Sparking With Creativity

One of my favourite childhood shows was Mr Squiggle (showing my age) – where a puppet with a pencil for a nose would take a piece of paper with a few random lines on it, and use those lines to create an amazing drawing.

 

I was always intrigued at the creativity. Mr Squiggle had an amazing ability to making something beautiful and unexpected from something so simple and ordinary.

 

To create something means to bring something into existence.

 

And all of us, every one of us, have the ability to be creative.

Now I never used to see myself as creative at all!

If you’d seen my attempts at drawing, you would say I didn’t have an artistic bone in my body. I’m not much of a singer, or a songwriter. I can’t sculpt, can’t dance, can’t paint, can’t do anything with wood or metal or fabric or food.

 

But I’ve discovered that the sparks of creativity in me most often come out in the form of words. Poetry, speeches, magazine articles, prayers. I feel something well up inside and I need to blurt it out on a page.

 

The very first words found in the Bible are these, ‘in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

 

God Himself is an artist. The God of the Bible is a creative God.

 

And in Genesis 1: 27 it says God created humans in his own image. God is the great creator, and we are made in his image. Surely within each of us is the influence of the creator, the ability to create.

 

We live in a world where music can lift the soul, where stories can ignite the imagination, where painting and photography deepen our appreciation of colour and light and detail. The arts can make us laugh, they can make us cry, they can show us ourselves, they can inspire and delight, they can be therapy.

 

God still creates. Here on Earth God creates through the life He has created. God created, God is creating and God will create.

 

Creativity celebrates God. And you and I each have within us the sparks of creativity in all different forms.

 

So I invite you this week to do something creative: make something, write something, design something. Draw, paint, cook, record. Let your imagination lead you to the creation of something new and unique and expressive.

 

Mr Squiggle always came up with something unexpected and clever from a starting point of just a few squiggles.

 

God too can make something beautiful and amazing and unexpected from the simple and the ordinary. People’s lives can be made beautiful and amazing with a touch from the hand of God.

 

Perhaps that’s the most creative act of all.

 

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Time Keeps On Ticking

Time flies!

Well it sure seems like it does, particularly the older you get.

The weeks and months seem to fly by, and time seems to speed up the busier you are. Each year Christmas seems to approach with the speed of a freight train.

Of course it’s just an illusion. The world is still spinning and orbiting the sun at exactly the same speed that it always has. The second hand on the clock still beats out the same rhythm – tick, tock, tick, tock.

Time doesn’t fly so much as it marches. Relentlessly. Amidst the joys, despite the pain – time marches on.

 

A song my children learnt at Primary School was “My Grandfather’s Clock”, a song written way back in 1876. Some of the words are:

‘Ninety years without slumbering,

Tick, tock, tick, tock,

His life’s seconds numbering,

Tick, tock, tick, tock,

But it stopped short, never to go again

When the old man died’

 

I recently complied for myself a list of ‘Life Goals’ – things I would like to achieve or experience or have influence upon before the clock stops ticking on my life. But on reflection, this big list of challenges and experiences and places to visit is built on the assumption that I have many years left in which to do them, when really, I could fall off the perch tomorrow. Or today for that matter.

The Bible authors seemed to understand the fragility of life. In Psalm 90:12 it says, “Teach us to make the most of our time, so that we may grow in wisdom.” Grasping the reality that none of us know our future, and how much time we have left on earth, brings about a level of wisdom in our approach to living.

I love this quote I heard recently ‘the only person you need to better than is the person you were yesterday’.

How do I make the most use of my time and become a better man that I was yesterday? For me it’s about this journey of trying to become more and more like Jesus every day. Through reading about Him in the Bible, through communicating with Him through prayer, through meeting together with other fellow Jesus-followers, and through interacting with the world and its people in a way that would honour and bring pleasure to the one I follow.

And I know that if I do that successfully, I will automatically be a better person today that I was yesterday. Because I’m emulating the most perfect human being who ever lived. (No wonder – he was the Son of God!)

Ultimately I want to have made a difference in the world, and by giving love is the best way I can think of to do that. Radical, unconditional, self-sacrificing, without-prejudice love. Just like Jesus did, and does.

No matter what phase of life we’re in, it’s something we all can do. As the seconds of our life go ticking relentlessly by, may we each learn to make the most of our time, and gain a heart of wisdom, through the relentless giving of love.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Flying Kites

 

Across the road from my house is a large oval, and it is a great place for flying kites.

Now this is one skill I have never been able to master (one among many I might add). I have trouble launching the kite into the air, and even more trouble getting it to stay in the air. Lots of running, winding, more running, more winding, and eventually a lost temper and a trudge home.

So I admire good kite flyers, and I love to sit and watch them manoeuvre their kites through the air, allowing them to catch the wind and dip and dive on the air currents. Kites can come in all different shapes and sizes and designs, but in the hands of someone with skill, they seem to take off and hover and fly with what looks to me like ease.

As I watched a kite flying recently, I thought of it as a metaphor for my life, and probably for most of our lives. One minute we can be soaring – flying through life with the wind filling our sails. Success, joy, great relationships, sense of peace – whatever it is, we seem to be right up there, with life going great.

But it doesn’t take much for it all to come crashing down to earth. Whether it be sickness, or loss, harsh words or just a run of misfortune, we come a-crashing down, and feeling like having hit the bottom, we have to pick ourselves up and start all over again, aiming to once again catch the breeze and rise.

This was certainly the pattern of my life. I’d be cruising along until I’d do something stupid, or make a bad choice, or just suffer some misfortune, and I’d be brought back to earth with a painful thud. But then I placed my life in the hands of a skilled ‘kite-flyer’ ie God. With God pulling the strings, I’ve had far less crashes, and I feel as if my life is propped up by a Divine wind that keeps me flying. Sure I take a dip and a dive every now and then, but something pulls me back up without having to endure a painful crash.

This summer, as you see a kite flying in the air, may you think about who is pulling the strings of your life. Is it you? If so, do you keep falling, crashing? Let go – give your life over to God, and maybe with your life in the hands of a skilled kite-controller, you’ll fly higher than you ever have before.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Hospitality

Once it was so common that we hardly used to name it.

Now it is the name of a whole industry.

I’m talking about hospitality.

‘The friendly and liberal reception of strangers and guests’ (Websters)

We can find hospitality (usually) when we visit a restaurant or café, perhaps when we stay at an accommodation place such as motel or B&B, as to the business owner and or employees, we are a stranger yet a guest.

But the art of offering hospitality in our homes in this country is on the slide.

You and I tend to offer hospitality to only a limited number of people, people who we already know and like - mostly relatives and a few close friends.

This is in contrast to many cultures around the world, who still uphold the value of offering hospitality to all, even the stranger. In Biblical times too, hospitality was extended to whoever needed it, strangers and acquaintances alike. In fact, ‘in its original form, "hospitality" combines two separate words - one meaning friend and the other meaning stranger. So, from the beginning of its usage, hospitality has carried with it the idea of making friends out of strangers’ (J Cox).

In the Biblical letter called Hebrews, there is this advice: ‘Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.’ This may be a reference to Abraham in the Old Testament showing hospitality to three visitors who turned out to be God’s representatives.

Jesus also taught the importance of hospitality, and spoke of people giving him something to eat when he was hungry, something to drink when he was thirsty, being invited in when a stranger. Of being clothed, looked after when he was sick, and even visited while in prison. Although Jesus hadn’t necessarily received these things personally, he said, “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

When we offer hospitality in any of these ways, God is pleased.

Sure, it may be risky. Strangers after all are strangers. We don’t know anything about them, so we don’t know if we can trust them. When we show hospitality to the stranger, we should ensure that we offer hospitality sensibly, and with some safeguards in place.

But if we totally dismiss the idea because of the risk, we exclude the opportunity to learn, to make new friends, and to receive the rich reward and blessing that seems to accompany the hospitality experience.

In his book Outlive Your Life, Max Lucado writes: ‘Hospitality opens the door to uncommon community. It’s no accident that hospitality and hospital come from the same Latin word, for they both lead to the same result: healing. When you open your door to someone, you are sending this message: ‘You matter to me and to God.’ You may think you are saying, ‘Come over for a visit.’ But what your guest hears is, ‘I’m worth the effort.’”

May we each learn to live with open hearts, and open homes.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Breaking Down The Walls

On November 9^th, 2013 it will be 24 years since the fall of the Berlin wall.

Construction of the infamous wall began in the dead of night one August in 1961 to separate West Berlin from surrounding East Berlin and East Germany, and probably to halt the large numbers of people wanting to leave East Germany at the time for the democratic west. Just past midnight, trucks with soldiers and construction workers started tearing up streets that entered into West Berlin, dug holes to put up concrete posts, and strung barbed wire all across the border between East and West Berlin.

Imagine how shocked the people were when they woke up next morning. What had once been an open border was now fenced off. No longer could East Berliners cross the border for operas, plays, or sporting matches. Approximately 60,000 commuters couldn’t head to West Berlin for well-paying jobs. No longer could families, friends, and lovers cross the border to meet their loved ones. Whichever side of the border one went to sleep on during the night of August 12, they were stuck on that side for decades.

In 1989, amidst a changing political scene, and significant civil unrest, it was announced that East Germans would now be free to visit West Berlin and West Germany and the gates were opened on November 9th. Bit by bit the wall was chipped away by souvenir hunters with sledgehammers or hammer and chisel, before finally being removed totally by earthmoving equipment in 1990.

The fall of the wall brought freedom. And it brought great joy. Families were reunited, relationships restored. Two separate territories eventually became one.

Some two thousand years earlier, another wall came down. The barrier between God and mankind – sin – was torn down as Jesus paid the penalty with his death, and we were all reconciled to God through the gate of forgiveness this opened up. The forgiveness was not just for the Jews, but for all people – men, women and children of every race, creed and socio-economic group on the planet. His death brought freedom, and reconciliation, and subsequently joy.

Walls and barriers that divide are terrible things. Yet we seem good and creating metaphorical walls between ourselves and others, particularly those that are different to us in one way or another. And I’m sure this saddens God.

Don’t erect walls. Don’t divide or section yourself off from individuals or groups of people. We were all created equal. God loves everybody equally. You don’t have to agree with everybody, or even like everybody, but once the wall goes up it gets so hard to bring down.

And most importantly, don’t separate yourself from God. Keep your face turned towards him, living lives that are wholesome and pleasing to God. Enjoy the freedom and the joy that comes with being able to be in relationship with the God of love.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Use By Date

One of the regular features on most of the packaged foods we purchase from our local supermarkets are the 'use-by' or 'best before' date stamped on the box, wrapper or bottle. This date gives you an idea of how long the food will last before it loses quality, or in some cases, for health and safety reasons, the date by which the food must be eaten to be assured of being safe for consumption.

Shoppers are becoming more and more aware of use-by dates, and will look to purchase items with the latest use-by dates to purchase the freshest, and give the longest time to use the product before it spoils.

However, foods still need to be properly stored to remain fresh and safe. It’s no good leaving a carton out of milk out in the sun, and then wondering why it is sour when still a few days within the use-by date!

As I get older, I wonder what my ‘best before’ date is. In physical terms, I’m past my ‘best before’ already, as I get slower and stiffer and take longer to get over bumps, bruises and minor ailments. But in many aspects of life I think I’m still managing to improve, or at least not get worse. Perhaps my driving is an exception!?

I think for many of us, our hope is that our ‘best before’ is some time in the future.

And for all of us, our lives have a ‘use-by’ date. Only problem is that none of us know when that will be - when our heart will stop beating and we take our final breath on this earth. With that being the case, shouldn’t we put a bit more effort into enjoying the days that we have while we have them?

Shouldn’t we all love more deeply, forgive more quickly, listen more carefully, speak more words of encouragement and affirmation, knowing that today could be our last?

In the book of Ephesians in the Bible, it encourages us to ‘be careful how you live, not as fools but as those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity for doing good in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to understand what the Lord wants you to do.’ (Ch 5: 15-17)

The Lord God wants us to do things like love, forgive, to act compassionately, to seek justice, to care for others and for our earth, to be grateful and to give thanks. Good things. Positive things. From our hearts.

May we each do our best to make this world a better place, before our ‘use-by dates’ are up.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Don't Get Lost

These days, it should be a lot harder to get lost.

With the invention of the GPS, or Global Positioning System, our cars can now be fitted with SatNavs or Tom-Toms or  Navmans that we can input our desired destination into, and it will actually audibly direct us when and where to turn to reach our journey's end.

GPS receivers use signals from satellites which orbit the Earth at known positions. Each satellite has a unique identification code and sends a signal which the GPS receiver software can use to calculate the distance from the device to that satellite.

The software can then pinpoint the device’s location on a map.

But the applications of GPS have extended beyond our vehicles to our wrists, via watch-type devices, or to our smart phones. Theoretically, we can always know exactly where we are, and be able to plot a course to where we want to go.

This all presumes, of course, that the mapping that has been done is accurate. I’ve heard plenty of stories of people’s GPS devices trying to take them through the middle of paddocks, or along streets and roads that don’t exist, or big trucks finding themselves at a dead-end in a narrow street. A mis-spelling when entering a destination last week had my maps ‘app’ trying to send me to England instead of a neighbouring suburb.

As well as accurate maps, the other variable for arriving correctly at our chosen destination via GPS is our willingness to listen and obey the instructions. Recently I thought I knew better than my English-accented friend, so continued to ignore his advice and just went my own way (which I still say was quicker!)

When we think of our lives, our human existence on the earth, all of us one day will come to an end, a destination, a finishing point. While some are preparing for an afterlife spent in a coffin, or as ash kept in a jar or strewn in a favourite place, I’m preparing for an afterlife spent in a place called heaven. That’s my chosen destination. My course is being plotted with the help of The Bible, God’s ‘map’ for living fruitful lives on earth and eternal life in heaven. It is a ‘lamp for my feet and a light for my path’. It steers me onto the Jesus road and ‘leads me in the way everlasting’. I know where I’m headed, and thanks to the Bible, the best way to get there.

Perhaps you’re wandering aimlessly through life, either unsure of your destination, or ignoring the voice on your GPS directing you towards eternity. Maybe you’re feeling lost, or without a purpose. Set your destination, trust in God’s map, and trust God’s voice. And one day, when your earthly journey has ended, you’ll hear the words “you have arrived at your destination”.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

The Coach

The quarter time and three quarter time breaks in an AFL match can be almost as fascinating to watch as the game itself.

The body language of the players usually reflects the pattern of play in the preceding quarter as they either trudge towards where their coach and trainers are gathering, ‘the huddle’, or they run energetically accompanied by back-slaps.

Some initial words of wisdom may be spoken, players take a drink or get attention to injuries or sore spots. Then comes the coach’s address.

For some reason, what the coach has to say to his players is a source of immense curiosity. In the professional ranks, spectators aren’t allowed onto the playing field, so knowing what is said remains a mystery. Even the TV cameras, which are allowed just about everywhere else these days, aren’t allowed to film what the coach says in the huddle. Hence the curiosity.

But on suburban grounds, large crowds will often gather around the team to listen to the instructions, encouragement or admonition of the coach to his players. Every player’s eyes are fixed on the coach; he has every player’s attention; it’s a time to focus on what is being said. They want to know what advice the coach gives for the situation, what the strategy is to come out on top, what the instructions are and what part they each have to play in this team game.

At junior football it’s a slightly different story. While the huddle still happens, while the crowd still gathers, while the coach still offers instructions and encouragement, it is usual for the attention of the young boys to be all over the place. Partly because they struggle to receive instruction without accompanying pictures, but mostly because they couldn’t really care what the coach was saying. They are easily distracted. Many of them seem more interested in what is going on around them, who is doing what, where mum is standing etc. They just want to run back out and get on with the game. Little less talk, little more action please.

Most of us plough through life the same way – we don’t want advice, we don’t want instruction, we don’t to be critiqued – we just want to get on with playing the game of life how we want to play it. We’re not so concerned about how we might best fit and contribute in a community sense – we just want to get a kick ourselves. We are often easily distracted by what everyone else is doing, and have no real interest in receiving instruction.

What if there was an all-knowing ‘coach’, who had prepared a book of instructions that gave us all the advice for living a good life we would ever need? What if this ‘coach’ knew all about us, and outlined for us what was going to work best for us, and for the ‘team’ of the community around us? What if by taking a quick break from the action every now and then, we could listen to his words and use them to bring out the best in ourselves?

God is my coach. And I take a break from the action every day to read his instruction book, the Bible. It instructs me, critiques me, advises me and encourages me. I just need to stop, focus, hear what God says, and then go and put it into action. And I find it helps me get the best out of myself.

Perhaps if you’re struggling a bit, finding the going tough, not getting a kick, playing below your best – it might be time to seek out the ‘coach’ for some instructions. Join in the huddle at a local church, grab yourself an instruction book and go kick yourself some goals.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

The Best Beauty Treatment

As someone not really keen on needles, I haven’t ventured down the path of being injected with Botulinum toxin type A, more commonly known as Botox.

Those who had received Botox injections were largely a subject of derision some years ago, but the practice of having this toxin injected into our faces is now not only acceptable, but a desired and regular practice by a growing number of people worldwide. Wikipedia estimates have the global Botox industry growing to $2.9 billion by 2018.

While some of this is for genuine health matters, much of it will be injected to smooth out the wrinkles in foreheads and eyes and lips – wherever we think our face needs a touch-up, in search of a more youthful look. Treatments can last as little as six weeks to as long as eight months, but ultimately, to keep up appearances, botox injections must become a regular feature in that person’s life.

There are some potential side effects, and the substance itself is actually pretty nasty. Produced by bacterium, it is one of the most acutely toxic substances known, with the potential to cause botulism if used incorrectly. But that doesn’t stop people from trying it in their attempt to look better.

In the Bible is the story of the selection of a new king. God directed the prophet Samuel to go to a man named Jessie’s house, where God said he would show Samuel which of Jessie’s sons to anoint as the new king. The first son he saw was Eliab, a strong and handsome young man, and Samuel thought this had to be the one. But God said, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t make decisions the way you do! People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at a person’s thoughts and intentions.”

From God’s perspective, what’s on the inside far outweighs our external appearance.

Wanting to look good is not a bad thing, it’s just not as important as how we look on the inside. We are willing to pay big dollars and make certain sacrifices to look beautiful, but are we prepared to do anything about having a beautiful heart, a beautiful character?

Instead of injecting ourselves with toxins, we should be injecting our lives with love, patience, compassion, unselfish kindness, faithfulness and self-control.

This is the work of the Spirit of the God. When you turn towards God and walk in tune with Jesus, this spiritual work of character refinement and enhancement begins. For some like me it’s a slow process, others get some miraculously instant results.

For all it’s a journey of continuous soul beautification.

And the side effects of this beauty treatment are all good.

And there’s no needles!

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

A New Thing

Sitting atop a chest of drawers in my bedroom are two old fashioned porcelain vases. Covered in a floral design, with a couple of chips here and there, these two vases sit by side as ornaments, much to my wife’s chagrin.

“Can’t we get rid of those ugly things?” she constantly asks.

My oft-repeated reply of, “No. They belonged to my great grand-mother,” is always met with the question “so?”

So – why do I keep them? I paused to ponder this very deep question recently. Why should the fact that these vases once belonged to an ancestor I never met or knew have enough relevance for me to hang on to these things (which are rather ugly, and worthless)? Why too do I keep things that once belonged to grandparents and parents, unable to ever contemplate throwing them away, as if to do so would be an insult?

My wife simply thinks I’m a hoarder, and points to the box of old newspapers, my junior sport medals and folders full of old football cards as evidence.

I guess with the family heirlooms it’s more of a case of wanting a link to the past. A heritage. An acknowledgement of those who have come before me, without whom I wouldn’t exist. Something tangible that connects me to my ancestors.

But the danger exists for all of us of getting stuck in the past. Nostalgia can get a powerful hold on us and prevent us moving forward. Many people today get mired in the hurt, bitterness or grief of past days, and it can be hurtful and harmful. Or they look so fondly back to the ‘good old days’ that they become rancorous or defeatist about the present and the future.

In the Bible, the prophet Isaiah records God as saying, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.”

A belief that God is continually at work creating and bringing about new circumstances and new opportunities and new experiences – ‘new things’- is what gives the Christian hope and a sense of excitement of what lies ahead in life. It frees us from the past. We are much easier able to ‘let go’ and just ‘let God’.

We don’t get dragged down by our past failures or hurts so much, because we know that our mistakes are forgiven and something new waits just around the corner.

When you become a follower of Jesus, it’s just like becoming a new person. The past is the past. And you can leave it there. You can move forward in freedom. The old is gone. No longer relevant.

But… when it comes to family heirlooms?

Hmm – the vases - I think I’ll hang on to them, for a little while longer anyway.

Sorry, dear.


www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Running Away

Running away – from somewhere, or something, or someone – has been the basis of many great films, books and stories. And the Bible is no exception.

The story of Jonah, the ‘belly of the whale’ guy, is a running away story. God told him to go to the city of Nineveh to do some preaching to the wayward people there, but he got up and went in the exact opposite direction, paying his fare to travel by boat to Tarshish to get, in his mind, ‘as far away from God as I can get.’ But during the journey a storm whipped up, and Jonah ended up getting thrown overboard, only to be swallowed by a huge fish. Once vomited back onto shore, he decided to head straight to Nineveh, where God wanted him to go I the first place!

Jesus told a running away story, which has become known as the story of the Prodigal Son. A young man asked his father for his inheritance early, then took the money and ran – to a distant country where he lived the high life and spent all the money. He got to the point of being so poor and destitute, working in a pig sty, that he was eating pig slops to survive. Even though he felt he’d burnt his bridge, he decided to head home to face the music and see if he couldn’t get some small improvement in his living conditions.

Imagine his surprise when his father, who had seen this insolent, disrespectful son run away from home and waste all the inheritance, welcomed him back with the open arms of forgiveness, and immediately threw a big welcome home shindig!

Many of us try and run from God like Jonah did. I sure did. As soon as I got married and left home, not only did my church attendance go from weekly to never, but my faith went out the window. I lived much like the prodigal son, wasting my time and money seeking pleasure in ways and on things that were always only temporary. I hurt many people along the way with my selfish, indulgent living. Almost destroyed myself.

Today I meet lots of people who perhaps attended a Sunday School as kids, or who went to church for a while in their younger days, who used to pray and believe and seek to live a Jesus-following life, who have long since abandoned this aspect of their lives. Turned away, or ran away, from God.

Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son for any of us who had run away from God. The father in the story is an image of God, who is just waiting for us to return, and as we do, we are welcomed with open arms and completely forgiven. The relationship is restored, and celebrated.

Perhaps you’re on the run now. Running away from God.

Psalm 139 tells us that no matter where we go, we can never get away from God’s Spirit, never get away from God’s presence. Other parts in the Bible assure us that we can never get away from God’s love.

So turn around. Turn back to God. Say a prayer. Dust off your Bible. Find a suitable church.

Go on, go home. There’s a warm welcome awaiting you.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Putting It Off

If a genie popped out of a bottle right now, right in front of me, and offered me one wish, I’d be tempted to ask for an end to Winter and for Spring to begin here in Australia.

I’m not a fan of the cold. I prefer my skies blue to grey, my winds to be warming not biting, and for the maximum hours of daylight possible.

I look at my garden, becoming increasingly unkempt, and find myself saying, “I’ll get to that when the weather warms up a bit.” I look at the mess in my garage, and think “I’ll clean all that up when the weather’s a bit warmer.” I see the forlorn look on my dog’s face, and say to him, “I’ll take you for a walk when the days get a bit longer, and a bit warmer.”

I have a lot of things being put off, waiting for a change in the weather.

We do this a lot in life also, don’t we? Put things off until circumstances change. Until the season of life changes perhaps.

“When such and such happens, then I will…”

“Once so and so does this, then I will….”

“I’ll be happy when …”

“One day I’m going to…”

When Jesus lived on earth, he invited various people to follow him. Some, like the disciples Simon, Andrew, James and John, left what they were doing immediately and followed. Yet others put it off, agreeing to follow Jesus but only after they had attended to a family situation or a personal issue.

Jesus got a bit annoyed with them, and told one would-be follower, “No procrastination. No backward looks. You can’t put God’s Kingdom off till tomorrow. Seize the day.” (Luke 9:62 – The Message)

The aspects of life such as love, forgiveness, reconciliation, meeting the needs of others are things that shouldn’t be put off until tomorrow. Doing the things that God requires and values shouldn’t be determined by your present circumstances or season. Maybe the gardening can wait, or cleaning up a messy garage can be put off, but when it comes to people and relationships, and the things of God, we need to seize the day.

Every day is a gift from God to be used for His glory. Every day contains opportunities waiting to be grasped. So begin each day with a prayer of thanks to God for the chance to make a difference in the lives of others. Whether it be Winter, Spring, Summer or Autumn, sunshine or rain, don’t put off the people stuff, the stuff of God’s Kingdom. Instead, seize the day.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Bargains

Every day the inbox of my email account fills with people wanting to give me a ‘special offer’, ‘great bargains’, ‘never-to-be-repeated opportunities’. All attempts to sell me something, to get me to part with my hard-earned money. Not because I need something, but because they have managed to make me think that by not buying, I’m missing out. At least most of these are genuine.

 

I still get the occasional scam email from someone on the other side of the world. The free money email, you know the one where you just have to give your bank account details and they will put $7 million in there.

I am saddened when I hear of people losing all their life savings having trusted in someone to invest money on their behalf into what sounded like a wonderful scheme. Something that offered a better-than average return that would increase their wealth like nothing else, only to find their trust has been betrayed, and the money has gone.

We need to be wary of fantastic offers. My dad always said, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is!

There is one offer however that I have discovered that is fantastic. And it’s true. And it’s free. And it’s guaranteed.

It’s the offer God gives to us, called ‘salvation’. All it takes is a belief, a belief that Jesus was the Son of God who came to earth and lived among us, and that when Jesus died on the cross he opened the way for us to be reconciled to God. That we can now be forgiven for anything we’ve ever done that has hurt someone else or hurt God. It cost God hugely, but costs us nothing.

And the return on this investment? Amazing.

Hope, freedom, peace, joy, a new life here on earth – and eternal life!!

It’s the real deal, the best deal, the 100% genuine special offer. The bargain of all time.

You can’t lose. So get on it!

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Dodgem Cars

One of our family’s favourite rides at the carnival, fair or show is the Dodgem Cars. My three sons and I get on those cars, and we are determined to cause as much mayhem for each other as possible. We aim to bump into each other, to put each other off course, make them stop altogether is good, and we race ahead laughing at their misfortune. Unfortunately, other innocent people tend to get caught up in our crashes and bumps as well. But hey, that’s the feature of the ride – you know when you buckle up that seatbelt that you’re going to get hit, so no sympathy.

Regrettably, this is the way some people live life.

Their focus is on getting ahead, no matter who they crash into along the way. And if someone ‘bumps’ them, they floor the accelerator and chase after them, hoping to bump into the culprit harder than what they had done to them.

It’s called revenge. Paying people back. Getting even. This hunger for vengeance seems to be have been part of human nature forever.

The funny thing with dodgem cars is that there is no finish line. No one actually wins. You just go round and round in an endless quest to cause each other grief.

Same when it comes to revenge.

It costs time, physical and emotional energy. And most often, the avengers don’t feel any more satisfied. It keeps the wound open, prolonging the pain of the original offense. It keeps the feud boiling away, and often begins a cycle of retribution that spirals downward, at times leading even to death. And it doesn’t seem to ever dissipate the anger.

Jesus spoke a lot about revenge and forgiveness, and much of it sounds crazy. When one of his disciples asked what the limit was on the number of times you should forgive someone, and suggested it was perhaps seven, Jesus answered “seventy times seven”.

He told his followers to turn the other cheek if struck, and not to hate our enemies but to love them.

Sound crazy? Unfair? Why this need to forgive?

Jesus explained that because God is prepared to forgive us for all the things we have done wrong, we need to be prepared to forgive those who have wronged us. If we don’t think we should be expected to forgive people who’ve hurt us, how then can we turn around and expect God to forgive us?

When we harbour resentment and bitterness and anger, it hurts and damages us. Seeking revenge does little or nothing to alleviate it. Only forgiveness can.

If someone ‘bumps’ you in life, follow the advice of Jesus - forget revenge and forgive instead. And as you do, be thankful that there is a God who is prepared to forgive us for our wrongs.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Man's Best Friend

Good friends are loyal and stick by you no matter what, and that's especially true when it comes to man's best friend.

When 68-year-old Lao Pan died in China in November 2011, the only surviving member of his family was a small yellow dog. Stories emerged of the heartbroken pup taking up residence at Pan’s graveside and refusing to leave even after going seven days without food. However, villagers took notice of the loyal canine and began bringing food and water to the gravesite. (Fearing for his welfare a dog-lover soon adopted the dog, and he is doing well)

 

What does loyalty mean, and what does it mean to show loyalty? Loyalty means being faithful, or true to an allegiance.

We hear a bit about loyalty, and about disloyalty, in the world of sport. I’m a football fan, and I get really upset when one of our players decides to leave to go and play at another club. Swapping clubs is a bit more commonplace in our professional sports these days. But going back a few years, when players swapped clubs, whether it was for better opportunity, or more money, they were labelled as being disloyal.

Fans would never dream of just up and swapping clubs. They have an allegiance to their favourite team, one that is unwavering, even in the midst of loss and defeat. When a player ‘defects’ to another team, they often get booed by the very same people who used to idolise them.

Loyalty. Faithfulness. Being true to an allegiance.

We take that view with our sporting teams, we expect it from our favourite players, but sadly for some this high value we place on loyalty doesn’t extend to other aspects of life, such as relationships.

In the Bible, in the book of Proverbs, it talks a fair bit about loyalty and faithfulness, and this verse in particular is one to remember:

Prov 3:3 (Good News) ‘Never let go of loyalty and faithfulness. Tie them around your neck; write them on your heart’. Verse 4 goes on to say ‘If you do this, both God and man will be pleased with you’ 

Loyalty is an admirable trait. One of the greatest character traits of dogs, one that we admire, is their loyalty and faithfulness.

And it is a characteristic that God wants us to display too, across a whole range of relationships. To stick with people, through the good times and the bad, to be faithful and true, dependable, unwavering in our support.

It’s also one of God’s greatest characteristics - His loyalty and faithfulness to us. God promises to never let us go, to never stop loving us, to never cease from seeking relationship with us. He is Man’s Best Friend.

May we each work at being loyal to friends and family, mirroring God’s loyalty and faithfulness to us.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Reinventing Yourself

The great Gatsby was once not so ‘great’.

This character from F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel started life with little. Born James Gatz, he was the son of unsuccessful farmers. Unable to come to terms with this poor family background, he voluntarily estranged himself from his family.

 All alone, struggling to make ends meet, he decided to reinvent himself, and James Gatz evolved into Jay Gatsby. And life became much different. He had a new, fictional past, and motivated by love, his hunger for money to win the girl of his dreams drove him to extraordinary, and illegal, lengths.

Residing deep in many of us is a desire to have the opportunity to reinvent ourselves. To rewrite our past. To change our identity. To be dramatically lifted out of the present circumstances of our lives to a utopia, or to the attainment of our dreams. Not necessarily because we don’t like ourselves or what we’ve done before, just the dream to escape to a place of bliss. Or accomplishment. Or to try something completely different.

CBS news reported last year that the former gangster rap icon formerly known as Snoop Dogg had reinvented himself, changing his name to Snoop Lion.
He told a news conference that he was ‘born again’ during a visit to Jamaica and was now a reggae artist. He said that in Jamaica, he connected with Bob Marley's spirit and is now ‘Bob Marley reincarnated.’

For some, a desire to reinvent themselves comes due to shame or embarrassment over things they have done. Some who want to portray a different image for political or business gain will come up with a new look, and supposed new outlook.

Embarrassed by their name, many have changed it by deed poll, such as my great-grandfather who shortened his name from Longbottom to Long.

Yes – this desire to change ourselves, to become a new person, is widespread.

The Christian faith offers this ability to reinvent yourself. In the Bible it says, “those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!”

It is really like being born again.

But no need to change your name. No need to change your musical preference. No need even to disown your past. It’s just that your past no longer defines you. It’s forgiven. It’s well and truly behind you.

Because followers of Jesus believe that whatever they’ve done wrong in the past, whoever they’ve hurt, whatever mistakes they’ve made – they’ve all been wiped off the slate. God has forgiven all of them and doesn’t hold them against us anymore. It brings freedom from guilt, freedom from shame. It’s a total release.

New life. New meaning. New purpose.

So reinvent yourself today. Follow Jesus. You’ll discover a new you.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington