"If you cannot smile, do not open shop."
[Old Chinese proverb]
Quotes by A.W. Tozer
A.W. Tozer was a well-known American pastor, author and Bible teacher (1897-1963). He wrote more than forty books, two of which are regarded as classics: The Pursuit of God and Knowledge of the Holy. He was a person of prayer who spoke much about pursuing a deeper relationship with God.
Here are some insightful quotes from him:
Prayer is never an acceptable substitute for obedience. The sovereign Lord accepts no offering from His creatures that is not accompanied by obedience. To pray for revival while ignoring or actually flouting the plain precept laid down in the Scriptures is to waste a lot of words and get nothing for our trouble. [Of God and Men, 52]
What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.[The Knowledge of the Holy, 7]
Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image. [The Pursuit of God, 101]
God being who He is must always be sought for Himself, never as a means toward something else.
Whoever seeks God as a means toward desired ends will not find God. The mighty God, the maker of heaven and earth, will not be one of many treasures, not even the chief of all treasures. He will be all in all or He will be nothing. God will not be used. [Man the Dwelling Place of God, 56-57]
God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which He must work. [The Knowledge of the Holy, 53]
Worship, I say, rises or falls with our concept of God …. and if there is one terrible disease in the Church of Christ, it is that we do not see God as great as He is. [Worship: The Missing Jewel of the Evangelical Church, ]
We need to improve the quality of our Christianity and we never will until we raise our concept of God back to that held by apostle, sage, prophet, saint and reformer. When we put God back where he really belongs, we will instinctively and automatically move up again; the whole spiral of our religious direction will be upward. [The Attributes of God, 195]
When I am praying the most eloquently, I am getting the least accomplished in my prayer life. But when I stop getting eloquent and give God less theology and shut up and just gaze upward and wait for God to speak to my heart He speaks with such power that I have to grab a pencil and a notebook and take notes on what God is saying to my heart [Success and the Christian, 46-47]
To have found God and still to pursue Him is the soul's paradox of love, scorned indeed by the too-easily-satisfied religionist, but justified in happy experience by the children of the burning heart. [The Pursuit of God, 14]
I Thank God that the kingdom of God is not divided into areas for big, important people and areas for little, unimportant people. Every one is just as needful in God's sight as any other! [Who Put Jesus On the Cross, 161]
Complacency is the deadly enemy of spiritual progress. The contented soul is the stagnant soul. [The Size of the Soul, 22]
Southern Cross Kids Camps
Southern Cross Kids Camp is an excellent ministry reaching out to needy children, especially those from abusive backgrounds. There are now eight camps held each year in three states in Australia. Camps are also starting up in New Zealand. These camps provide a safe and positive environment for children to find healing from the hurts of their past and hope for their future.
Carolyn Boyd, a former children's pastor from our church and now one of our mission workers, was instrumental in establishing this ministry here in Australia. Dave Marrett is now the CEO.
To read some inspirational stories of lives changed through these camps, click here.
This ministry is well worth getting behind – as a volunteer, sponsoror donor.
The iPad
Okay, confession time … I have an iPad … and it is really cool. It hasn't replaced my phone or my laptop … yet … but it does a lot of things really well. It is brilliant for browsing the internet, doing email and checking your calendar. The eBook reader on it is much better than the Kindle. It is colour and turning pages is much more intuitive and you can load all your Kindle books on to it, plus 1000s of other eBooks (one application alone gives you access to over 23,000 free public domain classic books). The touch screen is like a big iPod and is a pleasure to work with. There are over 100,000 applications that can be used on the iPad – most of them free or very inexpensive – from calculators to encyclopedias.
It has a full size keyboard that pops up any time you want to type – either in Notes or in Apple's suite of applications such as Pages (similar to Word) and Numbers (similar to Xcel). Viewing photos and video is a cinch. Battery life is around 10 hours of continuous use.
Watch the full profile here.
I think they'll really take off, especially as more variations are released and prices come down (hopefully).
A New Online Bible
LifeChurch.tv has launched a free online Bible called YouVersion. YouVersion has been growing by hundreds of thousands of users each month. Almost 7 million people are reading the Bible through one of their mobile apps, including the iPhone and the newly released iPad. Check out their BLOG here.
In addition to multiple translations being available, you can put together your own personal reading plan, create journal notes, and interact with other people about their learnings.
Worth checking out!
Well-Known Proverbs …
A 1st grade school teacher had 26 students in her class. She presented each child in her classroom with the first of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb.
While reading, keep in mind that these are first-graders, 6-year-olds, because the last one is a classic.
1. Don't change horses until they stop running.
2. Strike while the bug is close.
3. It's always darkest before Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power of termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but How?
6. Don't bite the hand that looks dirty.
7. No news is impossible
8. A miss is as good as a Mr.
9. You can't teach an old dog new Math
10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll stink in the morning.
11. Love all, trust Me.
12. The pen is mightier than the pigs..
13. An idle mind is the best way to relax.
14. Where there's smoke there's pollution.
15. Happy the bride who gets all the presents.
16. A penny saved is not much.
17. Two's company, three's the Musketeers.
18. Don't put off till tomorrow what you put on to go to bed.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and You have to blow your nose.
20. There are none so blind as Stevie Wonder.
21. Children should be seen and not spanked or grounded.
22. If at first you don't succeed get new batteries.
23. You get out of something only what you see in the picture on the box 24. When the blind lead the blind get out of the way.
25. A bird in the hand is going to poop on you.
And the WINNER and last one …
26. Better late than Pregnant
[Source: Rowland Croucher]
The Global Shift
Rick Warren recently said …
The last 50 years has seen the greatest redistribution of a religion ever in the history of the world. There is nothing even to compare to it. For instance, at the beginning of the 20th century, in 1900, 71% of all, quote, "Christians" lived in Europe. By 2000 only 28% claimed to be Christian, and I'm sure it's far smaller than that who actually even go to a church.
On the other hand, Christianity was exploding in Africa, Asia and Latin America. If you want to know the future of evangelicalism, it is in those continents. To give you an example, in 1900 there were only 10 million Christians in all of Africa — 10% of the population. Today there are 360 million Christians in Africa, over half the population. That is a complete turnaround on a continent that's never, ever been seen or done in history.
You may be surprised to know that there are more Christians in China than there are in America, by far. There are more Presbyterians in Ghana than there are in Scotland, where they came out of with John Knox. There are more Baptists in Nagaland, a state in India, than there are in the South here in America. There are more Anglicans in either Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria — any of these — than in England. There are 2 million Anglicans in England. There are 17 million Anglicans in Nigeria.
The Church of England is a misnomer. It is now the Church of Africa. I have been involved in the ordination of many of those Anglican leaders. They have spread all over. Last Sunday there were more Christians who went to church in China than all of Europe combined. That is a fundamental shift. If you want to know the future of Christianity, it is the developing world. It's Africa, it's Latin America, and it's Asia.
In fact, there are about 15,000 missionaries now working in England from Brazil, China, Korea, other countries that you used to think, well, those would receive missionaries. In fact, Brazil sends out far more missionaries than either Great Britain or Canada combined. So that's a fundamental shift.
That's all I'm going to say about the future of evangelicalism. It ain't here. Okay?
[To read the complete transcript of this interview with Rick Warren, click here]
I can only agree. The non-West is leading the world in evangelism, church growth and spiritual vitality. We in the West have much to learn from what God is doing in Africa, Asia (including China) and South America.
Implementing Change
Ideas usually cannot be imported without modification. The cultures and other aspects of leadership and management are different; therefore, that they fail without some modification shouldn't be surprising. Even adopting simple devices may cause problems.
For example, traffic signals were invented in England, although the version used today was developed in the United States. Despite their successful use elsewhere, when traffic signals were introduced to Ireland, the Irish were so outraged that they actually rioted.
Why? Because the red light was on top and the green light was on the bottom, and to the Irish, red is the color of Britain; green, Ireland. That red was placed over green infuriated many Irish people. The solution was to mount the traffic lights horizontally.
[Source: Drucker on Leadership by William A. Cohen]
Daily Habits
Life is made up of daily habits. Our habits combine to shape who we are and who we will become. Habits are practices that we do repeatedly, often without awareness. Reflecting on our habits and then intentionally creating healthy habits is an important part of personal growth. Disciples of Jesus are those who discipline themselves to become like Jesus – in thought, word and action.
Here are five habits that I try to engage in each day:
1. Devotion – love, listen and obey.
This is the development of my spiritual life and it is aided by daily time reading and reflecting on God's Word, as well as spending time in conversation with God. This is THE most important habit and everything else flows from here.
2. Health – eat, exercise and rest.
This is the habit of personal health. Health is so important as it results in energy which enables me to carry out God's will and be a blessing to others each day.
3. Connection – love, listen and encourage.
Life is all about relationships. Each day I endeavor to connect meaningfully with my family and everyone I come into contact with. Each interaction, whether it be with a work colleague, a neighbor, a church member, or someone at the shop, is an opportunity to be of benefit to another's person's life.
4. Learning – think, read and apply.
The book of Proverbs exhorts us to 'get wisdom.' Wisdom is found in a person – Jesus Christ. We can gain wisdom from his Word and his Spirit, as well as the world he has created, including other people's learning and experience. Wisdom doesn't come with age but with the acceptance of responsibility and the commitment to 'live and learn' each day. As I am committed to continual improvement, I am able to help others do the same.
5. Enjoyment – laugh, play and relax.
This is the Sabbath principle. Life is not meant to be all work, tasks and activity. I need times daily to stop, or at least slow down, and enjoy God and his world more fully.
I don't always get these five habits. When I don't, I notice the quality of my life diminishes significantly. When I get them right, I notice the quality and joy of my life increase significantly.
I am thankful for God's grace which accepts me as I am but his grace also includes the power and ability to do God's will. He loves me too much to leave me as I am and therefore calls me to higher places in him. Daily habits are part of that journey.
The Culturally Savvy Christian
Dick Staub has written a thought-provoking book – The Culturally Savvy Christian: a Manifesto for Deepening Faith and Enriching Popular Culture in an Age of Christianity-Lite. In his opinion, culturally savvy Christians are savvy about faith and about culture.
The author does a good job of exposing the superficiality of much of pop culture but also challenges what he calls 'Christianity Lite' or 'Pop Christianity,' which he defines as "a brand of faith that tastes great but is less filling, and wherever it prevails, it a source of impoverishment of faith and culture." From a church history perspective, the author believes that we are at a low point not a high point because of today's shrinking Christian influence.
He presents three counter-productive ways for followers of Christ to react to culture:
1. Cocooning from Culture. This approach is about fleeing from the world and results in cultural separation.
2. Combating Culture. This approach takes the culture on in a kind of culture wars.
3. Conforming to Culture. This approach results in being more influenced by the culture that we desire to transform.
His solution is a call for Christian to (1) counter culture like aliens, (2) communicate in culture like ambassadors, and (3) create culture like artists. He cites C.S. Lewis and J.R.R.Tolkien as examples of culturally savvy Christians.
This book is highly relevant reading for today's church …
The Gospel of John
Our church is currently reading through the Gospel of John together (click here for the reading plan as well as other related resources, including Bible devotional thoughts). John would be many people's favorite gospel, because of its uniqueness. Many of our most well-known Bible verses come from John such as "God so loved the world that he gave …" and "I am the resurrection and the life …" Medieval scribes symbolized this Gospel with an eagle to indicate the heights of the Gospel's thought.
John was an eyewitness to the life of Jesus (see John 19:35 and 1 John 1:1-3). He shared what he had seen and heard. He was Jesus' closest earthly friend. He focuses a lot on the divinity of Christ as well as on the person and ministry of the Holy Spirit.
The literary structure of the book involves two main sections: the "Book of Signs" (John 1-12), involving Jesus' public ministry, and the "Book of Glory (John 13-21), which includes lengthy private conversations with his disciples before his death and resurrection (John 13-17)."
Read in order to see Jesus as he really is. How we see Jesus (our Christology) affects everything (including our Missiology, how we see and carry out our mission, and our Ecclesiology, our understanding of the nature and purpose of the church).
Watch and listen to how Jesus interacts with people – all sorts of people: his family, friends and disciples, the Jewish leaders (including a man named Nicodemus), sinners (including an adulterous woman), government officials and beggars on the street, as well as the crowds of people who followed him.
Jesus himself said, “People need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every word of God (Matt.4:4. NLT).” As we feed on God's Word, we will hear him speak to us and get to know him more. As a result, we will gain wisdom and faith for daily living. Take up and read.
This month, the number of people using Facebook will pass the 500 million mark. This is astounding when you consider that it was only six ago that years after Harvard graduate Mark Zuckerberg helped found Facebook in his dorm room as a way for students to keep tabs on one another. If Facebook was a country it would be the third largest country in the world (even bigger than the USA). It could be nothing short of a social media revolution.
Facebook enables you to connect with your friends wherever they live anywhere in the world. You can let them know what you are doing and find out what they are up to. Upload photos or videos and link to your favourite web sites.
Discussions about security and privacy have emerged recently. Click here for a recent Time magazine article called ‘friends without borders.’ Facebook has responded with some new privacy features. Click here to read some insightful comments from Michael Hyatt in developing a Facebook strategy.
Personally, I am a Facebook user (not Twitter though). I browse at it briefly in the morning and again at night most days. It helps me keep up with friends birthdays and other activity in my social network. However, there is nothing like face to face time with people … and I try not to forget that God wants me to be his friend. I’ve accepted his offer but I need to make sure I connect with him every day so I don’t get distracted by all the other noise in the world.