The Case for Christ

Lee Strobel, an ex-atheist, tells his story about how his investigation of the evidence led him to become a Christian.

I read the book and this video is a very good summary especially for people who can't be bothered reading.

Recommended for Christians and non-Christians seeking an answer to the question: Is the Bible historically accurate? and was Jesus really the Son of God, or just a good and wise teacher?

Why did God give us the Law?

No, God did not give us the law to restrict us, and to keep us from doing bad things.

Most people would have heard or read the Ten Commandments, and know at least a little of what the Law is. Most religions try to preach that we keep this moral Law, and we can get to Heaven. But the Bible tells us no one can keep it, and every mouth will be silenced.

Romans 3:19-28

19Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

The Bible says that God gave the Law in order to show the whole world, that they have sinned and their actions are held accountable to God. God knew that no one would be able to keep the Law, and so He did not give the Law so that we might keep it, but rather so we will know what sin is.

We enter judgement not because of the Law, but because of who God is. He is a perfect and righteous God who cannot live with Sin, its just physically and logically impossible.

So let us focus not on keeping the Law, but on justification by faith through Jesus alone.

Separating the Sheep from the Goats: Matthew 25:31-46

Recently, I got together with my friends from Jesus for the Homeless, and we discussed our goals and vision for the group, as well as a strategy going forward.

We drew on the passage from Matt 25:31-46.

For those interested, here is a transcript of our study:

Separating the Sheep from the Goats: Matthew 25:31-46

Our group is called Jesus for the Homeless.  What I like about this name is that it has Jesus in it.  You see, the whole reason this group got together was because of Jesus.  A bunch of guys were reading the bible one day, and saw how Jesus loved the poor and the downtrodden, the widows and the fatherless.  They realized they could not claim to love and follow Jesus without helping the poor.

Our Homeless nights have been running for some 6 months now, and I feel it is important to come back to scripture and think about our goals and vision for the group.  Why are we doing this? and what is the goal we are trying to reach?

I would like to open to a verse in Matthew, which I hope to be our group's defining passage.

Matt 25:40 - "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me.'"

This verse comes from a segment in the book of Matthew, where Jesus is speaking of the Judgement.  The separating of the sheep from the goats.  

Let us firstly read the entire passage.  [Reading of Mathew 25:31-46]

Firstly, who is the Judge?  The King, the son of man, Jesus Christ himself.

Next, who will be judged?  The passage says Jesus, will gather all the nations.  Everyone, Christians, non-Christians alike will be gathered together and judged.  And He is going to separate them like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. 

So who gets to inherit the kingdom?  The sheep.

And why do the sheep inherit the kingdom?  Lets read v 35 to 40 again.

Mat 25:35  For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thristy and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger and you invited Me in;

Mat 25:36  Naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.

Mat 25:37  Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you? or thirsty, and give you something to drink?

Mat 25:38  And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in? or naked, and clothed you?

Mat 25:39  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

Mat 25:40  And the King shall answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me'.

Who are these brothers Jesus talks about?  There are scholars who says Jesus is refering to the Jews, or to fellow Christians.  But this question is similar to "who is my neighbour" which a lawyer asked Him in Luke 10:29.  The point is not who you should help, but how.  Serving others without expecting a reward.  These acts of compasion are not things we need gifts or skills in order to perform.  They are simple acts of kindness which anyone can do.

Sheep and Goat look similar and often grazed together.  Jesus is using this picture of sheep and goats to describe His people among the rest of the people; unbelievers and pretenders.

Jesus says the sheep who inherit the kingdom will be those who show compassion to the needy.  

Now, don't get me wrong here, it is not by our actions and goodness that gets us to heaven, these actions are just the fruit of following Jesus.    If we love and follow Jesus, we will feed the hungry and visit the sick.  What separates us from unbelievers and pretenders, is not just our actions, but our intentions and our reasons.  And when we show kindness and compassion to our brothers, without thinking of the reward, even to the least of them, we do it to the Lord himself.

So back to our group; Jesus for the Homeless. 

Why do we do it?  Because we love and follow Jesus. 

How should we do it?  We treat everyone with love and respect as if they were the Lord Himself.

What do we need? Anyone who is interested in helping the poor.  There are lots of ways you can help, but whats important is that desire to help.

The Sabbath: A shadow of Christ

I would like to share of a recent study I did of the sabbath and how it gave me a completely new perspective on rest, and ultimately how it pointed toward Jesus.

What is the Sabbath?  Christians often think of it as the day of rest, in particularly abstain from work usually done on Sunday.  The Jewish Sabbath was on the seventh day - Saturday, and in fact the 4th commandment from God given by Moses was to remember the Sabbath and to keep it Holy.  There are some people such as the Seventh Day Adventists who claim that we are not really Christians unless we also observe the Sabbath on the Saturday, reasoning that the Pope or Constantine shifted the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday and as such we worship false gods or idols.

So to understand the origin of the Sabbath, we must look at its first occurance in the Bible - Genesis 2:1-3.  This was the seventh day of creation, God had finished the work He had done in creation and He rested.  So the main thing we can learn about the Sabbath was that it is about rest.  The word rest occurs twice here, and the hebrew word is שׁבת (shâbath).  What does rest mean?  Clearly in this context, rest is not the kind of thing you do when you are tired, God does not get tired.  Rather the word means to "desist from exertion" or "cease from effort".  God rested because He finished a particular effort, his work in creation.

The next thing we notice is that the seventh day is different to all the other days.  In each of the other six days, the day ended with "there was evening and there was morning...".  I believe this eludes to the idea that the Sabbath is not tied to a particular day.  We are never told that God ever stopped resting from His creation work.  His last and final work in creation was creating Man, and He is still to this day, resting, from His "creation" work.  But God is active and working today.  In John 5:17, Jesus' answer to the Pharisees charge of working on the Sabbath, was that He was doing the will of the Father, and that God never ceases from the work of mercy and compassion.  This Sabbath which God has entered, is still continuing today, and is not limited to any particular day, but is concerned with rest from effort.

Now we compare this true Sabbath, this rest, to the Jewish Sabbath which was given to the people of Israel by Moses.  I would like to quickly make a point here that my view is that the entire old testament, is filled with Shadows or Types or Symbols which pointed towards Jesus Christ, the Passover Lamb, burnt offerings, the Tabernacle, the High Priest, the Ark, all of these look forward to the one who would fulfill these.  Let us turn to Colossians 2:16-17.

Col 2:16  Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath.

Col 2:17  Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.  

Paul is telling us here that many of the Jewish laws, traditions, ceremonies were a shadow of things to come, pointing towards Jesus who ultimately fulfilled all these things.  We no longer need sacrifice animals because Jesus offered Himself as the passover lamb to God once and for all.  We are also told that Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath, and so claims that we are not Christians unless we observe the Sabbath on Saturday are as absurd as needing to sacrifice animals at the alter.  The Jewish weekly Sabbath occurred on Saturday.  We go to Church on Sunday because that is the Lord's Day, the day of resurrection.  This day has nothing to do with the Jewish Sabbath, its not a day of rest, its not the Sabbath.

When Jesus died and rose again, Christians stopped observing the Sabbath on Saturday, and began observing the Lord's day on Sunday.  So the weekly Sabbath was fulfilled when Jesus died and rose again.  We no longer need to observe such a day as a day of rest.  We can now experience the true Sabbath through Jesus.  Turn to Hebrews 4:8-10.

⁸ For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. ⁹ There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

The book of Hebrews is all about how the old testament prophesies are fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and I think this passage is telling us how to experience that true Sabbath, the rest for the people of God.  We can enter God's rest by ceasing from our works as God also ceased from His.

Matthew 11:28-30

²⁸"Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

 ²⁹"Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

 ³⁰"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

A yoke would have been something Jesus built as a carpenter.  A yoke is a piece of wood which was put onto oxen in order to pull a load.  But a yoke would almost always fit two oxen, as the two would work together.  When Jesus refers to putting on His yoke, He is saying He will work with us, by His strength.  Not by our efforts but His.  We are to rest from our work, doing things our own way, and do things under His strength.  That is what Paul meant when He said "It is no longer I who lives but Christ lives in me".  The oxen under yoke is no longer able to do his own will, but only the will of his master.  The same is true when we put on Jesus' yoke, we are no longer able to do own thing, but only the will of the Lord.

Jesus said "Come to me, and I will give you rest".  So many of us Christians or not alike are unsatisfied with life.  We don't find happiness in our relationships, our jobs, our material wealth.  We don't have peace in our souls.  The true Sabbath is to rest from our own efforts, and allow God to work in us.  We are to put on Jesus' yoke and He will give us rest.


Further Reading:
In Hebrews 4, it mentions the Israelites led by Moses, and how they were not able to enter the Promised Land.  It was ultimately Joshua who brought them in.  Read the book of Joshua and notice where it says the Israelites will find rest in the land.  The book of Joshua is about conquering the land of Cannan, crossing the Jordan.  How does this parallel with the book of Ephesians, a book about life after becoming a Christian?

What does God think about Gambling?

In my last blog post, I stated that there was no difference between gambling in a casino, and speculating in the stock market.  By that I meant that both are considered gambling.  Both require taking (usually high) risk to gain wealth quickly.  Speculating in stocks is gambling.  Even if you argue it requires extensive research, and perhaps skill, but so does the game of poker or black jack.

I personally dislike gambling, and leaving things to chance.  Which is why for the question "What does God think about Gambling?" I needed to do a bit of research.  And the bible doesn't speak specifically of Gambling, as it didn't speak specifically of the Stock Exchange.  But it does speak a lot about money.  In my previous article I already quoted several places in scriptures that warned against the love of money and encouraged the good stewardship of money which comes from God and is given to us to look after.  And in a way, he is testing us, to see what we do with it (see Matt 25:14-30).

And so although you can make the very valid case that gambling is not a sin, because you can gamble for its own sake and enjoyment, and not for money's sake, in reality this is far from the truth.  In practice, people only go to gamble for the chance of making money quickly, and money is the driving force.  Factor in the many people addicted to it, who are often in the low income brackets.  Because of this, I think Christians ought to discourage gambling.

What then is the difference between investing and speculating (and gambling)?.

Investing in the stock market is investing in business ownership.  When you buy stocks, you buy part ownership of the company.  The stock market was initially created for a market to raise capital, for businesses.  It would be good if there were no speculators, but that would be near impossible to ban.  So when we buy stocks, we ought to be buying stocks from companies we believe we want to be a part of, companies we think that are producing goods and services which are beneficial to the world.  Yes I believe even stock investors have a social responsibility, to invest in socially responsible companies, not just ones making a lot of money. The point of investing in the stock market is not only a means of wealth generation, but a way of investing in our country's (world's) economy.  Market forces are what drives this capitalist world, Supply and Demand, and we are that demand.  Making choices on what companies to invest in, is similar to our shopping habits and consumer behavior.  Do we invest in a company that supports child slave labour?  Do we consume these products?  This is something I need to take a look at in my own life.

And finally, wealth creation.  What does the bible say about making money?  I've mentioned already that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.  God cares about why you are making money.  Are your motives for investing in the stock market driven by personal wealth?  And God cares about how you are making money.  The bible's model for creating wealth is in Proverbs 13:11:

Wealth obtained by fraud dwindles, but the one who gathers by labor increases it - Proverbs 13:11

We are to earn wealth by working for it honestly.  Would God be pleased if you stole money from a bank to give to the poor?  No.  He would never ask you to commit sin even if it were for a good cause.  God doesn't need your money.  Our all powerful God never compromises.  There is never a good reason to cheat or break the law, even if it seems like its the only way, or if it is for a good cause.

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." - Hebrews 13:5

What does God think about a Christian Stock Investor?

To the question of whether a Christian can invest in the stock market, my quick answer would be yes.  Read on for the difference between saving and hoarding.

This is the first article in the series to investigate what I believe God thinks about certain professions.  Firstly, what might be challenging about investing in the stock market?  What is the difference between gambling in the casino, and speculating in the stock market?  Nothing.  But what is the difference between speculating and investing?  There is a huge difference.  Companies need capital operate and listing on the stock market is one way to raise funds.  We won't go into the Christian businessman in this article, and we won't go into gambling either.  But investing in stocks is a way to invest in a company and its operations.  To decide whether a company is worth investing in must be decided upon on a case by case basis.  Some people will not invest in casinos, weapons manufacturers, non-fair trade, multinationals which hire child laborers, alcohol manufacturers.  I also think many of those are bad, but its sometimes hard to draw the line, what about companies which support, supply or trade with those businesses?  What about businesses which are supported by those businesses?

What then is the difference between hoarding money and saving?  The bible warns against the hoarding of money, since money is a material wealth, which we cannot take with us when we die.  We are to save money and be good stewards of money.  When we save money, it must be for some purpose; saving for our retirement, to give to the Church, to give to overseas aid, to give to the poor, to save for our children's education.  All these things are good things to do, encouraged by the bible.  The hoarding of money, is when we accumulate wealth for the sake of it.  We keep it because we love looking at our bank balance getting bigger.  Remember money is not evil, it is the love of money which is evil.

Are there any examples of investors in the bible?  Since the stock exchange did not exist in biblical times, it is quite difficult to find an equivalent.  But the bible does have a lot to say about money.  We should be good stewards of our money, meaning we must look after every cent, and not let any of it go to waste.  All our money comes from God, in fact all money and wealth belongs to God, and is given to us for safekeeping.  We are to look after the Lord's wealth.  Part of this means being generous and giving to the poor.

Matt 19:21  Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 

Jesus told the rich young man to sell all that he had and give to the poor.  The wealth that we are given is not ours in the first place, we are to let Jesus dictate what we are to do with it, most of the time that involves helping others less fortunate than us.  Proverbs 3:9-10 tells us we are to honor God with our wealth.

Prov 3:9  Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 

Prov 3:10  So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. 

Proverbs 28 tells us not to try and "get rich quick".

Prov 28:20  A faithful man shall abound with blessings: but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. 

And much of the bible warns against putting our trust in worldly possessions such as money.

1Tim 6:17  Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy

And finally, the parable of the talents.  Matt 25:14-30, Jesus tells us that we should invest our money in a way that reaps the greatest return, to the best of our abilities.  This means putting effort into learning about interest rates and term deposits.  We must learn about the stock market, and foreign exchange for the best place to invest our money.  Perhaps even looking at property investment and real estate.  If God has given you an intelligent mind, which by the time you read this, you likely have, I think its not good enough to settle with storing your money in the bank and being a 'good saver' simply by not spending.  We must looking into options with greater return.  We are looking after the LORD's wealth, he has given us Talents, and we are show Him what we have done given the mind and skills He has given us.

Thoughts on Destiny

The latest headline in the Herald reads "Destiny Church demands more than tithe, former members say".  This past week has throttled Destiny Church into the spot light as a corrupt cash cult out to get your money.  Has it tainted the reputation of all Christian churches in New Zealand?  It all started at when a Pastor at a branch in Brisbane walked out taking half the congregation with him.  If we think back a bit, it actually started when Bishop Tamaki initiated the covenant with those $300 signet rings.  Come to think of it, maybe it started a bit earlier?  See, what makes Destiny Church different is, we just don't know what goes on behind those doors.  The Churches eldership has no accountability, there is no transparency or visibility into what goes on.  We really don't know when the problem started, we don't know how, and we don't know why.  For years Destiny has been considered a cult, but only now has it be scrutinized in the public by its own members.

So what is wrong with Destiny?  They are giving out AP forms which force members to give 10% of their income, they are requiring the purchase of signet rings and other strange rituals which make Brian Tamaki some sort of God or Messiah.

To address the first issue, I hope it is obvious Brian Tamaki is not God, or a Messiah, or any other sort of prophet or special super person.  To me, a person who has never met him, Tamaki seems like a charismatic leader who believes in God or at least claims so.  At least he may have started off as God fearing believer, maybe he really did get sent by God to accomplish something, but every leader knows their greatest temptation is pride.  And surely if Tamaki was ever genuine, its because of the pride that has gotten to his head.

But you may say, God's leaders don't need money to be compensated.  And this 10% tithe thing seems wrong.  Where does this 10% tithe even come from?  I'll probably have to write a whole separate blog post for that topic.  But  what I will say is this, giving to the Church must be earnest and free from compulsion.  Giving as an act to gain status or believing that God will enrich you with Earthly riches also is the wrong way to go about it.  Brain Tamaki's extravagant lifestyle has lead many to assume he is taking the money for himself.  This may have come from a thinking that he deserves some compensation for looking after God's people, this may even come from thinking that God is rewarding him.  Whatever he thinks, I think that it would be better for such a public figure to be cautious with such money.  Even a less profiled person would do well to be generous with their money and be cautious in how they handle donations.  For example if you are a volunteer who raises money through fundraisers, it may not be wise to spend the money on flash cars and extravagant dinners.  Living in poverty earns my respect, and I think it will be rewarded by God in other ways, after all, we cannot take our material wealth with us after we die.

Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting.  Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. - Matt 6:16

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on  earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal - Matt 6:19-20

What does God think about that Job?

This question sprang up from a bible study, which we discussed what God thought about particular jobs.  In particular we focused on Lawyers, Sales, Advertising, and Military.

It is definitely an area which I want to investigate more, recapping on those mentioned above and then taking a further look at other professions.

Now there are some obvious occupations which are generally accepted as bad, such as thief, prostitute.  These are bad because they break God's laws of stealing and sex outside of marriage, among other things.  I intend to focus on the more grey areas, where the job may encourage you to sin and break the laws, or seem at face value to contradict the definition of being a Christian.

The main questions I will focus on are:

• What are the morally challenging aspects of the occupation?
• How does the job fit in with God's creation and plan for the universe?
• Is the job or similar roles mentioned in the Bible? If so what does it have to say?
• Can a Christian work in this field?  In particular, does it contradicting the values and beliefs of the Bible?

And some of the professions I would like to go through (not necessarily in this order) are:

• Software Engineers
• Sales, Marketing and Advertising
• Military and Ammunitions manufacturers
• Actors and Directors/Producers
• Lawyers
• Accounting, Banking and Finance
• Professional Athletes

Matt 25:34-40

34"Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, (AE)inherit the kingdom prepared for you (AF)from the foundation of the world.

35'For (AG)I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; (AH)I was a stranger, and you invited Me in;

36(AI)naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you (AJ)visited Me; (AK)I was in prison, and you came to Me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink?

38'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You?

39'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'

40"(AL)The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, (AM)to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'

Why Christians go to Church: My thoughts on Baptism and Church Membership

Do only Christians attend church? No.  Many people attend church who don't believe in God, many people who think they are Christians attend church, yet they are not Christians, for it is not Church attendance that makes one a christian.  And there are many Christians who don't attend church, for they chose not to, although it is arguable whether such christians are christians at all!

So how do you become a Christian?  It is to be "born again", to believe that Jesus died for your sins, to repent and be baptised.  Its not whether you say you are, its whether you truely believe, and only God knows.  Its interesting that in the bible, we see every believer is baptized, in almost every instance, its "repent and be baptised".  There was no delay or wait, no infant baptisms, no "baptism classes".  And straight after that, they were part of the church.  Repentance and accepting Jesus and baptism were often spoken of as one thing.  So baptism was a way of visibly identifying that you were joining into the church or the "body of christ", hence the term Church Member as in members of the body (like hands and feet).

And then theres the distinction between your local church, the one that meets every sunday in that church building, to that of the universal church, the one encompasing all believers.  Why are there so many different churches, denominations?  Do they believe in different things? do you need to find the one that matches your own beliefs?  Some churches have people jumping around and waving their arms, some have lots of old people that stand stiff and still... is there a proper way to attend church and worship God?

I believe there are absolutely no requirements to Church membership, there shouldn't be.  Church leadership and eldership is another matter however.  But you cannot have exams, and degree requirements for Church membership, because one ought to become a member as soon as they are baptized, which is as soon as they repent and believe and recieve Jesus.  They become part of the universal church which encompases all Christians, and they ought to be member of their local church.  Come as you are, but don't stay as you are.  Its up to the other Church members, and the Holy Spirit, to model and change that young baby Christian to be more like Jesus, the perfect man.  And in time, supernaturaly, we may come close to believing all the right things about God.  All our human divisions are created out of sin and intollerance, we must learn to agree to disagree.  We cannot kick people out because we don't agree with them (this is usually us thinking we are right) and we ought not to leave and start our own group.  We trust that in the end, God knows our hearts, and our deeds, and most importantly the strength of our relationship with Him.  And His Love, Justice, and Mercy will be revealed to all; within the church and outside.

John Piper's Christian Resource Library

One of my favourite and most respected bible teachers/pastor is John Piper.

And I have located his site Desiring God, a resource center where you can download in PDF all of his books, listen to his sermons, pod casts and many other great resources, all for free! This just goes to further increase my respect for him, as it shows he's not just trying to make money out of his books, he is actually giving them away, my idea of the ideal Christian author!

His main philosphy is “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”

I highly recomend reading some of his material, or listening to his sermons. Great stuff!

Whats the latest?

Last weekend I was able to again cook Thai Curry, this time using Panaeng Curry Paste together with my tried and true recipie.


The result was a success, although this curry was very spicey. I added less pumpkin, as the pumpkin tends to soak up the curry. Will try again with yellow, and red curries :)

I came accross an incredible Psalm as I read my bible this evening; Psalm 139: v1-4

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down and are acquanted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue, behold O Lord, you know it altogether.

It carries on v13-14

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my sould knows it very well.

And finishes in v23-24

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Meditate on that!

In other news, a funny sighting in New Market!

Open Source Home Group

Tonight, Kathy and I attended the Young Professionals homegroup from ACPC (Auckland Chinese Presbyterian Church). I call it the Open Source home group or the Mozilla Home group because it is led by Robert O'Callahan at his Mozilla office in New Market (above Lone Star). I guess it was fitting for Mozilla to open up their office for our use.

I enjoyed the evening, which started off with Kathy and myself rushing to get there and stuffing ourselves with something to eat quickly for fear that the evening would end late and we would starve and we were going to be very late. Only to arrive and pizza was provided, also free so very Open Source indeed. (But I must add that Microsoft .Net User groups offer free beer and pizza too).

Although it was not an actual bible study, we studied the work of A.W. Tozer; Knowledge of the Holy, where we discussed the attributes of God. The main thing that stood out for me from Tozer's work, was that because God is infinite, His attributes are also infinite, in number and magnitude. And also God doesn't "have" attributes, He is His attributes. God doesn't have the attribute of Love, Kindness, Patience... He is love, He is Kind, He is Patience.

Of course no biblical discussion would be complete without the sidetracking. Also covered was the never-possible-to-truly-comprehend idea of predestination and free will. Did Judas Iscariot have a choice in betraying Jesus? Someone had to do it if God had prophesied right? If he hadn't done it, Jesus wouldn't be able to fulfill His destiny and save mankind. Why did God create Him for this purpose? How could a loving God create someone knowing they would be destined for Hell? Although the answer is not easy, it starts with realizing that the choice was still Judas' to make. We cannot blame God for Judas' actions any more than we can blame our parents for our actions. Even when our parents know what we are about to do, the responsibility still falls on us.

Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Shall not take the Lord's name in vain

The 3rd commandment; You shall not take the Lord's name in vain. Most people who interpret this commandment as not swearing and saying "God" in a "bad" way. This would apply to sayings such as "Oh my God" or "Jesus Christ" often said in frustration or swearing. Sometimes the word God is used when taking oaths, for example "I swear to God!". Although I agree that these usages are indeed taking the Lord's name in vain, I do think the commandment calls for much, much more.

In Exodus 39:30 the priests were given a crown with the inscription "Holy to the Lord". Imagine walking around with the something like that on your forehead all day! You would essentially be claiming to be a servant of God. You would be in a sense "representing God's name". If that's the case, everything you say, everything you do, even everything you think about, you do in God's name.

You shall not take the Lord's name in vain. Do your actions, speech, and thoughts defile God's name?

Recession and Redundancy

When will this recession end? A few months ago, it seemed to have hit the bottom, but now it seems to have stayed there. Sure there have been reports that we were on the rise, with a few reports that house prices and sales were picking up. But I think many of those were red hearings where sellers were finally reluctanly agreeing to a lowered price which met with the increased demand from buyers thinking they would get a bargain.

And several months on from when my company decided to go to a 4 day working week, the boss announced that the company has reached a critical state. He was quoted as saying "The past few months were spent trying to save jobs but now we need to save the company". Basically 15 cuts across the company need to be made and my department had been the most unprofitable. So how can an employee who loves his job help the company? I understand my boss' situation, if we don't make cuts the whole company will go down, and he's been trying his hardest to keep jobs for the past 4 months.

How has your company reacted in these economically troubling times? What ideas have you got for cutting costs and raising revenue?

Another interesting thought crossed my mind... If Jesus was in my situation, what would he do? There is very little written in the Bible of His time spent as a carpenter, but I wonder whether He encountered a recession? Did He need to work longer hours and find creative ways to earn an income? Was He as anxious as us worrying about where His next meal will come from?

Knowing God's Name

How can we know God? How can we grow our desire to know God? That was a question I asked myself as I went home from BSF (Bible Study Fellowship), the study had been on Exodus 33:7-34:35 when Moses was interceding for the sins of his people. God had told them that He would no longer go with them to the promised land, and would send an Angel instead. But Moses pleaded with God.

As part of asking God to lead them, Moses asked God to reveal Himself to him. Moses wanted to know God. What does it mean to know? Well, there are 3 levels. At level 1, you are aware of something like "I know of Henry Ford" who invented the Model T, but don't know much else about him. At level 2 you have "I know Michael Jordan", the greatest basketball player that ever lived. I know plenty of things about him, when he was born, where he was raised, his NBA stats, etc. But all this comes out of books or DVDs. At level 3, you have knowledge by experience. "I know Auckland" because I have personally lived in the city, and I don't know Orlando, despite knowing a lot about Orlando.

So God responded to Moses' request. "No one may see me and live". That is because God is holy, and perfect, and sinless. Us evil humans cannot handle His goodness. But God goes on to tell moses He will show him some of His glory and proclaims His name; "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whome I will have compassion."

God's name and His mercy and grace go hand in hand. To know God, we must seek His Mercy. For there will be day where each of us must account for our actions before a just God. He showed His mercy to us at the cross, the ultimate expression of mercy.

Luke 18:9-14

⁹And He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

¹⁰"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

¹¹"The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.

¹²'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'

¹³"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'

¹⁴"I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The tax collector realized he was a sinner before God, and asked God for mercy. Its not how religious you are, after all no one can measure up to God's perfect standard.

Who shall recieve mercy? those who seek Him, those who turn away from their own self-sufficiency.