Carols by Candlelight

Singing Carols by Candlelight is an Australian tradition which many enjoy year after year. The inspiration for Vision Australia’s Carols by Candlelight® was born one Christmas Eve in 1937, as radio veteran, the late Norman Banks MBE, strolled along historic St Kilda Road in Melbourne after a late night radio shift. As he walked, he noticed an elderly woman sitting up in bed by her window, her face lit only by a candle. She had a radio beside her and was singing along to the Christmas carol, “Away in a Manger”. It was at this moment that Banks was inspired to create the first gathering of people to sing carols by candlelight. In 1938, 10,000 people gathered at midnight in the Alexandra Gardens to sing carols. The unusual candlelight setting, and the beauty of the carols, instantly won the affection of the large assembly. A new Christmas tradition was born.*

The continuing tradition of listening to and singing carols at Christmas is interesting to observe, given the lyrics of the traditional carols sung. To be shopping in Myer and hear a contemporary artist singing ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, “Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!”, sharing the story of Jesus’ birth proclaimed directly from the Bible (Luke 2) is somewhat startling, if one moves beyond the familiar tradition and considers what’s being proclaimed.

Is such a tradition outdated and out of place in our increasingly secular society?

Perhaps listening to and singing carols this Christmas, we can be reminded of the original message of Christmas, and challenge others with it.

That’s what I’ve been thinking about.

What do you think?

* http://www.visionaustralia.org.au/info

God in Christ: Reconciling the world to himself.

The Rev is in Cape Town at Lausanne’s Third World Congress on World Evangelisation. Despite some settling in issues; the Wi-Fi system in the Convention Centre couldn’t cope with over 4,000 users trying to access it simultaneously and trying to locate 150 people from the South Pacific Region among 5,000 people walking through the halls while bumping into someone he knew every 2 or 3 paces, The Rev is revved and ready to go (sorry couldn’t resist).

Here’s his roundup of the first few days:

Saturday evening we attended a reception at Silverhurst Estate with 120 people and heard from Stefan Gustavsson, who spoke on Secularism and the New Atheism.

Sunday morning I preached at a church south east of Cape Town and in the evening the Opening Ceremony gave us a grand welcome to Africa!

Each morning starts with a Bible Study from the book of Ephesians.

Monday’s theme was “Truth” which forms the basis for the rest of the week’s discussions because everything rests on our clear grasp of Christ. We grapple with making the case for the truth of Christ in a pluralistic, globalised world. We ended the afternoon with a meeting of all the delegates from the South Pacific Region to think about some of the issues that affected us and what we might start to do about them.

Each evening there is a session looking at how God is at work in a particular part of the world. Monday was dedicated to Asia followed by a session on the ‘Suffering Church’ and ‘Religious Freedom.’

Tuesday’s theme was “Reconciliation”. The Congress’ overall theme is “God in Christ: reconciling the world to himself”. So having established the case for the Truth of Christ it was good to turn to this theme. We saw a powerful drama on the effects of war and the conflict soldiers face as they “obey” orders and kill. Issues of reconciliation were addressed in the areas of ethnic, religious and gender divides. The last session for the afternoon allowed people to choose from 1 of 24 topics to spend time discussing how we might sharpen our skills in the context of our ministries. The day concluded with a focus on the Middle East and the global issues of HIV/Aids and human trafficking.

The Rev is thinking and talking about how to make a difference in the world. How to get God’s Word into the hands of people who need and want it.

Do you think he can make a difference? Can you make a difference? What can you change or influence?

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

What does God say about sin in Churches?

Throughout the Bible, God recognises and condemns the actions of his people when they live in disobedience and rebellion against Him and his standards.

God spoke out against the sin of the Israelites, especially when they were acting against basic social justice. God highlighted and condemned the unjust practices of his people in the areas of untruthfulness, cheating the poor and oppressed, dishonest gain and more (Amos 2:6-7; Amos 4:1-3; Amos 5:7-12; Amos 8:4-7; Micah 3:9-12).

Further to this, God condemned the leaders of his people, who should have been leading others to know and please Him, but were doing the very opposite, and claiming God’s authority. They were wolves in sheep’s’ clothing; they were false shepherds of God’s people (Ezekiel 22:26-28; Jeremiah 23:1-3).

The New Testament also shows us that God doesn’t overlook sin amongst his people. The apostle John recorded in Revelation Jesus’ words against sin in some of the early churches; those in Ephesus had forsaken their first love (Revelation 2:4-5); those in Pergamum and Thyatira were holding to false teaching and resulting sinful behaviour (Revelation 2:14-16, 2:20-23); those in Sardis were ‘dead’ and not living as Christians (Revelation 3:1-3); those in Laodicea were lukewarm in their faith and deeds (Revelation 3:15-17).

Finally, the reason Jesus gives for his rebuke against sin in the churches is that he is doing it out of love. He wants his people to be earnest and repent (Revelation 3:19).

It’s clear from Scripture God doesn’t tolerate sin amongst his people, the church.
That’s what I’ve been thinking about.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

Predestination

Did God choose us, or did we choose him? This is the question at the heart of the topic of predestination.

Are those people who are chosen by God so naturally attracted to the gospel message that we don’t actually get a choice? The Bible tells us that before the creation of the world, God chose his people to be holy and blameless in his sight. Out of love, God decided in advance that we would be adopted as his children through Jesus (Ephesians 1:4-5). The Bible also tells us that God knew, loved and appointed those who were to be his people before creation (1 Peter 1:1-2).

God decided in advance that we would be made like Jesus, and He called us, justified us, and glorified us (Romans 8:29-30). Jesus himself says that no one can come to him unless God the Father enables them (John 6:65 & vs 44; John 10:25-28). In addition to this, the Bible also shows that God chooses only some to be his people. An example of this is that He chose to love Jacob, but not his twin brother Esau – and this was not because of anything good or bad they had done, it was simply his purpose (Malachi 1:2-3; Romans 9:6-13). At the same time, we see that God wants all people to be saved, come to a knowledge of the truth, come to repentance, and not to perish (2 Pet 3:9, 1 Tim 2:3-4). From these Bible passages, it would seem that God chooses us.

Or is it purely up to us to decide by ourselves to choose God or leave him be? Because the Bible also shows that humans have freedom of choice; we can choose God, or not (Matt 23:37, John 7:17).

God chose us.

We choose him.

Both are equally important, and equally true. That’s what I’ve been thinking about.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

Worldly authorities and the Christian

As we approach the federal election, have you thought much about how a Christian should live in relation to those in charge of our society? What should be our interest in policies, politics, the people governing our country? Does the Bible inform us on these questions?

The New Testament teaches that Christians should submit themselves to the governing authorities. Why? The authorities exist because they’ve been established by God. This means that if we rebel against the governing authority, we are rebelling against what God has instituted (Romans 13:1-2). Further, Christians are told that we should submit ourselves – for God’s sake – to every authority instituted among people. We should show proper respect to everyone, including those in charge of our country (1 Peter 3:13-17).

It would seem that the only exception to this requirement is if the governing authorities forbid what God requires or require what God forbids. That’s why the early Christians continued to speak about what they have seen and heard, and spread the news about Jesus, despite being ordered not to and imprisoned for doing so (Acts 4:18-31; 5:17-29).

So, are we to just passively submit to those in authority? Or are we to take action in some way? The Bible teaches that we are to pray for all those in authority over us, with requests, intercession and thanksgiving (1 Timothy 2:1-4). We are also, perhaps, to watch over governments and ensure that they fulfil the role which God has given to them – to punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right (1 Peter 2:13-14).

That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

Refugees – today’s poor and oppressed

How are we, as Christians, to think about refugees? And more than just think – what should our attitude and actions be? How does the Bible inform our thinking on this issue?
Dictionary.com defines the term ‘refugee’ as “an individual seeking refuge or asylum; especially: an individual who has left his or her native country and is unwilling or unable to return to it because of persecution or fear of persecution (as because of race, religion, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion).”

By this definition, it’s interesting to note that Jesus himself was a refugee! Matthew 2:13-23 records how when Jesus was a child, his family had to flee to Egypt because Herod was searching for Jesus to kill him. His family stayed in Egypt until the government changed (that is, until King Herod died), and settled in Nazareth in Galilee (rather than in Judea) to avoid Herod’s son Archelaus.

Not only does the Bible show us that Jesus and his family were themselves refugees, it has a great deal to say about those who are poor, oppressed, and in a foreign country. God’s people, the Israelites, were not to mistreat or oppress foreigners (Zechariah 7:10). Rather, they were to treat foreigners as themselves; to love them, and give them food and clothing, and ensure that they were not deprived of justice. God himself loves the foreigner, and his people are to do likewise (Leviticus 19: 33-34; Deuteronomy 10: 17-19; 24:17).

The Bible is clear on the way God wants his people to act, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of his oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the alien, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place’ (Jeremiah 22:3).

When we are faced with the issues of boat people, asylum seekers, and refugees, how does the Bible’s teaching influence us? That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).

Ethics and Special Religious Education (SRE) in Schools

Ethics are defined as a system of moral principles, and as such, are very important to be taught to children. Western ethics, our moral principles, have developed out of a Christian context. The Bible teaches much about how people should live in relationship to our society.

Foundational concepts are found in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17) and the moral standards set forth in these commands were applied by Jesus to Christians in the New Testament, where he fills out their meaning (Matthew 5:17-48).

Yet can these good moral principles from the Bible, or any ethics system based on them, be taught or sustained without the truth about Jesus and God’s enabling forming the foundation? The bar set by the Ten Commandments is high; Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount only sets the bar even higher, as he takes laws such as ‘do not murder’ and fills it out to include anger against others (Matthew 5:21-22).

The reality of the Christian life is that whilst we seek to live out the moral principles and ethics which Jesus commands of us, we also live in an acknowledgement that we are unable to do so perfectly. (Romans 3:23; Romans 7:10-11, 21-25; Romans 8:1-4). We rely on God’s strength and enabling to live in a way which is right and true towards others (Galatians 5:16-26).

Good moral principles and a system of ethics are important to teach children; but a more holistic and beneficial approach is surely to teach these ethics with the reference to a loving and perfect God, who does not just give us the standards to live by, but enables us to do so. That’s what’s on my mind.

What do you think?

To make a comment, click the speech bubble to the right of the title of the post (above).