Douganator!

2 posts for the price of one!

Random thought on perspective that helped me cope during exams
One of the fantastic things about knowing God is the experience of this world is suddenly temporary. With your future secure in Christ you are free to chase your dreams which have suddenly totally changed as God changes you and failure no longer exists because you’ve already won at life by dying to sin and being part of the new creation in Christ. I’ve never been so clam in a high pressure situation as these past exams. I slipped into “intellectual athlete” mode set up a training program and for a few weeks lived as efficiently as possible, eat, sleep, study, pray, exercise, read the bible, sleep. Repeat. You can stress out during these times, or you can trust God and do what you have to do and as do it as best as your body and mind lets you.

It's weird how becoming dependent on something (a.k.a God) outside the world who relates to us from other dimensions, suddenly frees us within the world. We are in the world and yet our life is not of it, as suddenly our actions are based on realms beyond it with consequences both in it and outside of it. This is truly mindboggling if you think about it for more than 20 seconds.

Selah (1 missipi...2missipi....20missipi)

The idea of the old self bound up inside the world dying and then being created a new has become more and more of a reality. In a sense existence is no longer constrained to your sensory perception of objects and people nor thought. Christians now exist on spiritual and relational plains which they never could access or could even conceive existed before they came to Christ. What this means is that whatever happens within the world which only has consequences in this world is no longer of the highest importance. We can now draw on the whole of reality to make decisions and not be to phased about the setbacks and obstacles that are thrown at us by the world. That freedom from the world can allow to eliminate states such as anger, stress, jealousy, guilt and other emotions which are tied directly to external things.

Think about this, how is it that you came to perceive the aforementioned emotional states? I read an article on shame, by Satre, the other night on how we conceive knowledge about shame. Basically a lot of our emotions are entwined in the world we live in. He argues that it isn’t actually possible to feel guilty unless there is another human being in our reailty. So much of what we think and feel is wrapped up in their other beings with demands on us, who are constanly making assessments about who we are, our value and worth as a human being. God frees us from that, we only have to live us to his expectations, no easy feat, but still, it is far more meaningful to live up to a standard that is eternal and failing than constantly trying to please everyone in your world and ending up feeling temporarily stressed, guilty etc. When you realize this and believe that God believes in you, you actually can perform a whole lot better in the world. Kinda ironic I know. This thought may seem a bit jumble but if you can decipher this rambling, rock on.

People are awesome :)
People never cease to amaze me, they bring a richness and depth to ones personal existence and have an entirely unique place in Gods world that separates them from the rest of creation. These uni holidays so far have allowed me the opportunity to spend time relating to vast amounts of people from a huge array of backgrounds. Normally I’m so pressed with other responsibilities that just maintaining the relationships I do have is hard enough let alone meeting and getting to know new people. However the vast array of social events which litter my calendar and NTE(national training event), have provided some fantastic opportunities to accelerate old relationships and start new ones, even if they are only as brief as a few hours. So yay for holidays!

There is a dangerous balance of uncertainty and excitement that can go into a night out in some social circles. The night holds nothing but possibility it is a blank canvas for events, people and objects to come together and manifest themselves into crazy stories that can be told for many months to come. It is no secret that I have a plethora of strange folk whom I associate with. This is something which I am thankful to God that my life experience and passion for people has provided me with. Mathews gospel tells us

“ While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and "sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples.When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."”


The element of Jesus that pressed him to hang out with people no matter how broken nor far from the social norm is something I admire and try to cultivate in my own life. Another example of Jesus loving broken people comes in his dining with the pareses and a woman, who leads a sinful, broken life comes to him knowing her own need for salvation, and breaks down in worship as she knows Jesus is the only one who can save her. He then asks the pareses who would be more thankful someone who had a $5000 (or denarii) debt or a $50 debt. Obviously the guy with the $5000 debt. It’s a powerful analogy and one that is helpful for when I feel inadequate especially when surrounded by so many brothers and sisters who appear to have lived their whole lives with integrity. I know many share this same struggle of comparing themselves with others and looking at their own lives and feeling like they are somehow sub-par Christians because they don’t seem to glide through the Christian life with the same ease and acceptance that some do. Though how much more thankful should I be to Jesus if my debt is larger than someone elses!

I believe in following Jesus example and forgetting about how sinful someone is. I try to look past the labels and stereotypes and labels society gives them, no matter who they are, or what they do I will connect with them for the simple fact that they are human and so am I. They are sinful and so am I. We both can’t save ourselves, except by grace alone. Unfair? Perhaps. But in the words of “Relient K” one of my favorite Christian bands “the beauty of grace is life’s not fair.” Christians can be some of the harshest judges in society. While God may be angry at the sin and in deed at the sinner for offending him, he still created them, and wants them to turn back to him. What right do we have to not look past the sin and see just a person facing the exact same predicament that you or I face? Christians need to get out of their comfort zones far more often than they do. I don’t do it enough, sometimes its just easier to connect with a band or singer in my MP3 player than say hi to the person sitting next to me. The bible studies in leafy suburban homes, the conservative middle class evangelical church meetings, uni public meetings are all tops. But they can be just a tad to comfortable. Its all “fellowship, encourgagement, boardgames and prayer nights” in our comfortable little world. Though when we step outside of it and feel the full weight of humanities brokenness and share the treasure that God has imbued inside our weak frames, that is when we are really living for Christ and pursuing the mission of evangelism that God has given us.

The couple of days I went on Mission post NTE were fantastic for feeling uncomfortable, inadequate and stripped of self-sufficiency. Sounds like fun doesn’t it! At the end of the day all those feelings where stripped when a full realization of what ministry means hit me. Its just you engaging with another person and taking about reality with them. Sure you adjust to peoples age, knowledge and background in order to communicate more effectively, but at the end of the day your talking about life, God and Jesus and why they need him as much as you do. Sure they may not commit their lives then and there, but you may be the only conversation they have had in months, even years, that makes them consider God and everything he has done for them. I’m constantly reminded we only plant the seeds we don’t choose where they land or grow them. My own lengthy coming to Christ after a solid year of questioning and conversations with Christians is a constant humbling reminder that I may never see the fruits of my ministry but ever little baby step of the way that I can guide someone is nothing to get discouraged at.

So yah, in short, stress less but rely on God more, Love everyone and tell them all about Jesus. Sounds simple right?

posted by Douganator @ 2:35 AM