Category: Theology and Reflections

Your Idols are like Coffee (unless you hate coffee… that sucks to be you then).

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For me, my idols are like coffee. When I had my first ever coffee it was like a dessert, sweet, chocolatey and kept me hyped (it was a mocha at Zaraffas). Then slowly but surely I moved on to stronger, more bitter, darker brews. Desserts just didn’t do it for me anymore. Soon I found myself finding exotic ways to brew my drop. I wasn’t content anymore with a simple flatty from Starbucks or even from the more boutique cafes that do speciality coffee. Now I use cold drip towers and Chemix’s and unless somebody stops me I’m probably going to be drinking coffee that comes out of the butt of a Civet (Google it, it’s a thing). The relentless pursuit of the perfect, satisfying cup of hot steaming caffeinated marshmallow liquid that spills forth from the divine is unending and has probably cost me thousands of dollars over the years. This single endeavour though fun (everyone needs a hobby right?) has left me ultimately unfulfilled never truly being satisfied with whatever it is I’m drinking. Bam, what a perfect analogy for idolatry.

Immediately my mind now flicks through dozens of passages and stories in Scripture that talk about this (Adam and Eve for a start). Even if you hate coffee (you heathen) think about that one thing you spend the most money on, the most time thinking about, the most time given to, that’s probably what you love most in this world, it is probably what you worship, it is probably your idol, your god. Let me be blunt. Idols are bad. They’re not really stone statues in your garden tempting you into yoga or asking for a blood sacrifice… idols are the things that rule over your life, your very soul. Idols rule over you, you give them power and in turn, you hope to receive some benefit usually peace or prosperity … even life. The irony is the very things that God intended to give your life shape and joy actually now suck it out of you, they leave you high and dry, they leave you unfulfilled, depressed, and ultimately they lead to spiritual death.

For me personally, idolatry, the worship of other gods have been the eternal war being waged over my soul. It feels like every time I look to something to satisfy me I lose apart of who I am (or at least of who I’m supposed to be), I change, I’m always different. Idolatry has always lead me down a darker path of uncertainty always looking for another path, another fix to warm my longing heart and to quench my thirsty soul (Prov 4:23; Jer 2:13). There is, however, a lasting fix, a lasting quench, a lasting path that leads to life. Jesus says in John’s Gospel “but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (Jhn 4:14). For those who are lost in their idols, Jesus offers us a way out if only we come and depend on Him if only we look to Him for true and lasting life and satisfaction.

The Kingdom of God & the Local Church

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“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt 3:2, Matt 4:17, Mk 1:15). The Kingdom of God is perhaps the biggest theme in all of Scripture. Stretching from Genesis to Revelation God’s Kingdom seems to be almost in every idea, thought, and page. It seems God wants to establish and create an everlasting Kingdom where He would reign forever (Ps 2; 45:6; 89: 29, 36-37; Heb 1:8; Rev 11:15) with and over His people in perfect unity (Ps 8; 2 Tim 2:12) free from sin, Satan, and death (Rev 21:4). That all sounds lovely doesn’t it? It is a great hope and a great promise for God’s people to be looking forward to. However, just because there is a future hope it doesn’t mean there isn’t a present hope, a present kingdom, where God rules and gives us a taste of His goodness well before we see Him face to face.

So where do we find this taste of the good life, this taste of goodness that only comes from God? In His Church. Theologically speaking the Church is made up of two parts, the Church universal and invisible, and the Church local and visible. I make this argument elsewhere in another essay but 1. the Church (universal and invisible) is God’s Kingdom (redemptive rule) expanding throughout the earth and 2. the local church is a primary visible and tangible expression of God’s redemptive rule and mission. Think of it like this, the local church acts as an embassy for its nation (God’s Kingdom) so that those who would want to take asylum would find shelter, protection, and even eventually citizenship are able. This is the predominant function of the Church, to bring about God’s Kingdom, God’s Redemptive rule to every facet of creation. The thing is though unless a local church is functioning as God intends it to, then it can’t be a place of God’s goodness, it can’t but a place where God’s Kingdom is redeeming people and His creation, it can’t be that embassy that people can run to in their time of need. So then what does a healthy church look like?

In order for a local church to be considered healthy according to the Scriptures, it must consist of 1. God’s people gathering together regularly (Heb 10:25) as members of the body (1 Cor 12:13) united to Christ (Gal 3:27) 2. There must be a healthy leadership that guides and instructs the sheep that is made up of a plurality of elders and deacons and qualifies for said roles according to Scripture (1 Tim 3; Tit 1). 3. There must be the preaching of Scripture every gathering in order that the sheep would be sanctified, feed and fully equipped for every good work (2 Tim 3:16-17). The administration of the sacraments (the preaching of Scripture, baptism and the Lord’s Supper). 4. Church discipline (Matt 18:15-17; 1 Cor 5:1-13). 5. It must be missional (Matt 28:16-20).

At the end of the day God’s Kingdom will come, His will, will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. However, God’s means for doing this is through biblical local churches (with Christ as the head) which there needs to be more of. Discipling, baptising, teaching, evangelising, bringing about the Kingdom (God’s redemptive rule) is done through the Gospel and healthy, Spirit-filled churches obedient to their King and Saviour Jesus Christ.

 

The Spiritual Power of Video Games: Part I

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Some of you might not know this but I love video games. I really love video games. It probably all started when my mum and dad owned a Sega (not sure which) and we’d play Alex the Kid. Next, came the Super Nintendo where we played Yoshi’s Island and Mario is Missing then finally the console that probably defined my gaming experience the Nintendo 64. This console was one of a kind, a classic. Amazing games such a James Bond: Golden Eye, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Mario 64, Lylat Wars, Pokemon Stadium, and of course (probably my favourite game of all time), The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Since then gaming has come such a long way. From the 8 bit Pong to amazing graphically built games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and even into virtual reality (VR), gaming has radically shaped the way humanity experiences the world around them and even God and spirituality.

I remember not long ago reading a book called “You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit” by James K. A. Smith. The title is pretty self-explanatory but essentially Smith writes about how what we do actually forms us into who we are. For example, if all you do is hate on people then inwardly you will become a hate-filled chaotic person. But, if you go around loving others as you would yourself then slowly but surely you become a love-filled Shalom (whole) kind of person. That’s fairly simplistic but this got me thinking… I’ve put a lot of hours into gaming but what has it put back into me? How have the games I’ve played shaped the person I am today? What stories have they told that I’ve retained? Are video games good for me or are they bad for me? Now I can imagine the typical average Christian probably thinking “video games are bad for you, so don’t play them.” You’re probably right. I’ve had some very negative experiences with games before… mostly me rage quitting when I don’t get my way on Halo or now on Fortnite (I hate when scrubs kill me). Also, the toxicity in some games like Overwatch just gets to you and makes you feel terrible. People spit poison and genuinely hate you if you don’t play up to a certain standard. Gaming can create a really negative culture that isn’t good for you and you have to be aware of those cultures and experiences and stay away from them. However, I’ve also had some of the most positive moments of my life while gaming as well. Again, I think back to Zelda tracking through Hyrule slaying monsters and being in genuine awe of the world around me as I strived to save the princess.

The narratives Zelda told of good versus evil, of heroes versus villains, of the underdog, rising up and often sacrificing himself for the greater good and winning, of gods and demons, of the transcendent, feels all very Biblical. Turn almost anywhere in Scripture and you see the cry out for evil to be defeated, for people to be rescued, for the hero to win, and to bring peace and liberty to the world  It is these sort of narratives that seem to permeate almost every form of entertainment, but in video games, you get to be apart of that story. You get to live out their experience and make it your own. How then does this perhaps shape who I am in reality?

… To be continued

I’m Back!

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Where have I been? Well, I’m back after a long time of letting this site rot away, unloved… forgotten. Obviously, though I have decided to pick it up again, invest in it, and use it as an outlet to share with the world what matters to me (well to whoever reads it). I expect most of these to be raw, not make a lot of sense, and to be largely unedited (at least by anyone but myself). So good luck with that. To those who are interested, the last year or so have been some of the most formative of my life so far. My theology has evolved, my relationships have changed, and my spirituality has, and is being shaped in ways I never really expected (I expect that this process will go on for some time yet). I’ve been a best man at two different weddings, a groomsman at a third. I’ve had dreams come and dreams go. Allanah and I have joined a new church (we’ve been there for about a year now), we work new jobs with new people and we’re experiencing city life at its best. All in all, life has changed… and I think change is a good thing… it is scary but I think it just means God is working in me for my good even though it’s hard at times to see the forest through the trees.

The biggest challenge for me at the moment is the desire to practice real spirituality. I think my love for theology has at times become an idol… a sort of blockage to actually walking with Jesus. I’d never pit the two against one another as it’s one’s theology that informs how they walk with Jesus. But there are times when the accumulation of knowledge has taken the main stage over legitimate intimacy with God. So think I’m going to cut down on the big and lofty books and stick to the Bible, and just one or two books or podcasts that are immediately relevant to my walk right now.

What am I listening to? At the moment I’m binging The Bible Project’s podcast and I’m loving every minute of it. What’s particularly impacting me is their eschatology and how that affects living out your faith in the here and now. I’ll probably end up writing about it so I won’t get into much but I will say this. If you believe as I do that there will be a New Heaven and a New Earth and Jesus will be king ruling over that newness with us as His people (as He already is in a sense), where there will be no sickness, death, sadness, but pure love, joy and splendour, how do we live in light of that reality? That’s a big question with big answers, and big implications… something we’ll explore in future posts I think.

What have I read recently? Recently I’ve read Rob Bell’s new book “What is the Bible?” I’ll be posting a review on that I’ve already written after this post. I’m also slowly making my way through N. T. Wright’s new book “Paul: A Biography.” One thing that keeps standing out to me time and time again is how important context is when reading Scripture (I’ll probably end up writing about this concept). Wright really makes this clear. Oh, I’ll probably write a review on this book as well. Finally, a book I keep going back to is Donald Miller’s “Scary Close.” Miller is one of my favourite all-time authours. His stuff on relationships, being genuine and his journey in Christian spirituality speaks to me in ways no theology book ever has. I’d love to write a review on this book as well.

Finally, I just want to say how excited I am to start journeying with anyone who wants to on this site. I’m really keen for dialogue and discussion, ideas and stories. Feel free to reach out to me and engage with anything you read or hear that might spark inspiration for you. See you guys in the next one.

John the Baptist: Water and Fire

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Introduction

This Sunday I will be preaching a sermon on John the Baptist, and I have got to say if John the Baptist was the greatest of those born of a woman (Luke 7:28), I have a lot to live up to. What’s more, the next thing Jesus says is that even the least in the Kingdom will be greater than John (very convicting). As I reflect on this, I think to myself, “I’ve baptised maybe 3 or 4 people in my life, preached a hand full of sermons and have hardly ever experienced or seen a person come into the Kingdom.” Not everything is that bad. I’ve seen incredible growth in people’s lives in the church that I minister in. Those baptisms I mentioned have happened this year, and our youth and young adults are starting to grasp concepts and parts of the Gospel that I have only just started to come to terms with myself. However, I think there are some great lessons to be learnt as we look at the (brief) ministry of John the Baptist (lessons that even I need to take into account).

First: John was Chosen

The first thing that stands out to me is that John was chosen by God. That might scare some people, however, not only does the angel Gabriel appear to John’s father Zacharias (Luke 1:11-20), but John’s coming, and ministry was foretold hundreds of years before he was born (Isaiah 40:3). I know that John was a particular case, but the New Testament says that we’ve been chosen in Him before even the creation of the world (Ephesians 1:4), and chosen for good works in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:10). So in this sense, we are all pretty special, and we all have a pretty important role to play in God’s plan. I think that the main point here is that we need to take the call on our lives seriously, just because we weren’t necessarily foretold, it doesn’t mean God didn’t have us in mind before the world was even created.

Second: John was Chosen to Prepare the Way

He said, “I am the voice of the one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord” (John 1:23, ESV). Another interesting element of John’s ministry was that he was chosen to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. John did this by baptising people (Matthew 3:5-6) and preaching a message of repentance and the immanence of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 3:1-2).  Scripture doesn’t give us a lot to go off, but we know from Luke that all of this was wrapped up into the promise that John would “turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God” (Luke 1:16). This is a prominent call to Christians because the Church is called to do the same thing. For example, John preached a message of repentance and of the Kingdom, in the same way, we are to preach to the world that the only way in which a person can be saved from their sin is if they repent and believe in the Gospel (Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9) and that the Kingdom of God is near (Matthew 10:7; Luke 10:9).

Furthermore, John Baptised people who responded to his message immediately into the Jordan River. Likewise, Jesus commands us to baptise as this was a necessary part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20). However, why is baptism so important to both John, Jesus, and the early Church?

The Importance of Baptism

The act of Baptism is scattered all throughout the New Testament (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Acts 2:38; Acts 8:35-38; Acts 16:31-33). However, where we find the importance of baptism, and it’s meaning in Romans 6:1-14 (See also: Galatians 3:27; Colossians 2:11-14). The main thrust of Paul’s argument in this section of Scripture is that water baptism is a picture of a deeper spiritual reality that has happened to every believer. That is, we have all been baptised (immersed or united) into Jesus’ death (6:3), and resurrection (6:5), and as a result, sin no longer has the power to rule over the believer (6:14). Water baptism was important because it showed an unwavering act of commitment and trust that a person has been spiritually united with Christ by grace, through faith. Essentially, it meant that a person was born again and that they had become a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Third: Baptising and Preaching with Fire

Unfortunately though, one of the saddest things that I’ve seen in the Church (in my experience at least) is the under-appreciation and even neglect of baptism. These days we can wait months or even years before we baptise a professing Christian. This is usually because we want to wait until we are sure that they are serious about their commitment to Christ, or because we want to make sure they are “orthodox” before we dunk them in water. The saddest thing about this though is that this is just a product of the Gospel we preach. The Church preaches such a weak Gospel in the power of the flesh, and not in the power of the Spirit that we are afraid that people are really only giving Christianity “ago” because it’s new and fresh, not because they are fleeing the wrath to come or that they want to be reconciled to God. The early Church wasn’t like this. The early Church preached the Gospel that was the power of God unto salvation to whoever would believe (Romans 1:16). This was the same Gospel that, coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit, cut people to the heart and added thousands of people to the Church in one moment (Acts 3:37, 41). We’ve missed out on the relentless preaching of the Gospel and the immediate act of baptism that John held so dear. Leonard Ravenhill in his book Why Revival Tarries really gets to the heart of the matter when he says,

John the Baptist was in God’s School of Silence, the wilderness, until the day of his showing forth. Who was better fitted for the task of stirring a torpid nation from its sensual slumber than this sun-scorched, fire-baptised, desert-bred prophet-sent of God with a face like the judgement morning? In his eyes was the light of God, in his voice was the authority of God, and in his soul was the passion of God! Who, I ask, could be greater than John? Truly “he did no miracle,” that is, he never raised a dead man, but he did far more he raised a dead nation!

Likewise, who is better fitted for the task of stirring a dead world and even in many cases a dead Church then each one of you reading this blog? God has called every Christian to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18) and preach the Gospel boldly. My point is this. Like John, preach the Gospel in its entirety, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and baptise people immediately upon their confession of faith because if the Gospel is preached in power, what have we to fear?

Conclusion

As we reflect on the calling that John the Baptist had on his life, we can start to be encouraged and pursue God, and His calling for the Church in the same manner. Let us consider God’s call on our lives, let us prepare the way for the second coming of our Lord with a fiery tongue that has been lit by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us repent of our half measured Gospel, our measured half-life of faith, and walk in the Spirit so that we, like John, may stir the Church, and the world, into God’s Kingdom.