’s incorporating your prayer time into an existing activity that you already do each day, that’s fine! It could be driving, walking, shopping, drinking tea, doing yoga – anything where you usually have time to just let your mind wander.

Invite Jesus into it. Allow your thoughts to interact with His thoughts.

Enjoy prayer.

May for all of us prayer become a “want to”, not a “should”.

Life Is Like a Batch of Muffins?

Although on occasions when making muffins I will use a recipe and the individual ingredients that it lists, usually I just use a box of premixed ingredients. You know – add eggs, water, oil – then stir. May not be quite the same as compiling the individual ingredients, but there’s less chance of something going wrong, and you know exactly what you’re going to get at the end – so long as you take them out of the oven at the right time!

Low risk, guaranteed result.

Quick, easy. Enjoyed by kids who aren’t that fussed about quality, so long as there’s quantity.

Is your life like that? I know mine was.

Take the easy route.

Don’t risk it.

Do what everyone else is doing. Have what everyone else is having.

If you can’t foresee or guarantee the outcome, don’t try.

Just do whatever’s quickest and easiest. The safe way. The comfortable.

But what do you most often end up with? Poor quality. Sameness. Bland. No different to the thousands of other muffins being baked in kitchens around the country.

The Gospel, the good news, is a call to abundant life, life in all its fullness. A life that is rich, satisfying, fulfilling, full. Different. Quality.

Abundant.

Joyful, peaceful, rewarding.

A thrilling adventure, that one day will culminate in eternal life and a forever in God’s presence, but a life and an adventurous life that can be fun and purposeful and abounding in love, now!

As I look at the world, I see most people wishing and yearning for ‘more’. Endless pursuits of adventure and pleasure and excitement. But it seems to me that without the living Spirit of God active in their lives, they’re all making muffins from the packet.

Jesus called us to live a life of unimaginable adventure. I mean, fancy having your life controlled by a divine spirit, for goodness sake. I never know what’s around the corner. Every day I’m surprised by the actions of God, by the goodness of God, by the love of God, by the paths that God leads me down. The chance encounters. The incredible blessings.

Every day is a day of different ingredients.

So if your life feels bland, ‘mass-produced’, safe and easy – I want to encourage you to give it all up for following Jesus. And then watch your life become so tasty and unique and unexpected and ‘full’.

Every Knee Shall Bow

First there was ‘planking’ – now there’s ‘Tebowing’.

American footballer Tim Tebow has sparked the latest craze to sweep the internet.

The Denver Bronco’s quarterback is a devout Christian, and has become known for getting down on one knee to pray during NFL games - often when he has assisted in scoring a touchdown. Now everyone’s ‘Tebowing’ – defined as: '(vb) to get down on one knee and start praying, even if everyone else around you is doing something completely different.'

Pictures are being sent into a website set up in his honour from around the world, showing fans 'Tebowing' in landmark locations such as the Sydney Opera House and Israel's Wailing Wall.

Others can be seen indulging in the practice while surfing or after carrying out allegedly life-saving surgery on a patient.

Tebow's performance was so good in Sunday's game against Pittsburgh Steelers - during which he threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to secure a last-ditch win - that it prompted TV presenters on CBS to join in on the craze.

He threw a total of 316 yards over the course of the game. With John 3:16 the most famous verse in the Bible, many on social networking sites and internet forums have suggested is further evidence of the divine interventions they believe the player benefits from.

Having followed this Tebowing craze for a few weeks now, I’m reminded of the hope that the Bible professes, and the line from the chorus “He Is Lord” – every knee shall bow, every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Thanks to Tim Tebow, all around the world people are getting down on one knee in the action of prayer. Now all we need is for them to actually pray. And to confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

That’s our hope. That’s our mission.

May we be a people who bow our knee.

And may we join Tim Tebow in witnessing to our faith, and bringing others to their knees.

An exercise in Godliness

One of things I value in life is physical fitness. I’ve always tried to keep fit and placed importance on physical exercise.  And I try to eat healthily. Well… I try. Sort of. Sweets are my weakness!

So another new year rolls around, and I start over again with resolutions to exercise every morning, and to keep the calories under a certain number each day.

This coincides with reading a book my friend Michael gave me called The Compound Effect – a motivational book that suggests that if we make better choices, with discipline and consistency, these will become habits that will have an exponential effect over the long term of our lives. Where most of us go wrong is that we lack the discipline and consistency to stick at things long enough for them to become habits. We give up too quick. We slacken off. We revert back to our old ways.

Hopefully armed with the inspiration this book has provided, my choices will become habits. And you’ll see a fitter, healthier me over the long term.

Last night I read 1Timothy 4:8 – “Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.”

I wonder how many of us made some spiritual resolutions this new year? How often we place importance on our physical well-being, our physical appearance even, yet continue on neglecting the spiritual.

I made a decision just before Christmas that I would spend the first 15 minutes of each working day, when I arrive at the office, the first, most important thing, before anything else - prayer – and specifically for my circles of influence. (my family, friends, corps people, colleague officers, leaders)

And after 3 weeks, it’s coming close to being a habit.

There are other spiritual exercises such as fasting, solitude, meditation, reading, mission, relationship building etc that we should be engaging in, and setting goals for, and ingraining into our lives as habit.

“Physical exercise has some value, but spiritual exercise is much more important, for it promises a reward in both this life and the next.” The NIV translation of 1 Timothy 4:8, instead of spiritual exercise, uses the word ‘Godliness’, which can sound a bit dull, or scary or unattainable.

But the essence of Godliness is self-giving love.

Of all the spiritual exercises, the greatest, most beneficial exercise, the foundation and building block of spiritual fitness, or Godliness, is love.

David Roper says, “Life is a journey into love, and there’s nothing so beautiful as a godly soul. Physical exercise is good, no doubt, but there is something far, far better: It is to love.”

May 2012 be the year when your choice to exercise love, backed by discipline and consistency, becomes a habit.