Faith in a Zipline

We recently went on a zipline tour in the Smokey Mountains. This comprised jumping off a perfectly good tower while strapped onto a narrow cable, to fly at 40mph over the trees onto another, much lower tower.  Six times.  For fun apparently.

Here are the facts: you have no control over speed – no brakes, clamps, gloves – nothing.  Screaming only helps if you are facing the right way; and you have no control over the direction you are facing either.  At the end is a guy telling you to move your head away from the cable so that if he catches you, you don’t get throttled.  Those solid towers come at you pretty quick at 40 mph.  On teeny tiny wheels connected to a thin piece of aluminium from which you hang on a tired old piece of rope.  With no brakes.  And no steering.  And no airbags.  Not even a cup-holder.  And to top it all they want you to do it up-side down, which apparently you can control.

My wife loved it but apparently I did not look excited.

The difference?  She trusted the equipment and the people, and enjoyed the adrenaline.  I am a forensic engineer.  I spend my life looking at broken things.  I don’t trust stuff like that, or the people operating it.  I am also a control freak, so being completely helpless was not life affirming.

It was just like life as a Christian. 

There is little of significance about my life that I actually have any control over: life or death, health, job security, my kids’ well-being.  No brakes, steering or airbags.  It is terrifying.  I wrestle every day with going back to the bible and being reminded that God is actually in control, because:

·       He is good, and so plans good things for me, although we may sometimes differ on what is defined as “good,” or fun

·       He is all-powerful, so he can actually do something about the things that are out of control

·       He is loving, meaning he is not indifferent and facing the other way playing on his phone when I am coming at a solid object at 40 mph

So we have to keep working on learning to actually trust God.  We do that by trying him out, then looking back and remembering that He did keep his promises.  I finally did enjoy the sixth zip-ride.  Now I just have to enjoy the rest of my life, including the things I am afraid of.  By faith.

 

My flesh and my heart may fail,

but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26 (ESV)

 

 

Navel Gazing

It has been sinking into my awareness that much of current christian writing and teaching is about how we as believers should be responding to the stuff happening around us.  This is necessary and good, but...

The “but” is because our navel gazing, “how do you feel about this,” society is influencing the way we think.  The part we are missing is that we were created to be active in giving, loving, and worshipping, not just contemplating how we feel about life.

 So how do we respond to a life that seems less than ideal?  We typically:

·         Get angry at the people involved, then have to struggle to forgive them and repair broken relationships
·         Get angry with God, then deal with the confusion because God says He is good and He loves you
·         Become an activist, seeking to change the world, until you realize you can't and burn out
·         Become a fatalist, grudgingly "accepting" it all, until someone pushes your buttons and you explode

What we should be doing is celebrating. 

Celebrate bad stuff????  Joking right?  Nope.

Romans 8:28 is an abused passage, but the truth therein applies in every situation.  Everything that comes at you is good, including:

·         Grief: when people we love die or move away
·         Disappointment: when people you trust the most fail you
·         Loss: when you don't get your way, or when the system beats you
·         Failure: when you fall short
·         Broken relationships
·         Blazing success

Lets go back to basics.  What is God's plan for us?

·         Worship him
·         Love others
·         And so find complete satisfaction and fulfillment

Incidents in your life then, are intended by the all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving God to make you better equipped to do these things.

So when I don’t like life, is it trusting and faithful for me to throw a sulk?

Our sin nature drives us to be self-oriented: we take, keep, hoard and manipulate.  God's nature, and what he created us to be, is the exact opposite: generous, sacrificing, loving, creative.  He steers the stuff around us to make us more like Him.  So yes, we should be celebrating His engagement in our lives and that He is forming us into a better condition.

There is a web-page that says "You have reached the end of the internet.  Now turn off your computer and go out and play."

So my basic point.  Life is not about you. God has only good things for you.  You have reached the limits of your introspection.  Now go out and put your energies into helping / loving others with all of your might. That is what is you were designed to do.  There we will find fulfillment.

What should we be doing and writing about then?  Action, doing, loving, giving.  We are indoctrinated to believe that we have made it when we can put our feet up and be entertained.  That’s just laziness.  Rather, we have made it when we find a way to serve that matches our strengths.

I sat in a conference this week and listened to a corporate president talk with excitement and passion about how proud he was of the people he works with and the fabulous infrastructure that they have built.  It was inspiring.  He showed 1000 photographs of how our industry has changed, and how it has changed the world.  The best part?  It was not about him.  This was shortly after another "motivational" speaker spent an hour telling us that if we believe in ourselves we can do anything, and using his past successes  as proof.  Trouble is that same person is in the press for his very public foibles and failures in life.  Who had the greater impact?

We put a lot of energy into chasing happiness, which is disturbingly delicate.  Anything that goes wrong leads to pain instead.  The better way is to seek joy.  Where is that?  In trusting God and serving him. 

Jesus went to the cross "for the joy that was before him" in agonizing torture and death.  Paul's most joyous texts were written in prison.  Why?  Because he was where God wanted him to be, and his audience couldn't get away from him.  Habakkuk celebrated impending starvation, because it meant God was cleaning up the city.

Remember the parable of a man who sold everything he had to buy a field.  He sold everything?  He must be nuts!  Was that a good deal?  Absolutely, because in the field was treasure.  He came out ahead.  Likewise, ditching stuff, "leisure," and self for real joy is an obvious choice when you think about it.

Who am I to rant like this?  Someone who is struggling to learn and live this.  I have a long way to go.

So let’s go, give and let Jesus change us.

A message to politicians

 

As I listen to accolades to Mandela – the common observation is that he was humble, and worked for the good of his people.  He did not seek to make himself wealthy (unlike Mugabe), he compromised where it was good for the country (unlike extremists on both sides of the US congress), and he listened to people (unlike all US congressmen). 

 

It was not about him – and that is an unusual attitude in our culture.

So leaders of the future – is your legacy going to be like his or “They shut down government because they were stubborn and self-opinionated”?

 

Pessimism, Optimism or Panic…

A new day

Coming up today – travel to a new place, some tight connections and tighter deadlines, people letting me down, a critical presentation, my car is making funny noises, and a friend needs help.

It’s all a bit too much.

So how do we react?

The pessimist

It’s all going to go bad, life can’t get any worse, why should I even get up. I hate my life. I deserve better than this. I need a break. It’s all their fault.

The optimist

It’s all going to be fine – isn’t the sky pretty?

The “Believer”

I can do this – whether it is good or bad. If I believe in myself hard enough I will be fine. I am male, strong, smart, and handsome – we are all good (with gritted teeth).

The Bible

It is too much for me. I can do some of it, but a lot is beyond my control. Some will be wonderful, some will be terrifying. In all of it, God is with me, and it’s all part of his good, loving plan. Let’s go!

Which choice leads to joy?

The Good Things in Life

Good things

God has given us good things to enjoy including food, music, beauty, adrenalin and sex. Their purpose is to reflect him and to direct us toward him. We need Him, and Him only, while the rest is bonus.

In theory then, our highest highs are still only a fraction of Him. However, our sin nature makes it hard for us to hear him or to tap into that joy He provides.

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

We instead make the “good things” the end, not the means, and so they can become bad – addictive and distracting.

God’s Point of View

God:

• Is very concerned that we worship him alone Deut 8:19
• Is keen for us to be completely fulfilled and joyful
• Requires that we put aside the “good things” if they threaten to distract us from him

There is an element of sacrifice – we demonstrate our love and need for Him by letting go of the things we like, in order to obtain what we need.

Our Point of View

But:

• The craving for these things is strong
• They are in our faces, while God is more out of sight
• Our culture tells us that they are the be all and end all

So

What do I do, minute by minute?

• Seek Him
• Jeremiah 29:13-14 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. If anyone seeks my face, I will be found by you, declares the Lord
• James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him
• Matthew 28:20 “I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
• You can’t change you – He can
• Seek joy
• Fight for it (Bible reading, prayer, repentance)
• Matthew 13:44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
• Worship Him Psalm 21:6 .You make him glad with the joy of your presence.
• Hebrews 12:2
• Be a living sacrifice
• Put aside
• The cravings
• The “yes buts”
• The rights, “I deserve better than this…"
• Comfort
• Enjoy the good things
• In submission (to Him)
• In context (of their purpose)
• In thankfulness (to Him)
• In service (of His glory)

As I ponder this, I think I am onto something new and life changing. However, as I write it down, it simply seems to be a repeat of things I have read (Piper, White, C.S. Lewis), but obviously never grasped.

Duh

Matthew 6:³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. ³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)

The President is Following Me

I travel around the US quite a lot on business.   Part of the joys of travel are being delayed at airports – mostly by the weather or due to broken airplanes.  You try to learn to live with them.  For me a disturbingly common cause of delays is that the city or airport I am in is shut down because the President is also in town, and when Air Force One is moving or about to move – no one else does.  I reached a stage last year when I was wondering why the President was following me everywhere and I wished he would stop.  I have whined about this in a previous blog.

This week I am in a sleepy little village near the southern tip of Africa hoping to get away from it all for a few weeks.  So imagine my delight when today’s church service was cut short and we were encouraged to leave because … Marine One was due to land in the fields across the street.  There is no escaping him, even on the other side of the planet!

This thought leads to Psalm 139.

1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!

2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;

you discern my thoughts from afar.

3 You search out my path and my lying down

and are acquainted with all my ways.

4 Even before a word is on my tongue,

behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

5 You them me in, behind and before,

and lay your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;

it is high; I cannot attain it.

7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?

Or where shall I flee from your presence?

8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

9 If I take the wings of the morning

and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,

10 even there your hand shall lead me,

and your right hand shall hold me.

11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,

and the light about me be night,”

12 even the darkness is not dark to you;

the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light with you.

13 For you formed my inward parts;

you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

Wonderful are your works;

my soul knows it very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you,

when I was being made in secret,

intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!

O omen of blood, depart from me!

20 They speak against you with malicious intent;

your enemies take your name in vain.

21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?

And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?

22 I hate them with complete hatred;

I count them my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting

 

God is there, wherever we go, and that is one of the fantastic promises made to all believers.  His presence is what sustains (as opposed to delays) us. 

Unlike the President, God does not hide behind bulletproof glass. God as the true Sovereign does not need protection, indeed He is the protector. 

Also, unlike the President, God knows each one of us, intimately – talk about name dropping!  Our response then is to worship and be thankful and to seek to know Him better.  Therein lies the path to satisfaction and salvation.

 

Christmas

The Universe

The universe is pretty big. If scientific interpretation is right, it is about 80 quintillion miles across. It’s tough to understand that, but let’s try. To drive 80 miles at the speed limit it would take just over an hour. If we were to go at 1000 times the speed limit (60,000 mph) it would take 5 seconds – even the Shuttle could not do that. We would have to do this multiplication 4 more times to make the trip across the universe in a reasonable time. Even at the speed of light the trip is 140 billion years. No-one is going to do this.

But despite its size, everything in the universe works at a sub-atomic scale. An atom is about 0.1 nanometer in diameter. There are about 1,000,000 atoms across a single hair. We do not have the tools to directly image an atom – let alone the even smaller particles that make up atoms. The degree of complexity in such a big system, that is comprised of particles so small is stunning and well beyond our ability to grasp.

Babies

Newborn babies are good at doing two things, making poop and crying, and maybe to dissolve women and make them goo. Otherwise they are completely helpless and utterly dependent on others to feed, clean and nurture them; without which they would quickly die.

The President

When the President of the USA travels it is a big deal. The airport and highways are shut down. The buildings around where he is speaking are shuttered. Hundreds of security staff invade the place glaring behind their sunglasses and muttering into their sleeves. The local people are enormously inconvenienced and business comes to a grinding halt. I have been trapped in airports for hours waiting for Air Force One to come or go. How does a single person get away with making such an impact? Because of his importance; it is considered worth the inconvenience because of the value of his being there.

So What?

How do these three seemingly disparate discussions tie together? In the Christmas story of course.

How important is God? Pretty important. He spoke the universe into being. So the big place we will never see from end to end, He made from nothing. By speaking; and a brief four-word sentence at that. Not only that, but He knows and controls the position of every one of those tiny sub-atomic particles filling that enormous space. He keeps it all going moment by moment; nothing is random or left to run on its own. So, if someone as important as God came to town, how much impact would it have? Normal life would come to a standstill with everyone out on the streets falling on their faces. Right?

How did He come then? He arrived as one of those helpless, pooping, crying babies. Consider the indignity of it. The one who shaped stars having His diaper changed.

Why did He come? To give us what we really need. Forgiveness. That we don't deserve. Despite our arrogance.

Big things often start small. That small clot in a brain that disables a parent. That call from the boss to say you are laid off. That spark of an idea that creates a new industry. The list is endless.

Jesus birth seemed small. But His impact was, and continues to be, worldwide and eternal. Best of all, heaven will be populated because of it.

Will you be there?

That is Christmas.