The face of evil

A few days ago, over Chinese New Year, I got a phone call from someone in my family. Every family has it's skeletons in the cupboard. Mine is no different. It probably has a whole graveyard full of 'em. Most of them are bones of contention over family related hurts and rejection; perceived or otherwise. In any case, this relative gave me 15 minutes worth of cursing and damning of other family members; including my parents. Not an easy thing to stomach, mind you

When another relative, a milder uncle asked me if it bothered me. I said "Not really, seen and heard worse when I was involved in deliverance ministry" (Yes, I was - back in those bad ol' Mike the charismatic days :-) )

While I severely doubt the veracity of demon posession and related demo-mania; I do believe in the existence of evil. That something is 'tak betul' with the human race- both individually and collectively. I heard a bit of it over the phone. I see a bit of it each day. It's in two kids fighting for a plastic pail in a playground. And it's in an Israeli and a Palestinian drawing guns on each other.

I don't see horned halloween devil like creatures behind each individual, pulling the strings of human behaviour. I'll leave that to my..shall we say...more psychically bent brethren of the Pentecostal faith. But what I observe is that in the bones, sinews, emotions, soul and spirit of each human is the capacity and rapacity to want to do evil.

It's about this point that everyone usually waves their hands and says : "Not me! I'm a good person. What about Mother Theresa then". The main difference here is that Mother Theresa knows that she had the inclination to evil just as much as every person in the world - she was just a little better at relying on God's grace than you or me, that's all.

Jesus was really good as pointing this out to those with myopia with regards to evil. To the self-inflated lawyer who demanded to know who his neighbour was - he exposed his racism and pride. To the man who wanted to know how the inheritence was going to be divided, Jesus lectured on the futility of storing up wealth, thus exposing the evil of covetousness

Which is why,sad to say - they crucified him. No one likes their dirty insides exposed. But the irony is that by doing so, it released a Spirit who is perfect as exposing every sin, lie and evil and cleansing it. Out of an act of evil, the death warrant for evil was signed, sentenced and passed. The irony of it all

I can't say I am totally without this inclination to want to sin. Each day passes and I marvel at my capacity for frailty and even more incredible delusion at excusing that. In other words, like most of my other 6 billion brethen on this earth - I try to say that my evil is justifiable

Thus, if some guy scratches my car, I must be justified in doing one to his door. If I get fired from my job, no one will blame me if I take a few pens and a stapler, right? My cry is for justice. For fairness in an unfair world. If no one will protect me, especially God, well, I gotta look out for number one, correct?

In a world of an eye for an eye, there are going to be a lot of one eyed and blind people around

One act of evil is a pebble in a pool, The ripples resonate. Who knows where they will stop. One act of goodness does the same to the pool. When they clash, it looks ugly. Consider this image if you will. Increase the number of good ripples. Increase them to infinity.

After a while, the whole rippled filled pond will look....calm

But underneath, there is activity. Lots of good activity

That, my friends, is the image of a true Christlike world. And in that pond or world, evil doesn't fit in

Only one does the knocking..and it ain't you

There's a beautiful story in the modern church which goes like this: God is a gentleman. He'll never force you to do something you don't want. They preface this with that picture of Jesus knocking on the door and stressing the point that the lock is on the inside; so you have to open it to let him in.

Bollocks.

There was a man who lived in the village of Midian. In the first forty years of his life, he had been a prominent person in Egypt. It was a luxurious life..but he had to move. No matter, for the next forty, he married, had kids and a comfortable life tending sheep. Great life, eh? Just about ready to retire and then...

God appears to him

Note that he didn't pray for an 'word' or enter into a nice conversation with God. Heck, he probably wasn't praying at all - and he got the 'WORD' himself. That is one scary thought. I think of all those people shouting and praying "God! show me more of you!" or "Let me see your face!" in church. And all I can think of is: "Uh-uh. Nope. I don't want to see God face to face. If I did - I'd soil my pants pretty darn quick".

Look, I would get nervous enough seeing Cate Blanchett face to face (Hot tamale!)...let alone the King of Heaven.

So anyway, he gets into this weird conversation with God. And it involves all sorts of weird stuff happening. He obviously doesn't want the job but at about the point where God turns his hand leprous; he kinda thinks that maybe it would be better to zip his lip for a while as some other appendage might turn leprous.

Point Number two: Saying 'No' to God really isn't an option (Hi, Jonah!)

His whole life turns upside down from that point. His son gets circumcised by his wife Zipporah to save him from getting fried by God. All I know is, that a Freudian psychiatrist would have a field day with this scene..

He then has to contend with the might of the Egyptian army, plagues, complaining ungrateful hordes of his people, going up mountains, making decisions...and all this at a time when he should have been retired or dead. His only wish is to see the promised land. Just one small desire - not to much to ask when he's done all this, right?

Nope. One moment of indiscretion puts him out.

Haven't we all been there? If only I never said that to her, if only I never walked into that place, if only i had studied harder..if only, if only.

And all he can do is watch through his feeble eyes, the others entering into the land of Milk and Honey, while he waits to die. In a land where he has spent the last forty years wandering; only to be so close yet so far. This is the story of Moses

I cringe when I see those self proclaimed 'prophets' in large churches. You want to be a prophet, really? Consider Ezekiel. God tells him that his wife may die...and get this: he is not to mourn for her. Now, this was no nasty wife that he was glad to be rid of. This was the 'delight of his eyes' (Ezekiel 24:16). And he was not even allowed to cry for her. "..yet you shall not mourn or weep. nor shall your tears run down"

You still want to be a prophet now?

What did the verse I use in my first post for the year say? Everything belongs to God. Even you. Even your wife. Your little kids are his. Don't ever say Jesus sold you a false story about the cost of discipleship in the gospels. He was brutally honest about saying that you have to carry a cross.

I honestly have to say that if I knew how much of a cross this was, I seriously may not have opted to carry it. You can call this heresy or blasphemy if you wish. It doesn't matter. You can 'willingly' accept it - if you think it's your will doing it. Or you can walk away. Like Jonah, and see how far you go

"For the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" - 1 Corinthians 10:26

" Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honoured use and another for dishonourable use?" - Romans 9:21 -

The deafening silence of God

Nothing speaks more of the impassability of God then the deafening silence of unanswered prayer. The decline of Christianity in the West is sometimes attributed to the years after World War One where many millions of young Christian men died in the horrible hellish nighthmare of trench warfare. Yes, it could be argued that in those millions were thousands of potential missionaries, pastors and workers for Christ. We will never know. But I have another theory

For virtually every christian family that sent a christian son off to war and saw him come back in a coffin; there lay the seed of a growing bitterness towards God. A cold rage towards him for not answering those prayers of protection and safety from danger and death. A body was buried, but that was not all. The faith of a family and subsequent generations got buried as well on that cold day - where God failed to answer their prayers

Of course, God answers prayers, people say. Just not always in the way you want it to be.

As 2009 begins, already the tsunamis of life (note the plural) have already hit and devasted the beaches of my life. Before I can even get one prayer of help out, another hits; and another. Before long, you even wonder whether you should just forget saving the boat (what boats are left to save?) and just run to higher ground until the waves subside - or will they?

Oddly, I have no platitudes for you today. I can't say whether you will keep your faith or lose it. I know many good people who have. What do you say to a father who has lost a child? What do you say to the mother? I have no idea

I guess if I was to answer honestly, I would grab a handful of earth, and throw it into the grave. Where a body lies. And maybe a faith and the faith of fathers

Reformed Resolutions for 2009

It's amazing how things work out.

Towards the end of a very torrid last year, I was on a high. Finally, I got my resume done and looked forward to entering the workforce again in 2009. In one week, I managed to complete the Stanchart half marathon, attended a seminar by my boxing coach (which was really good) and capped it off by attending YLDP..honestly, one of the few christian camps I had really enjoyed for many, many years. During the camp, I got to counsel a few people, made some friends and even when I came back - intervened to help a friend in serious trouble. I was on a high, both physically, mentally and spiritually

Then I broke my foot

After that, family problems came popping out like termites

Which was followed by even more issues that threatened to overwhelm me

"The Earth is the Lord's, and everything in it"- 1 Corinthians 10:26 -

Every new year, we make resolutions for the coming year. Some of us are glad to see the end of the last one and vow that this one will be better. Why? Because we resolved it to be so. That's the power of positive thinking! It's taking charge, being in control, claiming that I am the master of my own universe.

It's also very wrong

Sometime this year, and I guarantee this, someone will find out they have cancer just before Christmas, and a pale shadow will descend on the family during their dinner on the eve. A child will eagerly await her daddy, only to find out that he died in a car accident on the way home. A wife who is expecting her first child goes into shock when she discovers that her husband has been cheating on her

It's amazing, when you seriously think about it, how little control we exert over life. And yet, we are fed through a steay stream of Oprah and positive affirmation preaching from the pulpit that we are the captains of our ship. But the irony is that we did not make the ship, we did not make the waters and we certaintly do not control the tides or the waves. And you can be the best nautical captain ever to helm a ship but if a 100ft wave hits, you and your plonky vessel - are both going down, my friend

But oddly, this should not make you negative, or totally cynical.

My favourite faith verse of all time in Daniel 3:16-18. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego are about to be thrown into the furnace. A pretty hot situation to say the least. And the chances of a reprieve or appeal look slim when the judge is also the king who is chucking you in.

Let's stop for a moment. When Christians think about facing trials like these, or things like cancer, or equally as tragic; many say : " My faith in Christ will carry me through!" very confidently. I don't think so. I just don't buy it. When the rubber really, really hits the road; most christians will falter. I have counselled enough to see that while their are no atheists in a foxhole, they are very few real christians out of one either. The bullets and impending doom will reveal the extent of real gold in your pile, don't worry about that

So, when the trio say " If we are thrown in the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O King.." (v.17). But the kicker is verse 18: "Even if he DOES NOT, we will not serve your gods.."

Even if he does not.

Even if you are in agony and your numerous prayers bring no relief. Even if you pray for the conversion of a loved one and he or she goes to their deathbed unrepentant. Even if you lose everything, and your friends mock your faith. Your parents plead with you to go back to the altar deities, or to at least listen to Dr Phil.

"..we will not serve your gods."

Because we have been there, and seen too much since. Or experienced so much of the real God that we cannot serve or turn back to false idols any more. It may be true that while the world has collapsed and we may be in a corner picking our scabs like Job; we cannot turn back because once the scales have fallen off, we can't put them back over our eyes and pretend that we are blind. That's just goofy

A reformed resolution is one where God is placed where he is. All the earth is his, and it revolves around him; not you. Reformed resolutions seek to proclaim the name and fame of Jesus even if your world is crumbling around you and your own resolutions, hopes and dreams fall into dust. That is the reformed faith at work.

This year, the church will ask you what do you want out of 2009. I want you to ask God: What, O Lord, do you want in 2009? The answers may be just the resolutions that you are seeking in the first place

Happy New Year and Grace to you