The PASSION Blog

I came across this “alternate” version of the 23rd Psalm the other day. I think it is the one for people who are too busy. The real version is below it. Have a read of them both and see which one you relate to.

Psalm 23 (busy version)

The Lord is my Foreman, I shall not rest
He makes me mow down green pastures
He leads me to generators besides rapid waters
He wears out my soul
Even though I walk through the valley of relaxation,
I fear no chance of rest…
Surely busyness and pressure shall follow me all the days of my life
And I will run to and fro in the house of the Lord forever

Psalm 23 (from NIV)

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside quiet waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

One of the things I have been refelcting on lately is just what is Christian maturity.

Years ago I probably would have said that a mature Christian was someone who went to church regularly, paid their tithe, served in some form in the church, was a good citizen, and had a good Bible knowledge.

While these things might be the marks of maturity, I don’t think they cover it all. Here’s a few reflections that I have come up with. It is just a few thoughts and not meant to be an exhaustive list.

1. Jesus - this goes without saying that a mature Christian trusts in Jesus for their salvation. They also realise that it is important to share Jesus with other people in the way they are called to do it.

2. Steady - a mature Christian realises that while life has its ups and downs, they know that God is in control. They are not like a boat being tossed on the ocean. They seemed to be anchored firmly to Christ.

3. Stewards - mature Christians realise that all they own is God’s. It is less about paying the exact tithe and more about using their assets, time and gifts to honour God and play their part in expanding His Kingdom.

4. Answers - someone who is mature realises they don’t have all the answers. They can admit they are not expert on all aspects of doctrine and what the Bible teaches on every subject.

5. Faults - a mature Christian admits they are not perfect. They realise they have their struggles and don’t try to portray they have it all together all of the time. They understand they are human and they have faults.

6. Feeding - a mature Christians is someone who knows how to feed themselves spiritually. They allow others to feed them, but ultimately they realise that it is their responsibility to keep growing.

7. Themselves - someone mature has an understanding of who they are in Christ. They have a godly confidence in themselves based on who God says they are. Because of this they are free to be themselves.

So there you have it. My reflections on Christian maturity. As I said it is not meant to be exhaustive, but just to include some of the things I have been thinking about lately.

Over the years one of my biggest struggles as a Christian has been attending church each week and going to all the extra meetings/events. This is because I am naturally someone who does not need a lot of social contact and I enjoy time alone to pray and reflect on things. I guess in many ways I am a bit of a loner.

In this post I want to share some of the things loners think and feel at times. I will make some comparisons between people who need to spend more time alone than most people and those who are naturally more social.

• At the end of a hard week at work a loner might long for the solitude of their home after spending so much time with people. Someone more social might be ringing friends to arrange a group movie night, a party or to go to a club or pub.
• If a loner plays a sport they might chose something like cycling, swimming or running where they can do it alone. A social person might chose a team sport as they enjoy the team aspects and the social contact.
• If a loner does some studies they might chose to do it externally where they can really focus on the learning and reflecting on the content. A more social person do it on campus as they enjoy the relationships and discussing things with others as they learn.
• If a loner is going through a hard time or a busy situation they tend to withdraw for a while. A more social person might ring some friends and talk about things. Unlike the loner, they desire to be around people.
• If there is an extra church meeting a loner might prefer a small group or prayer meeting. A social person might want to hold a quiz night or pot luck church dinner.
• After church a loner might like to catch up with one or two people or read the church newsletter in their seat. A more social person will be off catching up with everyone and arranging outings.

I hope you can see what I am saying here. We are all wired differently and some people need more social contact than others.  Some get energised from being around people all the time, while others get very tired and drained. Some delight at the chance of going to church and social events all the time, while others need to really mentally prepare themselves to even go to church once a month!

I believe we need to accept people as they are and realise that some people might be with us for a few months and then we might not see them for a bit. Some may even only come ocassionally. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are backsliding, less committed or falling away, they might just need a rest from all the social contact. They might just need to be a “lone ranger” for a while to recover!

One of the things I try to do as a part of my daily prayer time is to give thanks to God for the good things in my life. I am so thankful for my family, my home, our life, my salvation and the work God has called me to.

One thing I am especially thankful for at the moment is my health. Regular readers will know I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis as a 12 year old. This changed my life dramatically. However as I have gotten older my health has steadily improved and this is no longer an issue for me.

I am so thankful that at the age of 41 I can run around at the park with my kids, I can kick a ball, play chasey, go bike riding, climb a tree and do physical work. These are things that I never thought I would be able to do. Especially when at the age of 18 my specialist doctor told me to accept that crippling pain and stiffness would probably be with me for the rest of my life.

Yes there has been a lot of hard work and discipline involved of my part in exercising and eating right, but being healthy only improved my condition so far. Most of the real work was done by God moving and working in my life as a result of prayer and out of His goodness towards me.

I am so thankful to God that at the age of 41 I can do all the things I can do, things I never dreamed of doing. I am also so thankful that I feel like I haven’t yet come to my peak physically. I don’t know when that will be, but it still feels like a few years away. Praise God.

How about you? What are you thankful for today? In what ways do you feel blessed? I think that is worth reflecting on today.

Over the last two years I have felt God speaking to me about house churches. I have been reading about them and praying about them. I have also been following a number of house churches through their websites and blogs.

All the way through this process the desire has been growing inside me to plant a house church and reach out to people who have never really fit into the traditional church setting. The people who are Christians, but do not have a place where they regularly meet with other people to grow and journey together.

In Perth when God first spoke to me about this idea, it made sense, but it didn’t seem to fit into the context of our neighbourhood. Because of this I put it on the back burner and prayed about it. Now we are in a smaller country town and we have met a number of Christians who don’t go to church, it is starting to come to the forefront again. It always made sense, but now it makes a lot more sense.

My heart is to provide a safe place for people to meet where they can feel comfortable and relaxed and we can journey in faith together. A place where we can pray, study the Bible, be discipled and learn how to disciple others, worship God and enjoy the fellowship that can only happen in a small group type setting.

At this stage my wife and I think we will begin house church early next year. In the meantime we are going to meet as a family once per week to pray, worship and study the Bible together. In time we know that God will prompt us to invite others along who He wants to be involved.

A friend asked me what my favourite Bible was recently. This was a hard question as I have a number of Bibles that I use for different things and some of them have been bought at different parts of my journey of faith.

My first favourite Bible was a hard cover Good News Study Bible I bought when I when I was a brand new Christian. I purchased the gold leaf tabs with all the Bible names on them to make it easier to find the places. Now it is old and worn and underlined all the way through. It has served me well and in many ways feels like an old friend when I pick it up.

My current favourite Bible is my Thompson Chain New International Version. This one is great for students and it has loads of extra material in the margins and refers you to lots of other passages to help in your research. In the back it had lots of maps, book overviews, timelines and more. It is my favourite at the moment as I am full on into the books. And yes it has the gold leaf tabs on the side to help me find the books easily. One of my friends regularly comments on how I like them!

How about you? Have you got a favourite Bible? What do you like about it? Have you got several favourite Bibles? Is one like an old friend?

Over the years I have had a number of people come to me when they are going through a difficult time. While I am not a trained counselor, there are certain things that I have found I can do just by being there and listening. It is interesting that how most people who have come to me have just needed one or more of the following three things.

1. Suggestion - Sometimes they just need an outside opinion on an issue or needed to run something by me. Generally all they need is a suggestion of a few options they could take in a situation. Sometimes the things I suggest might not necessarily be overly spiritual, but it helps them in the decision making process and helps them to move forward.

2. Cathartic - Sometimes people who come my way just need to get things off their chest. I have found that most of us when we are going through a rough time just need to download our thoughts to someone. Most of the time their head is full and they just need to empty and in a sense “restart” their computer. Speaking to someone outside the situation can help to do this.

3. Reassurance - Sometimes the people who come to me need to just be reassured that things will be ok. In the midst of a painful time it is often hard to see when it will end and things might return to “normal”. Reassuring people that God is in control and that God is with them helps a great deal. It is also great if you have personally been through the situation and you can share how things have worked out for you.

Regardless of whether you are a trained Pastor or a counselor sometimes people just need someone to be there and listen. One or more of the above things can really make a difference to people in short term crisis and can help them to move forward in faith and in the hope that things will get better.

My wife just reminded me that I am a creature of habit and how once something becomes ingrained in me it takes a while to shake it.

In my last job in Perth I worked in an office four days per week - Monday to Thursday. Every Thursday morning I would spring out of bed all excited as it was my last day at the office. She noticed I would bounce around the place, whistle and sing out loud and generally be very excited about things.

Often she would say you are in a good mood today and after a while we realised that it was Thursday and I was all excited about the long weekend coming up (this happened every week for me as I only worked four days). It was like Monday-itis in reverse to say the least!

Anyway, it has been 15 months since I have left that job and working Monday to Thursday. Now my days and hours are very flexible being a student, but I still spring out of bed on Thursdays and sing my way through breakfast.

For me it is a strange phenomena that just seems to happen without thinking about it. Maybe as my wife suggests I am a creature of habit…or maybe I just really like Thursdays!

What are some of your habits? Have you got special days or is one day just like the next for you? Do you find yourself doing certain things on certain days out of habit?

One thing I have noticed since moving to the WA wheatbelt is the number of committed Christians I have met that don’t attend church regularly.

Up until the last few years I probably would have said that it was not possible to be a committed Christian and not go to church in some form (traditional or house church). However more recently I have met some very strong Christians who are on fire for God and are doing great things amongst their family, friends and neighbours who don’t go to church. In many ways they are like missionaries in their sphere of influence and they end up being like Pastors to without a church.

From the outside you don’t actually see the things they are doing and how much they are reaching out to people and praying for them. You could actually fall into the trap of being judgmental and questioning their commitment. However, it is not until you go to their homes and spend some time with them that you actually see the impact they are making. On a few occasions I have come away very inspired.

In major cities like Perth there are hundreds of churches. If you don’t “fit” into your local church, you can usually find another one within a few kilometres. However in some country towns there are only one or two churches, if you don’t find your place, you might have to drive 50-100 kilometres. That is something most people can’t afford to do these days with petrol prices.

So is it possible to be a committed Christian without attending church? From what I have seen since living in the country, yes it is.

A couple of weeks ago I shared in this post what Jesus saved us from. I shared that salvation involves two main ideas…

1. Being rescued from the penalty of sin - which means death and eternal separation from God.
2. Being in right relationship with God - both now and for all eternity.

In essence the salvation Jesus has purchased puts us in a right relationship with God.

In taking this a step further we look at the three chief ingredients for a person to be saved. They are a need, a provision and a response.

1. A Need - Each of us needs to realise that we have sinned and fallen short of God’s standards in the way we live our lives. We have all fallen short in some way at some time in our lives and only Jesus can save us (Romans 3:23).
2. A Provision - The Bible tells us that while the punishment for sin is death and eternal separation from God, there is some good news. God has given us a gift of eternal life if we are trusting in Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23)
3. A Response - Jesus has played His part in dying on the cross for us and making the way open to God. However we all need to respond personally to this offer (Revelations 3:20).

If you would like to respond to what Jesus has done and come into a personal relationship with God today. Please visit my “Peace with God” page. It is a chance to make a whole new start with God.