UNTIL WE SEE THE CROSS

Geoff Bullock 1999

Verse One:

Before we sing again, before we dance again,
Let our souls be still and silent.
Let’s just stop a while, to pause and pray awhile,
To look and hear again,
Let our songs be still till then.

Verse Two:

Let our dreams be more than building towers that fall.
All our works his cross has silenced.
And as our hearts are healed, let our songs reveal
His grace so undeserved,
These songs can now be heard.

Chorus:

Until we see the cross, until we feel the pain
Until we see the scars
that pierced grace to our shame.
Until we see again,
let our songs be still ‘till then.

Verse Three:

When we see his face, through our broken faith:
Mercy triumphs over judgement.
Wounded hands reveal, only love can heal
The brokeness we share,
Only wounded hearts can care.

Chorus:

Until we see the cross, until we feel the pain
Until we see the scars
that pierced grace to our shame.
Until we see again,
let our songs be still ‘till then.

New Car

Yes I got a new car. It is my very first new car. It is a Honda Jazz. Gayle and I bought it together and took the loan on it. It is the first time I have been in debt (excluding HECS). This will help us to get a good perspective on our finances together. I talk a lot about being a good steward with finances but my actions far from live up to it. Now is the time to begin

The Philippines - people power

The Philippines is the most educated Asian country with a literacy rate of higher than 93%, yet they are often described as the basket case of Asia. The reason is bad governance. Yet an interesting fact that I just discovered – the Filipinos have led the way to reform in Asia through people power. In the summer of 1986 the Filipinos took to the street with the support of Cardinal Sin to overthrow the 20 year corrupt dictatorship that had prevented them from moving forward as a country. The dictatorships military force was 140,000 while the people rally started with just 300 people.

This defiant move by the people opened the floodgates for all of Asia. Since then Indonesia, Pakistan, and Nepal have seen regime changes as a result of successful people power. China on the other hand brutally suppressed people power in the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Now there are many people in the Philippines who believe that the only way to move forward is to come back under a dictatorship (even if for just a few years). I don’t know too much about the Pilipino situation, but there are a few Asian countries where I believe a dictatorship is essential.

While I would love to see freedom and democracy in China, that nation is not ready for it. If the government takes there hand off the people completely in one go, China would explode. Look at Iraq.

Just thinking out loud.

Steps to peace with God

Step 1: God's Purpose: Peace and Life

God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life—abundant and eternal.

The Bible says ...

"We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." —Romans 5:1 (NIV)

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." —John 3:16 (NIV)

"I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." —John 10:10 (NIV)

Why don't most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have?

Step 2: The Problem: Our Separation

God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. He did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and a freedom of choice. We chose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God

The Bible says ...

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." —Romans 3:23 (NIV)

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." —Romans 6:23 (NIV)

Our Attempts to Reach God

People have tried in many ways to bridge this gap between themselves and God ...

The Bible says ...

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." —Proverbs 14:12 (NIV)

"But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear." —Isaiah 59:2 (NIV)

No bridge reaches God ... except one.

Step 3: God's Bridge: The Cross

Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.

The Bible says ...

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ."
—1 Timothy 2:5 (NIV)

"For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God." —1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
—Romans 5:8 (NIV)

God has provided the only way. Each person must make a choice.

Step 4: Our Response: Receive Christ

We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive Him by personal invitation.

The Bible says ...

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me."
—Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God."
—John 1:12 (NIV)

"That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."
—Romans 10:9 (NIV)

Where are you?

Will you receive Jesus Christ right now?

Here is how you can receive Christ:

1. Admit your need (I am a sinner).
2. Be willing to turn from your sins (repent).
3. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
4. Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Him as Lord and Savior.)

How to Pray:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and need Your forgiveness. I believe that You died for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I now invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as Lord and Savior. In Jesus' name. Amen.

God's Assurance: His Word

If you prayed this prayer,

The Bible says ...

"Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. " —Romans 10:13 (NIV)

Did you sincerely ask Jesus Christ to come into your life? Where is He right now? What has He given you?

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." —Ephesians 2:8,9 (NIV)

Receiving Christ, we are born into God's family through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. This is called regeneration, or the "new birth."

This is just the beginning of a wonderful new life in Christ. To deepen this relationship you should:

1. Read your Bible everyday to know Christ better.
2. Talk to God in prayer every day.
3. Tell others about Christ.
4. Worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians in a church where Christ is preached.
5. As Christ's representative in a needy world, demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others.

Prayer and Music

“One good thing about music, when it hits you fell okay. I said one good thing about music, when it hits you fell okay.” - Bob Marley

One thing that I can’t imagine going without is music.
Music has the ability to change my worse mood. I don’t care about the lyrics so much, I don’t care about the genre, just give me good music.
I don’t want trash, I don’t want heavy, I don’t want gangster, just give me real music. I don’t even need to understand the language – as long as the beat is good and the voice is wow – I’ll like. My two favourite songs now – Shake it off (Mariah Carey) and Ba Bump (Black Eyed Peas) “It’s that beat that make you shake your rump”.

There was a time when I couldn’t leave my house in the morning without hearing good music first. The song that I listened to before I left would set the mood for my day. When I got home at night, I would put on a song that expressed the mood that I wanted to feel. I found that I could literally change how I felt with one song.

I’ve since found something better. That is the power of prayer. Yes sometimes prayer feels like “dry lima beans in a dry mouth on a dry day”, but there are other times where prayer takes me to the very throne room of the Almighty. Every burden is lifted. God takes what weighs me down and replaces it with joy. That is truly amazing. Through prayer I have learnt not to be dependent on music to change my feeling. I now subjugate my feelings by prayer with the Almighty.

But there are times when prayer is tough. Sometimes all I want is to ignore the problems that confront me in life and wait (and hope) for them to pass. I just need a quick change in mood. And music does that for me. When work is tough, or my family relations are not good, or when friends are painful – sometimes I just want to go into fantasy, pretend that everything is okay. I put on music. But music does not fix the problem. Music ends. Problem remains.

There are things that I must do to grow. I can not hope the problem disappears. I need to turn to the Almighty in prayer. This is tough at times – Really tough. God doesn’t just make the problem disappear. He builds me up. He takes my pride and equips me with His Spirit. God will give me peace and strength. This always results in courage to step out and confront the issues of life. Sometimes I just want to walk away, but then I look at Jesus. He did not walk away when things got tough. He saw the end. He knew the outcome. He consecrated His will to Gods will and chose to die on the cross.

That is my example. Jesus is who I should follow. Nevertheless, music still makes you “feel” okay. I truly enjoy good music. I just need to learn what to lean on.

The church and criticism

I just read this comment posted on another blog. This comment is very broad and may be stereotyping, but there are many elements of Australian society that do fall into this description.

“My wife (of Chinese descent) has made the observation in the past that many Australians are built inside-out - rough and tough on the outside, but inside they are emotionally weak and brittle, crumbling away at the slightest criticism. That's the wrong way around! Your outside behaviour should be well-mannered, gentle and kind to others, but inside you need to be an emotionally rock-solid fortress, steady and controlled during storms of argument and personal attack.”

Unfortunately, as I am experiencing lately, Australians are a very defensive bunch of people. This is not more obvious then when I raise questions about the Church they attend.

Again another comment that I just read about criticism…

“Is it biblical to turn a blind eye to things like spiritual abuse, to wrong doctrine, even to wrongdoing for the sake of not being critical? Where is the courage in that? Isn't it more biblical to speak the truth in love - to sometimes challenge and confront issues, which is not far from what The Message does for our lives? Is your concept of being a member of a church so distorted that you have to agree with everything that is spoken or implemented by church leadership? ...A final question - does saying "everyone knows the church is not perfect" mean that no attempts should be made to change or improve or challenge the method of operation or culture? Should we just accept the status quo? Surely the church is on a journey as much as the individuals who make it up. Challenging doesn't mean trashing, [and] questioning doesn't mean whinging. I hope that through this process of questioning and challenging the church as well as its individual members grow in the process of maturity.”

I love the church and desire nothing more than for God’s will to be perfectly done for it and for its influence to increase. Some church members are so zealous for that house that they will not tolerate or even listen to questioning. We are all members in the body. We are all fallible and prone to error. Listen to one another. Learn from mistakes. Jesus is the head. Jesus is our role model. Our churches should be based and planted on the things that God finds important.

My point of view: Being a Christian is about one thing: Loving God by following Jesus, and loving God by loving others. It is not about the segregation of the small “c” church. That is just the vessel where we grow and are discipled. We are part of a global church – the capital “C” Church. We are all one family. In the words of Rick Warren - "lets learn to walk hand in hand without necessarily seeing eye to eye."

My suggestion: PRAY PRAY PRAY. God may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Heal the broken hearted. Heal the sick. Bring salvation and redemption to all who are lost. Soften the hearts of your Church to be sensitive to your call. If we are over cynical, bring restoration to use. If we are critical without cause, heal the hurt that caused that. If we are judgemental, teach us by your love that those who show no mercy will not be shown mercy. Heal our past hurts. Anoint us to take healing to others. Grow your church. We can not do it alone Abba. We need your Spirit to lead us. Teach us that this is not about the small “c” church, but that we are all part of the capital “C” Church. Your Church. You are sovereign Lord. May your Church truly be the vessel where you move in this world. Send us to the broken hearted. Send us to the corporations. Send us to the nations. Send us to the educational institutions. Send us to the political institutions. Send us to the end of the world. We are the Church. We are Gods people. Black, white and yellow. Business man, doctor, lawyer, steel worker, or bus driver. We are saved and called by You. You are the reason for life. You came to give us life Lord Jesus. May we live it. May we all shout with one voice: “Hear we are – send us”.

Jesus and Homosexuality

For those who have homosexual friends, colleagues and want to know how to relate to them in a Christian context, read the following list of articles by Scot McKnight. He looks at the wide context of homosexuality and the way which Jesus and His followers must relate with homosexuals. I highly encourage those involved in youth ministry to read these. I find all of Scot’s articles very insightful.

Jesus and Homosexuality 1
Jesus and Homosexuality 2
Jesus and Homosexuality 3
Jesus and Homosexuality 4
Jesus and Homosexuality 5
Jesus and Homosexuality 6

Photography - I Thought You Might Enjoy...

I saw this on Phil Bakers blog.

Liquid Sculpture


"The photographic challenges in my work were mostly solved by these pioneers, and by the advent of the computer. Now my main effort is orchestrating the lights and liquids to create the colors and shapes. The same characteristics of liquids that make them so visually engaging, also make them difficult to control. Therein lie the irresistible puzzle and satisfying rewards."

Second update

There is a problem with blogger. My previous post "update" did not register correctly with blogger and therefore I can't edit it, and others can not post comments on that post.

So please post comments on this post. Do you read my blog?