Take The Corners Slowly

Olympic skiers reminded me of an important life lesson this week. Watching a couple of ski contestants fly off the track failing to make a tight corner at the bottom of a hill got me thinking. Its not the straight stretches that get you, its the corners. 

I have been negotiating one of life's corners this week. My father died. We held a funeral, placed his ashes, mourned with family and friends, reminisced, laughed and cried. And the important point is this, we did it all with a certain care that required time and attention.

Like you, my life is full. I like to go down hill fast. I have lots in my diary and people are expecting me to fulfil various expectations. Sometimes I don't have enough margin.

But on this occasion my dearest friends counselled me to slow down and take the corner well. Slowing down meant flying to Canada. It involved visiting friends, talking through details, and listening to family members unhurriedly, attentively and lovingly. 

Another thing I learned is that you should look where you want to go. This is great advice when ploughing through a corner in life. Don't get obsessed with the stuff in front of you or that is where you will fall. To paraphrase Paul, "Ski by faith". This week I have been looking towards our eternal hope in Jesus Christ. The promises of 1 Thess. 4:13-18 have never seemed so important to me. I'm navigating a corner of grief with my eyes on the prize of resurrection.

Life presents many corners. Grief is a corner. Loss is a corner. New love is a corner. Deep disappointment is corner. Huge opportunity is a corner. 

To win gold, take the corners wisely. Slow down and lean into God. 

How To Say Clever Things

Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The social media was full of awesome quotes and clever things he said. Here are a few examples: 

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle." 

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bare." 

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase." 

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

"We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

How is it that he said so many clever things? Well, he was smart. He had a heap of public opportunities. His daddy was a Baptist preacher and he followed the same path. He was a precocious student. He quoted others a lot. He thought deeply and wrote extensively.  

All true. However, the real reason is more powerful. The things he said sound clever because the life he lived was great. Bold sacrificial choices and an untimely death turned ordinary words into quotable gems. 

A sure way to sound naive and awkward is to try and be clever. But the quickest way to become clever is to give your life away in service to others. Live a bold sacrificial life, die doing something that matters, and suddenly your ordinary words are supercharged with wisdom. It turns out that wisdom is more of a "doing-thing" than a "saying-thing".

So, how do you say clever things? Speak less and make greater sacrifices. (Prov. 17:28)

__________________

Listen to the closing moments of King's final speech ("the mountain top") the night before he was assassinated: click here. 

An interesting fact: King was born Michael King, Jr. His father changed the name to Martin Luther while attending the Baptist World Alliance Congress in Berlin in 1934. The vision for greatness stuck!

God of New Beginnings

January is named after the Roman god Janus. He has a pair of faces. One looks backward and one looks forward. What a great symbol of New Years Wisdom. 

Look back. What are you celebrating as you close off your 2013? What stirs you to offer prayers of thanksgiving? Are there successes? Gains? Wins? And what about disappointments? Losses? Hurts? What loose ends do you need to tie up so 2013 can rest well? 

Look forward. What positive change should you promise to make? Is it fitness, family, faith, fun-times, finances. Do you need to get organised, read your bible, sign up to serve or learn a new skill? 

Did you know that you are 10 times more likely to succeed with a promise made at New Years? So says Dr. Mike Evans in this 6 min video. It helped me as I set 8 rather exciting personal goals for 2014. I hope it helps you too. 

A simple word of wisdom. Don't make a resolution, make a plan! Think it through, break it up into little pieces, write it down, be accountable to someone, and invite the God of new beginnings to help you. Not Janus ... Jehovah! (Isa. 43:9)

The Rarest Kind of Friendship

There is a friendship based on talking. It is common. Dale Carnegie says you can "win" these sort of friends. All you need to do is let them speak. So long as you nod and mumble with credible frequency you can assemble a substantial collection of these sort of friends. 

This common friendship is epidermal. Surface conversations rubbing up against each other, with very little permeation. People taking turns to speak, but no one taking time to listen. 

The rarest kind of friendship however, behaves differently. It does not wait its turn to speak. Sometimes it yields its turn and sits in silence for long periods. At other times it interrupts brusquely and speaks its mind. It does this because it is engaged, it understands, participates and even anticipates. In short it loves.

This is friendship based on active hearing! It is sacred because it sees into your soul and speaks wisdom, comfort and truth to what it sees there. 

I am blessed. I have friends who occasionally touch my soul. Their words are kisses and their eyes sing my undeserved praises. They "get" me without making me explain myself. They can rebuke me or bless me but always I feel restful and improved when I have been with them. Jesus himself is one such friend, he touches my soul frequently (John 15:15). 

I think I understand the goal (Prov. 17:17, 18:24, 27:6,9). I wish I did not fail so often. I pray that I might be a soul-touching friend for a few people at least some of the time as I live. And I pray that you would have such a friend and be such a friend too.

Who or what touches your soul? How do you practice deep friendship? Please leave a comment. 

Ponder Your Life Mission Today

What is your life mission? Over 25 years ago I wrote out my life purpose. I review it each new year. It inspires me to become a better person. It has changed only a little over the years. 

I share it here to encourage you to write out your mission. You'll see I have lots of work yet to do. Share your thoughts on life mission below.  

My chief aim in life is to honour God and live so as to hear him say: "Well done, good and faithful servant".

I am a Christian! I will live for Christ! I will ask: "What would Jesus do?" I will seek first God's Kingdom.

I will aim to make Christ visible in the world, to be a servant and a leader who will bring people into the Christian life and help them live it. I will make disciples.

I will model Christ's love in my marriage. I will raise my children to honour and serve Christ and to exercise their freedom to reach their full potential.

I will maintain a positive attitude and learn to live by faith. I will learn to rejoice in everything and be thankful. I will be a positive influence on people.

I will place the highest value on: humility, integrity, love, creativity, grace, listening, service and charity.

I will seek to live at peace with others.

I will take the bible as my rule of faith and practice in life. I will embrace the Ten Commandments, The Fruit of the Spirit, and The Golden Rule.

I am committed to personal growth and new challenges. I am free to fail and eager to learn from each failure.

I am a communicator and will use my gift and talent to its greatest possible benefit as a preacher, teacher, pastor and author.

Take some time at the start of a new year to think about your mission. Your life matters. It is a gift to all of us. Enjoy it and live it well. Happy New Year!

Do Angels Still Visit?

At the shops this week I asked a women to explain her tattoo for me. It was an angel. The art was really beautiful. She was eager to tell me it was her mother. That got me thinking. 

Five things I like about her answer: she believes in an afterlife, has a sense of her mother being alive, thinks of her as close, believes in angels and dares to put her feelings out there.

Five things I want to challenge (but didn't): people don't transform into angels when they die, angels in the bible are male, wings are unlikely, too much adoration of angels is not good (Col. 2:18-19) and angels are messengers - don't celebrate the herald and miss the good news.

Angels feature prominently at Christmas. In Matthew and Luke they bring good news and offer comfort. They come to enlist participants in God's salvation story. Their focus is God's cosmic work.  

In the bible angels protect people (Dan. 6:22, Acts 12:7-11), bring messages (Zech. 1:14-17) and worship God (Heb. 1:6, Rev. 5:11-2). They are servants of God's purpose. They have a will and some even rebel against God (2 Pet. 2:4). 

So, will you have an angel in your life this Christmas? Possibly! But if you do, two things are likely. First, you probably won't even know. Angels often appear as strangers so beware (Heb. 13:2). And, second, it will be about God's work of justice, renewal and peace in the world. Angels usually don't help us find our keys, think up great facebook posts or lead us to an empty car park at the shopping centre. Instead they form choirs and sing God's praise - and every few millennia a handful of shepherds hear them.

If you need an angel this christmas I believe God will send one. But don't wait for it, wish for it or wonder too much about it. You have something better. You have Jesus himself who said - "I will never leave you!" (Matt. 28:19) That's enough. 

10 Things I Love About My Church

Here's a love list. In no particular order here are ten things that make me say "Thank you God for NewHope Baptist Church". I love this place!

1. People transformations. I love to see Jesus change lives. I love baptism testimonies (60+ this year), healing stories and accounts of growth through suffering and loss. 

2. Culture mix. Attending NewHope is like visiting the United Nations. I love our diversity - 60 birth nations in our worship gatherings and the colours of the rainbow on our staff team. We celebrate each other's background.

3. Our mission: "Love God, Love others, Serve the world". Hardly original or unique. But is works! I wake up in the morning thrilled that this focused call is what my life is all about. I love having a clear purpose in life and ministry.

4. Community engagement. I love eating with people who live on the street (Dinner Tonite), dialoguing with Federal politicians, praying with our neighbours, sharing the gospel with people in need. I love seeing what Spirit-filled, fully yielded people can accomplish serving together. I am glad NewHope has open doors to our community. 

5. Our café. It feeds the "soul" of our church through a ministry of hospitality. We call it Middle Ground Café to celebrate its mission of connecting people to God. It is physically situated between the footpath and the worship seats. I love the coffee.

6. The care. I celebrate wonderful stories of attentive love to one another. I too experience this genuine care at church. Good people speak sincerely and powerfully into each other's lives. 

7. Our Baptist-ness. I love it that we are a local church with a local "government" - that our properties, problems, programs and possibilities are all "owned" by us. 

8. Our culture. We have a sweet spirit in the fellowship of NewHope. It is made real by a hundred acts of mercy and a thousand gestures of love every week. People absorb hurts for others. People point out bad behaviour and we all work to correct it. Culture is fragile. We are learning to treat it with care. 

9. Mobilised people. I thank God for our many, many volunteers, vibrant small groups, ministries to all ages and a network of care. I love the way we can do life together. 

10. Vitality. Because we built a Community Centre our property is active 7 days a week. We host everything from local school graduations to business training conferences. We serve these groups and take every opportunity to share Jesus. There is life here! Faith, doubt, love, pain, hope, hurt and the Spirit of God all intersect here.

I could easily keep going. I'm not saying it's perfect but I am saying there is a LOT to love here! 

Why this post? My denominational leader, Daniel Bullock, suggested the idea in his Christmas letter to Pastors. He asked: "Do you still love the church?" I do!

Now, why don't you make a list. What do you celebrate about your church?