Monday 25 October 2010

too many dougs

i had the weirdest dream the other day..

the dream starts with me eavesdropping on a conversation and here's how it went;

Guy1: Alright, whats your name?
-------- Guy 2:Doug, yours?
Doug!
-------- Both Doug!
Yeah Doug, strange eh?
-------- You bet Doug.
You'll never guess what Doug?
-------- I dunno Doug, what Doug?
They got Doug!
-------- Not Doug?
'The' Doug!
-------- Noo wayy.
-------- Doug me...
-------- How?
Y'see, someone Douged him in to the Doug
-------- Thats a bit Doug... so what did the Doug Doug?
Well Doug, the Doug came up to his Doug
broke the Doug down
and the place was Doug full of Dougs
-------- Doug deal then?
The Doug can't ignore that amount of Doug
they put him in Dougs straight away.
-------- Achh, he's Well Doug now.
Yeah Doug, Doug can't even bail him out
-------- Doug's got involved? This is more Doug than i thought...




this was all i could remember but you get the idea...

Wednesday 13 October 2010

on drinking milk

"Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it."

I think sometimes, that because I have been a Christian for so long, that my enjoyment of living in Christ ends up consisting of things that are a bit weirder and harder to grasp. the problem is, what i want to be able to do is talk to my friends about jesus. if i make my joy and my understanding of jesus so convoluted from all the little pernickity things and patterns that a long time Christian looks for in the word, how can I then relate Jesus to those who aren't Christians and don't wish, for example, to know "how the sacrifice system of Mosaic Law is a foreshadowing of what jesus does on the cross", but wish to know the things that matter to them, like "what if i have done something bad?", "how can god allow x", "why does God not just show himself to me", "where is the evidence?" "this is bunk, why should murderers allowed to be forgiven?", the spiritual milk of the gospel that gives us what we need, that, perhaps, as Christians, we are speedy to leave behind in the dust as elementary and done. We prefer the 'food'. looking back at the milk, we can think "puh, i was a baby back then! ugh. why would i want to refer back to that point?! here, take this caviar instead". however, i think there's more than just our friends lives at stake when we don't address spiritual milk.

i realise that there are questions that my non christian friends give that i am, shamefully, loathe to answer, because i realise i have an answer that satisfies my heart in what i believe, but i remember the cost. i remember the stubbornness of my own heart, and knew that it took a very long time for me accept some theologies, and move on with God in joy and praise. For example, predestination, which can come as a stumbling block to both Christians and non Christians alike. It is not necessary to believe in predestination to be saved, and it can impair the growth of Christians and bury non christians just because it can be a question that never gets answered. i am at peace with the doctrine.. but i couldn't be concise in saying why, and would be uncomfortable dredging up how i got to the position of feeling okay with it, just because it didn't really happen overnight.

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!"

however, I need to look back. i need to address those kinds of questions that keep non christians awake at night in fear and angst. also, i need to do it for my own sake, because i realise that i don't always follow God in the things i do say and think. i do not like that there is still some worldliness about me. that means every foundation and every structure of my beliefs, every wall, battlement, gate, barrier, all of it needs checking and testing to see if it is operational or if it is in need of repair. if i find something about God that i accepted once but don't actually follow, i should follow up why. if i check thoroughly, i might even find whole walls missing. i need to simplify my faith in God to just the working parts, before building can begin. no christian can say that they are finished with milk.

Monday 11 October 2010

the jeers become fulfilled promises

Being mocked isn't usually something that people are able to take heart from, and its no surprise really. insults are personal. i've been reading matthew recently, and the main thing that struck me was to do with the words that were being hurled at jesus. here's a snippet of them:

Before Pilate -

"I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!"
All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!"

With the crown of thorns -

"Hail, king of the Jews!" they said.They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again

At the cross -

He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

These are snapshots of Jesus at severely humiliating points of his life. If we believe he is who he says he is, then an all mighty, all powerful, all loving God is at these moments being brought low and considered less than human, less than the ones he created.

Where, if anywhere, is the encouragement in this? In the insults.. it seems like every word targeted to bring harm to Jesus becomes a promise that God fulfils in the end.

"Let his blood be on us and his children!" - Done! Jesus sacrificed himself and shed his innocent blood, so that by his blood, the wrath against us for our rebellion against God is appeased, and met in the punishment that Jesus took instead. Because Jesus' blood is on us and the generations to come, we have a hope that goes beyond our own efforts. By his blood we our saved. By this insult becoming true, we are given life.

"Hail, king of the Jews!" - Indeed, and yet even more so. The father esteems his son so highly for such an obedient sacrifice given, that he established Jesus to be none other than King of not just the Jews but King of all Kings, Lord of Lords, ruler of the earth. Jesus who was brought low has been lifted to the highest place as a result, for God is pleased to have his love for his creation shown in the most powerful way it could ever be done - and as Jesus accomplished this for his father, Jesus is given the glory he deserves. This insult is the recompense for all the insults. It shows what he will inherit, and what, as co-heirs with Christ, we will inherit with him.

He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' "
- on the third day. Another classic element of people second guessing the timing of God. Let it be a couple of days so that there's no shadow of a doubt that Jesus was stone cold dead. Let a massive stone be on the front on his tomb so that it'd be difficult to enter full stop. Let all sin be dealt with first, in putting all that was sinful in us onto Jesus, so all that is Jesus in his righteousness can be given to us in exchange. Let the people who jeer believe that they were right, let them feel like they have done the right thing in bringing a revolutionary madman to death, after all, if he were the son of God, the cross would be easy work for him. Let them sleep in their beds convinced.

But he rose again. "Let there be light."

This insult fulfilled is the crowning achievement of God. It is the victory dance over sin and death. It is the hope of many.