christian

Be Holy

Posted on October 10, 2012 by Pieter Stok

In 1 Peter 1:15 & 16 he writes:

But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;  for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

This is a direct reference to Leviticus 11:44 &45. Holiness is such a foreign concept for our age. The spirit of our times is, “if it feels good, do it!”  Principles, values and consequences have very little place in our Western lifestyle. It would be easy to drag out a litany of examples but sadly I don’t need to because we are all fully aware of what I mean. It is pervasive.

But the biggest tragedy is that God’s children are not immune. We too are tainted by our age. Statistics show that lifestyle choices in the church are not radically different from the rest of the world.

God’s command is an immensely important one. We are to be holy because we are called to reflect the one who redeemed us. Our lives are to be witnesses of God and what he has done in Christ. Our lives are called to be living examples of the power of the gospel.

When we fail to grow in holiness our lives mock God. By not growing in holiness our lives say to the world, “Really, the gospel is not that influential. The power that Paul speaks of is not that life changing.”

The most powerful witness that the body of Christ has, is to live the radical life changing power of the gospel! All our words,sermons and pamphlets will come to naught if our neighbours do not see the change the gospel has wrought in us.

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From: A Meal With Jesus

Posted on October 9, 2012 by Pieter Stok

The following comes from the fabulous book, A Meal With Jesus.

What are the Christian community’s meals for? They achieve many things. They express so much of God’s grace. They provide a glimpse of what it’s like to live under God’s reign. They express and reinforce the community that Christ has created through the cross. They’re a foretaste of the new creation. They’re a great context in which to invite unbelievers so they encounter the reality of God among us. But they’re not “for” any of these things. It’s a trick question. Everything else—creation, redemption, mission—is “for” this: that we might eat together in the presence of God. God created the world so we might eat with him. The food we consume, the table around which we sit, and the companions gathered with us have as their end our communion with one another and with God. The Israelites were redeemed to eat with God on the mountain, and we’re redeemed for the great messianic banquet that we anticipate when we eat together as a Christian community. We proclaim Christ in mission so that others might hear the invitation to join the feast.

Chester, Tim  A Meal with Jesus: Discovering Grace, Community, and Mission around the Table, Good News Publishers/Crossway Books. Kindle Edition.

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Proper Daylight Saving

Posted on October 7, 2012 by Pieter Stok
      So the sun stood still,
and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies,
as it is written in the Book of Jashar.
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.  Joshua 10:13
 

Now that was daylight saving!

Daylight saving starts in some parts of Australia today. God did it years ago – properly.

 

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50 Things We Learnt …

Posted on October 5, 2012 by Pieter Stok

50 Things We Learnt From Our Father

One of my favourite possessions is a framed poster made by two of my daughters when I turned 50 … that is, a long time ago. This poster has hung in my study ever since. They called it, “50 Things We Learnt From Our Father.” It contains a whole range of ideas from the humorous to the serious. Some of the lessons came from their own experience and some are dated. An example, “Don’t dance near the record player.”

My favourites include:

  • “You can’t have enough of a good cheese”
  • “Horizontal and vertical stripes do go together” (A dig a their father’s lack of fashion sense)
  • “How to make toasted cheese sandwiches”
  • “Breadboards make the best plates”
  • “All meals can be prepared … and eaten, with a frying pan and a fork”
  • “There is always room for another book in your collection”
  • “Anything can be turned into a sermon illustration”

But there are others which are more serious:

  • “Girls can do anything”
  • “Don’t be afraid to try something new”
  • “Lookout for your sisters”

My favourites, which bring a lump to my throat are:

  • The joy of living for Christ”
  • Faith in the Living God”

Family life is a treasure of the big and small, the mundane and spectacular. All of it is a wonderful stage to grow a family. If you are starting out with your children remember that everything you do is being observed, from your fashion sense to your faith!

 

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A Quote: What We Owe God

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Pieter Stok

For, until men feel that they owe everything to God, that they are cherished by his paternal care, and that he is the author of all their blessings, so that nothing is to be looked for away from him, they will never submit to him in voluntary obedience; nay, unless they place their entire happiness in him, they will never yield up their whole selves to him in truth and sincerity.

John Calvin Institutes of the Christian Religion,Signalman Publishing. Kindle Edition.

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Creation: God’s First Missionary

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Pieter Stok

The title above was a sign at the 30 metre round Wilpena Pound Panorama in Hawker, S.A.

View From Tanderra Saddle near St Mary’s Peak, Flinders Ranges

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Enigma and the Body

Posted on October 2, 2012 by Pieter Stok

Yesterday I commented on the amazing work done during WW2 by the people at Bletchley Park as they worked on deciphering German Enigma messages.

The brilliance of the work at Bletchley was the fact that a team of people with a range of different skills were brought together in one place for one task. There were maths geniuses, people who had an eye for patterns and how they repeated, there were engineering and scientific experts who knew their fields as well as stenographers and radio operators. Further afield there were brave men who boarded enemy submarines and ships as they were sinking to retrieve code books and enigma machines and there  were spies in enemy territory risking their lives by the minute.

It is not unlike the picture that Paul gives us in Romans and 1 Corinthians as to how the body of Christ is called to work with its gifts and talents in order to  further the Kingdom of God. At the risk of repeating myself, if this can be done in wartime for the common good, the body of Christ has an even greater good to promote by using its many gifts in a unified effort.

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The Enigma Code

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Pieter Stok

I have just completed reading Enigma by Hugh Montefiore. It details the history of the attempt by the Allies to decrypt the messages of the German military, just before, and during WW2.

It is a tale of spies, subterfuge, boffins and hours of hard, and often fruitless, work in which the unlocking of a message that could save or cost thousands of lives. This tale of daring do was brought home to me when we lived in Bletchley, UK. One of the first visits I made was to Bletchley Park – the home of decryption in the war.

The unlocking of the Enigma Code played an enormous role in WW2, possibly changing the outcome but certainly shortening its length.

The passion and sacrifice of these men and women to defeat Hitler’s ambitions was staggering. Human lives, especially in the UK and on the high seas, depended on their work.

There is an even greater battle that we face on a daily basis. It is evil and life denying. It is the person and power of Satan. The battle may not seem so obvious but it is even more deadly than that fought in WW2.

Hearts and lives are at stake – the health of our children, families and society. Psalm 1 reminds us that our natural inclination and direction is evil. It challenges us to (in God’s strength) choose wisely and be anchored in the life giving soil and life that comes from God, (in Christ) alone.

The Enigma tale has reminded me that if we understand the dangers we can also find the passion and zeal to withstand and conquer them – through a faithful God.

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The Light of Christ

Posted on September 30, 2012 by Pieter Stok

When we travel we like to listen to our favourite music. Having been on the road for the last week we listened to a lot of music. Michael Card is one singer/song writer whose songs we both like.

In the song, “For F.F.B.” he sings of his grandfather with the words, “In you I learned the kind of faith that looked up to the mountains. In you I saw just what I’d like to be. Oh, Grandad, I wish you could be here to tell me what to do, ‘cause I first saw the light of Christ through you.”

The phrase, “‘cause I first saw the light of Christ through you” made me think of those who first allowed me to see the light of Christ. When we were impressionable children who were those people through whom Christ shone? Parents? Grandparents? Family? Friends?

This is such a profoundly important concept, than for no other reason than the eternal faith of our children, our aim as adults should be to grow in Christlikeness.

Just after our fist child was conceived we received a visit from our pastor who reminded us that a child is conceived into an eternity of heaven or hell. Very blunt! But his point was simple, nothing is more important than the faith of our children and as parents we must do everything we can to prepare our children for an eternity with God. Or in Michael Card’s words to allow our children to see “the light of Christ through” us.

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We Find It Everywhere

Posted on September 21, 2012 by Pieter Stok

The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 1 Corinthians 15:26

A Cemetery in Alesund Norway

One of my more macabre pastimes is to visit cemeteries. They are a fount of history and stories. We can learn much about places and people from headstones.

But the point is, they are everywhere. There is no escaping them. Towns, villages, cities and rural areas all have them. They can be found on the outskirts of town, next to churches, in churches and even in prisons. I have found these sober reminders of our mortality in all sorts of places. Simply put, millions have gone before us.

Why is it that so many of us live as though death doesn’t exist, or that it doesn’t matter?

A Pilgrims’ Cemetery on the Camino to Santiago

1 Corinthians 15 is the Apostle Paul’s wonderful exploration and apologetic for the reality of the resurrection. He declares that for the believer “death has lost its sting”. Sadly, for many, the sting hasn’t been removed from death because they refuse to rely on Christ – the sting remover.

Cemeteries are a constant reminder for me of what Christ has done but also a challenge to seek and find the lost before it is too late.

Burial Mounds at Gamla Uppsala Sweden

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