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

Wise man

As I was doing some research recently on my Family Tree, I discovered that my great, great grandmother’s maiden name was Wiseman.

I chuckled – one of my ongoing prayers and desires is to become a ‘wise man’.

Above all else, I believe that if I had wisdom, and that if all the decisions I make in life could be wise ones, how much better my life would turn out!

It’s been something men have been wanting for centuries – wisdom. The Bible talks about it a lot.

It was the gaining of wisdom that was one of the big attractions of the forbidden fruit that Eve and Adam ate in the Garden of Eden.

King Solomon, whom God gave wisdom to, and who was renowned as a man of wisdom, wrote many proverbs on the subject – ‘wisdom is supreme’, ‘do not forsake wisdom and she will protect you’, ‘wisdom is more precious than rubies and nothing you desire can compare with her’.

He obviously valued wisdom!

Jesus was also known as a wise man, and he told a story about a foolish man who built a house down on the sand. Of course, when the storm hit, this house with no foundation crashed down and was destroyed. He contrasted that with a wise man who built his house on the rock. And when the rain came, and the wind blew – no matter how strong nature’s elements, that wise man’s house stood firm.

Jesus used this illustration to encourage people to take in the teachings he was giving and to apply them to their lives, proposing that when the ‘storms of life’ hit, those who were wise and had followed his advice would stand firm, but those who hadn’t heeded his message would find their lives crashing about them.

I’ve learned in my life, the hard way, that following Jesus is a wise thing to do. Going about life my own way was pretty disastrous, and I had no real foundation to life. That all changed when I started to apply the teachings of Jesus into my life, and I looked to him for wisdom and guidance.

Each day, I’m becoming little by little a wiser man. On my tombstone one day I hope those who know me will put ‘here lies a wise man’. If that happens, I’m sure my great, great grandmother would be pleased to know that the Wiseman name hadn’t disappeared altogether.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Boundaries

I couldn’t believe it the first time I saw it.

It was a big property, with very little fencing.

A big, aggressive-looking dog comes running, barking, but it would stop at a certain point, and back away; only to rush again, but stop at exactly the same spot, as if there was an invisible fence stopping his progress. The dog wouldn’t progress past a certain point.

When I spoke to the owner he explained that there was an invisible boundary. A barrier wire had been installed, and a radio sender device connected to this wire was sending a radio signal to a special collar that the dog was wearing, which audibly warned the dog that this area was "off limits". This warning sound is the dog’s cue to back off otherwise a correction is given which feels like strong static electricity.

An invisible boundary.

Imagine if we could incorporate this into some of our sports. Imagine rugby or soccer, netball or Australian Rules if the ball couldn’t cross the boundary, if it automatically was put back into play by some invisible force every time it crossed the boundary! Or the players were catapulted back into play if they crossed the boundary!

We love boundaries for our pets and animals, we employ rules and boundaries in our sports, but when it comes to boundaries for our lives, we seem to want to baulk at them. We have an aversion to rules, and to being told what to do; these days it seems we don’t even want delineation of what’s right and what’s wrong.

As much as we might not like them, from the beginning of time humans have discovered that to function effectively as a community, we need rules.

In the Bible story, as the Israelites wandered in the desert having been released from slavery in Egypt, it quickly became clear that this nomadic group needed some rules, some boundaries. And so God gave them the 10 Commandments. 10 rules or boundaries that would help them not only to function more cohesively, but importantly would keep them in relationship and right standing with God.

These commandments have helped shape laws and rules right across the world. They have given a basis to the Christian doctrines and creeds, and have helped guide the lifestyles of billions of Jesus-followers throughout the centuries, because they are wise, and good, and they work.

Boundaries are good. Boundaries are necessary. There is an invisible line that God has instigated that we shouldn’t cross, for our own sake and for the sake of others. Perhaps it’s time to go back and re-visit those 10 Commandments, and make sure that they’re at play in our own lives?

So we can all live harmoniously with each other, and with God.

Thank God for boundaries.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Touching The Sky

The little boy lay on his back on the grassy hill, looking up at the blue sky. “I want to touch the sky”, he told himself. “One day, I’m going to build a tower that reaches right up to the sky so that I can touch it. Whenever he could he would play with his building blocks, practising his tower, and whenever he could he would lie on his back on the grassy hill and look up at the sky. “One day I’ll touch the sky,” he told himself.

Even as the boy grew older, the dream remained alive. And although he never told anyone his dream specifically, he got plenty of encouragement. ‘Set goals, reach high, keep your dream alive, never give up, you can do anything you put your mind to, persist.’

One morning he woke up, and he knew the time was right. He began building. He’d thought of building his tower, practised building his tower, studied about building his tower, designed his tower, saved up money to build his tower; now he began.

“I want to touch the sky”, he said. “One day I’ll touch the sky.”

At the end of each day’s work, he’d climb to the top of his tower. He’d look up, to see how close he was to touching the sky, and although disappointed that it still seemed so far away, he’d determine to wake the next day and keep building, which he did.

A month passed, a year. Each night he’d stand atop the tower, only to discover there was still a way to go. But he wasn’t going to give up. So he kept building. A year became 2, 5, 10 – he kept on building. Architects would come by to marvel at the design, engineers would come by to marvel at the structure, sightseers were a daily feature, all admiring the tower that kept getting taller and taller and taller.

One night, many years after beginning to build his tower, that little boy who had dreamed of touching the sky, and who had put his whole life into trying to achieve his dream, as he made his nightly ritual of standing atop the tower to gaze at the sunset filled sky and check his progress, that boy, now an old man, slipped, and fell to his death.

As funeral arrangements were being made, the minister asked the family why he had put so much into building his tower. What was the purpose of the tower?

“He wanted to touch the sky”, they replied.

The wise minister mused, “But he touched the sky the moment he began!”

As a little boy, I picked up the concept that God lived in the sky. He was ‘up there’, he was ‘looking down’, I was going to, if I was good, go ‘up to heaven. I heard the song “Spirit in the Sky”– ‘goin’ on up to the spirit in the sky, that’s where I’m gonna go when I die’

God lived in the sky – way up there.

But what is the sky? How can God live somewhere, be somewhere that actually doesn’t exist, that can’t be touched, that can’t be reached, that isn’t a place?

When Jesus was on Earth, He said a lot of things about himself, a lot of things about God, who He called his father, and he spoke about a Holy Spirit.

But most importantly, what he left us with was the firm notion that God wasn’t distant, and in fact God could actually live within people. The Spirit of God could be in us. We could be a part of the Kingdom of God right here, right now. How?

Both by living a life pleasing to God and by confessing that at times we’ve done things that God wouldn’t be happy with, and asking that he forgive us, and asking Him to give us this spirit. And somehow it works. It doesn’t magically turn you into a perfect person, but things start happening to you on the inside that I describe as transforming.

If you’ve been searching for a God ‘out there’ somewhere, can I suggest that maybe you’re as unlikely to find God as the boy in our story was of touching the sky. God’s not in the sky. He is what’s known as omnipresent – that is present everywhere, all around. So in the very act of reaching for God, you’ll find yourself in contact with God the moment you begin.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Dominoes

Dominoes.

It began as a simple game of matching numbers printed on oblong pieces of ivory, perhaps as early as the 1200s. Until one day someone put the dominoes next to each other on their ends, tipped one over, and watched the chain reaction as each of the dominoes was knocked on to the next until they all lay flat. The challenge then became to do this successfully with ever-increasing numbers of dominoes, then in various patterns and including obstacles and other bits and pieces that could be incorporated into the process.

And so came the now common term ‘The domino effect’, used literally or figuratively, where a small change causes a similar change nearby, which then causes another similar change, and so on in linear sequence.

We can all sometimes feel in life that we are in the midst of a domino effect.  A trial that seems to trigger a string of other trials. Perhaps it is the loss of job that starts the spiral or the death of loved one, maybe an unwanted divorce, or an accident that can trigger an endless decline in health. Something happens to us, and because of that event it seems to trigger off other events that create chaos, or hurt, or despair; sickness or financial difficulties or trouble with the law. We can make one small mistake or tell one small lie, and the domino effect begins and a mountain is created from what began as a mole-hill.

And as the troubles and trials mount, we find it hard to believe that there is a God who has everything under control.

One of the Bible writers, James, had this perspective: ‘Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.’

It’s never nice enduring the harsher, difficult times in our lives, but we can usually look back and see how enduring that trial has made us stronger or better people, more faith-filled, tougher.

I read recently of a church who have a policy not to hire staff who haven’t had a personal crisis or endured a significant trial. Knowing the demands of church work and ministry, they feel that if people haven’t undergone some major difficulties in life, they’ll be less-equipped – not strong enough, not able to show empathy.

According to the Bible, God is at work, not to shelter us from every difficulty in life, because that would make us weak, but helping us through our trials to build our character.

An old hymn says it well:

He gives more grace when the burdens grow greater

He sends more strength when the labours increase

To added affliction he adds his mercy

To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace

When the dominoes seem to be tumbling in your life, look to God for strength, believing that as God brings you through the other side, you’ll be a stronger person.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington

Struggling

The Hawaiian Ironman. The ultimate ironman test.

Swim - 4kms! Bike - 180kms! Run – 42kms! Just to be able to finish gives you bragging rights for the rest of your life!

It began in 1978 with just 15 competitors. Today over 10,000 compete every year.

In the 1982 race, a 24-year old college student called Julie Moss entered this endurance race as part of her research for her senior thesis on exercise physiology.

Julie had never attempted the race before, and to her amazement she was leading the women’s division out of the water, and was still the first woman off the bike, and feeling OK. As the run wore on, her fatigue increased. But she managed to still be in the lead with only a few hundred metres to run. But it was at that point that her body had had enough – there was nothing left in the tank.

 

She wobbled, her normally strong legs refusing to obey her mental commands. Hundreds of people lining the street on the final stretch cheered her on. But she was staggering all over the place. Down she went. She climbed back to her feet, stumbled a few yards, then down again. Unable to jog anymore, Julie Moss tried to walk, but after a few steps it looked like she was drunk – her body just couldn’t go on. Down she went again.

Race assistants lifted her to her feet. Back then, you could receive help to your feet, but not help to move forward. On her feet, she lurched forward, still leading, the finish line a mere 25 metres away. Down again. She was helped to her feet for just one more step, then down. The crowd noise was unbelievable, urging her on.

As she lay in the chute, her nearest competitor Kathleen McCartney ran past her, denying Julie victory. Everyone expected her to now give up. But there was an extraordinary determination inside, her undeterred spirit wouldn't give up and on her hands and knees, she crawled the last few metres, and collapsed on the line. She reached out her arm to cross the finish line – and then she was carried to the medical tent.

The crowd went wild. They’d just witnessed an extraordinary demonstration of determination.

It had been a struggle; her body had screamed at her to stop, it had virtually shut itself down, refused to move, but Julie’s brain over-rid it, propelling a body without any energy left, just enough to finish what she had begun.

It’s funny - when your struggle is physical, the brain can make you achieve extraordinary things. The body itself is an extremely resilient piece of machinery.

Yet when your struggle is emotional, it works the other way – the body goes out in sympathy.

What was it that got Julie Moss over the line? Firstly, she had a goal. She had a purpose. She had begun a race, and she was determined to finish it.

Secondly, she had courage and determination. As things began to get a bit hard, she didn’t give up. Despite the hurt, despite the pain, she didn’t give in. Courageous. Determined.

And thirdly, she had people there to pick her up. She had people encouraging her. She had people supporting her.

Life can be a struggle. I’m sure each of us has been in a situation where we think we can’t go on. We think we can’t go any further. We feel like giving up.

Perhaps you’re in the midst of a struggle right now. An emotional struggle. A financial struggle. A relationship struggle. A spiritual struggle. A struggle with guilt or shame or bitterness or sadness. Struggling.

I think we can learn something from Julie Moss, and we can learn something from the Bible. We each need a goal, a purpose, something that you can fix your eyes on. One of the writers in the Bible, Paul, wrote this:

I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Jesus Christ, is calling us up to heaven.

Christians believe that there is a prize at the end of our time on Earth, and though we don’t follow Jesus just to get the prize, it helps us set our focus. What happens to me today is not nearly as important as what will happen eternally. I just focus my energies on pleasing God by the way I live my life. That’s my goal. That’s my purpose. And it lifts me out of my struggles, all the time.

Back to Julie’s example. She displayed courage, determination. Again the Bible has something to say – It was Jesus who continually said to his disciples – don’t be afraid, have courage, I am with you.

I know in my life that believing that the power of Jesus is with me, I can be courageous.

And determination - Paul again gives a great illustration of determination, using another running analogy, in a different section of the Bible:

‘Remember that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize. You also must run in such a way that you will win. All athletes practice strict self-control. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.’

The eternal prize helps us keep determined.

And like Julie did, having people alongside to support you, to lift you up, is so important. That’s what a church can be for. A group of people, who because they follow the example of Jesus, are there to lift you up, to support you, to encourage you in your struggles.

If you’re struggling, think about your life’s purpose. If you’re struggling, why not try some Divine help? If you’re struggling, do you have people beside you encouraging and supporting you? If you’re struggling, why not try Jesus? He made a promise, He said this – Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.

He did, He does, and He will.

www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington