Mark Conner Theology

Trying to Comprehend the Incomprehensible God …

CloudsI was reading through the prophet Isaiah a few days back and came across this intriguing verse …

"I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things." [Isaiah 45:7. NIV]

What an interesting thought or should I say a somewhat perplexing thought. Here we see a God who describes himself as being actively involved in all that is happening in our world – in the good and the bad – at least permitting it, if not causing it. I know of some people who would prefer this verse to say that "God forms the light and brings prosperity" and that "the devil creates the darkness and brings disaster." But it doesn't say that. I wonder why?

John Oswalt in the NIV Application Commentary on Isaiah says this: "In this assertion Isaiah is denying the pagan understanding that good and evil (or light and dark) are two externally coexistent principles battling in the universe. There is only one first principle, and he is light and good. If darkness and evil exist, they do so because the one God permits them to exist. In that sense, he is responsible for their existence. But if the thought ended here, we might conclude that God has a kind of neutral position on the direction of the world. Verse 8 shows that is not the case. God does care passionately about the direction his creation takes. He expects that 'right' (understood as an expression of his own character) will prevail and that 'salvation' (in thesense of deliverance from all the effects of evil) will rule. That is what he created the earth for." [Zondervan: Grand Rapids, MI, 2003, p.514]

I find this all both scary and comforting. Somewhat scary in that God is allowing a lot of evil to happen in our world causing suffering for many people. Comforting in that God is obviously in full control of all that is happening and is bringing about his purpose and plan through it all.

Continue reading “Trying to Comprehend the Incomprehensible God …” →

Mark Conner Humour

Understanding the Economy

CowsThere is no doubt that the world economy has been in a bit of a turmoil of late with extreme volatility in things such as the value of the dollar, the share market, and property. 

Here's a humorous attempt to try to make some sense of it all …

 

21 Economic Models Explained with Cows

SOCIALISM
You have 2 cows.
You give one to your neighbor.

COMMUNISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and gives you some milk.

FASCISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and sells you some milk.

NAZISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both and shoots you.

BUREAUCRATISM
You have 2 cows.
The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk
away …

TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows.
You sell them and retire on the income.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes.
The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

Continue reading “Understanding the Economy” →

Mark Conner Bible

The Amazing Race

Race - MarathonHere's a paraphrase by Tom Wright of a well-known Bible text from Hebrews 12:1-3. The book of Hebrews was a letter written to some followers of Christ in the first century who were feeling discouraged because they were experiencing difficulty and persecution in their spiritual journey. How relevant these words are for us today too … 

 

"What about us then? We have such a great cloud of witnesses all around us! What we must do is this: we must put aside each heavy weight, and the sin which gets in the way so easily. We must run the race that lies in front of us, and we must run it patiently. We must look ahead, to Jesus. He is the one who carved out the path for faith, and he's the one who brought it to completion.

He knew that there was joy spread out and waiting for him. That's why he endured the cross, making light of its shame, and has now taken his seat at the right hand of God's throne. He put up with enormous opposition from sinners. Weigh up in your minds just how severe it was; then you won't find yourselves getting weary and worn out."

Mark Conner Sports

Grand Final Fever

Afl 

Well, it's AFL Grand Final week here in Melbourne … and what a final it will be with the Hawthorn Hawks taking on the defending premiers, the Geelong Cats next Saturday afternoon. There's sure to be a full house of over 100,000 people at the Melbourne Cricket Ground for what should be a historical final.

The Hawks are looking pretty strong with lots of confidence coming off their big win over St.Kilda on the weekend … BUT the Cats will be ready for them.

My prediction – the Cats by 3 goals!

P.S. I was excited to be able to attend my first ever Grand Final yesterday (September 27th), along with 100,011 other people. What a game it was! Unfortunately, the Cats did not play their best football and ended up losing to the hungry Hawks by 26 points. The Cats had their opportunities but didn't take advantage of them and ended up paying for it. It's really disappointing, especially after they had their best season ever. Thankfully, I think they have another few good seasons ahead of them and I think they'll be back hungrier than ever in 2009. We'll have to wait and see …

Mark Conner Books

UnChristian

Unchristian  Gary Kinnaman, a pastor from Phoenix, Arizona, is a good friend of mine who recently ministered at our church in Melbourne. His son, David Kinnaman, is the President of the Barna Group, a ministry which provides research and resources that facilitate spiritual transformation in people's lives. 

David's latest book, co-authored with Gabe Lyons, is called UnChristian. It's basic message is that Christianity has an image problem. Here is the description of the book from the back cover …

"Christians are supposed to represent Christ to the world. But according to the latest report card, something has gone terribly wrong. Using descriptions like 'hypocritical', 'insensitive', and 'judgmental', young Americans share an impression of Christians that's nothing short of … unChristian."

The book goes on to detail the negative perceptions that exist, especially amongst the younger generation, then goes on to give some insights as to how these perceptions can be reversed in a Christlike manner, including practical examples of how Christians can positively contribute to culture.

I wonder what the perceptions of a 'Christian' are in Australia today? Could it be much the same? This is a challenging clarion call to the church. After all, the apostle Paul told the first-century Christians that they were like a letter, known and read by everyone around them. I wonder what people read when they see our life and whether it says what Jesus would want it to say. That's a challenge for all of us.

Continue reading “UnChristian” →

Mark Conner Current Issues

Developing Personal Integrity

Integrity Integrity is one of the most important character qualities to develop in your personal life. For leaders, it is vital, as it is part of the foundation of all credibility and influence. Integrity means that there is an integration between who we really are (when no one is looking) and who we appear to be to others. Other similar concepts to integrity are … honesty, truthfulness, and authenticity.

How do you develop personal integrity? Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Value integrity. Unless you place a high value on this quality you will be unlikely to pay the price to develop it and preserve it over the long haul.

  2. Establish personal boundaries between what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable, and then stay as far away from the edge as possible. Don't see how close you can get to the edge. That's like a deep sea diver seeing how long they can last on a tank of oxygen.

  3. Sweat the small things. Jesus said that faithfulness in small matters is the foundation of faithfulness in large matters. In the same way, dishonesty in small matters often leads the way to dishonesty in large matters. Tell the truth, don't exaggerate, pay for personal expenses at the office, don't cheat on your taxes, etc, etc.

  4. Adopt an early warning system. Significant loss of integrity is never a fall, it is more often a gradual slide. Take decisive action early … before it's too late.

  5. Repent quickly. Admit it when you are wrong, ask forgiveness, stop doing the wrong thing.

  6. Ask others to help you. I have a number of people outside of my world who I meet with regularly who are able to ask me any question they want about anything in my life. Accountability is important.
  7. Ask God to help you. The human heart is prone to self-deception (see Jeremiah 17:9). Ask God to search you and show you any crooked way in your life (see King David's prayer in Psalm 139:23-24).

Integrity – it's well worth the effort!

Mark Conner Think About It

Perspective

Table An understanding of perspective is one of the keys to gaining wisdom for life. Here is a simple illustration that shows the importance of perspective …

Imagine a group of people sitting in a circle with a small table in the middle. A few observations …

  1. Firstly, everyone sees the table differently, depending on where they are sitting. No one sees it exactly the same.

  2. Secondly, no one sees the table accurately. There are parts of the table that each person does not see. No one person has the full perspective, no matter who they are (except for God!). If any individual thinks that they have the complete perspective all by themselves, then they are nothing short of ignorant … and proud.

  3. Thirdly, the only way to get an accurate picture of the table is to combine everyone's perspective. We must listen to those who see differently from us to learn about what we cannot see.

Take the table out of the middle of the circle and replace it with anything else – an issue, a decision needing to be made, a conflict … whatever. The lessons are still the same. We need other people's perspective to add to our own in order to gain wisdom for life.

How's your perspective?

Perspective … Think about it.

Mark Conner Family

Happy Father’s Day!

Dad This coming Sunday is Father's Day here in Australia, a time to honour all of the dads.

Here are a few interesting quotes about dads:

  • "Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you." [Exodus 20:12. NLT]

  • "A wise child brings joy to a father; a foolish child brings grief to a mother." [Proverbs 10:1. NLT]
  • "So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy." [Proverbs 23:25. NLT]

  • "Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse." [Malachi 4:5-6]

  • "A good father is one of the most unsung, un-praised, unnoticed, and yet one of the most valuable assets in our society." [Billy Graham]

  • "Any man can be a Father but it takes someone special to be a dad." [Anne Geddes]

  • "Fathers, like mothers, are not born. Men grow into fathers – and fathering is a very important stage in their development." [David M. Gottesman]

  • "By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong." [Charles Wadworth]

  • "Don't make a baby if you can't be a father." [National Urban League Slogan]

  • "When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." [Mark Twain]

Happy Father's day to all of the dads!