I was a bit nervous about reading this book, as it was my selection for our book club. Would my first turn at choosing a book turn out to be a disaster? I've never really been into crime novels, and I'd never come across the author - Boris Akunin - before, either.
"Special Assignments - the further adventures of Erast Fandorin" is set in Moscow during the late 1800's. Fandorin is a quite a fascinating, but aloof, character: a creative yet methodical thinker with a flair for the dramatic. Perhaps his greatest asset is the way he utilises intuition and psychology to get into the mind of his quarry and predict their future moves.
The two novellas that make up the book are quite different in nature. The first, "The Jack of Spades" is an almost light-hearted contest between the notorious conman Momos and Erast. The second story has a much darker plot, as Erast and his assistant Anisii Tulipov race the clock to stop a series of gruesome murders.
I won't give any of the story away, so I'll simply say that I enjoyed the book. It was good to have the different "flavours" of stories together in the one book, as it probably would have been either too heavy or too light if the stories were separate. I found the characters fairly engaging, more particularly that of Anisii Tulipov. We learnt much more about him as a person and in terms of having a window into his thoughts and perspectives and also his life story. Erast remains something of an enigma. While most readers probably admired Erast, they would care more about Anisii.
The insights into the criminal minds in both stories could probably lead to some interesting discussions about human nature and what it is that makes us who we are. We might go a little way down that track at book club!
Thursday, 24 May 2007
God on My Side
On Monday night the ABC aired Andrew Denton’s documentary from the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Dallas, Texas last year. As a Christian, I found myself strongly identifying with what some of the interviewees said, but at other times I felt myself grimacing uncomfortably at some of the stuff that goes on under the banner of Christianity. If you didn’t see it, it’s well worth a look.
One of the key themes that Andrew brought out was the importance of the Bible as the source of truth for Christians. Christians believe that the Bible is inspired by God and therefore infallible. In other words, it was God Himself who inspired the Biblical authors with the words to write, and so what they wrote down is a reliable and trustworthy guide for us. The Bible therefore influences us (or at least it should!) in every area of life.
The issue that Andrew probed toward the end of the documentary was: What about the Muslims? Don’t they have just as much right to believe that their book is the truth? The response he received was “No, it’s a lie”. That seems like a very bigoted and arrogant view!
In actual fact, it’s the only view that it is possible to hold if you believe the Bible is true. They can’t both be! Either you accept that they are both less than what they claim to be, or that one is right and the other is wrong. So how do you decide?
I have volumes on my bookshelf full of information about the reliability of the Bible. There is some really mind-blowing evidence to support it’s divine origin, but it wouldn’t be fair for me to give just one side of the argument. One thing the Bible does say, though, is that the truth becomes clear to those who are willing to receive it. I give this challenge: get hold of a Bible and a copy of the Qu’ran, and read both. Ask God (if He exists!) to reveal Himself through what you read. Either you will conclude that they are both bogus, or one of them will strike you as the truth.
10 Reasons Not to Wash
Some people think washing is important, but here are some reasons one person gave to justify his decision to give up on washing:
- I was forced to as a child.
- People who make soap are only after your money.
- I wash on special occasions like Christmas and Easter.
- People who wash are hypocrites—they think they are cleaner than everyone else.
- There are so many different kinds of soap, I can't decide which one is best.
- I used to wash. It got boring, though, so I stopped.
- None of my friends wash.
- The bathroom is never warm enough in the winter or cool enough in the summer.
- I'll start washing when I get older and dirtier.
- I can't spare the time.
OK, so these excuses are all pretty lame. We all know that getting cleaned up is important and none of these excuses cut it as reasons to avoid washing. These excuses aren’t really about giving up on washing though, they are about giving up on Church.
Just as washing is important for the body, being part of a church family is important for the soul. It helps us to discover and live the full life that Jesus came to give us. There are a number of Christian Churches in the Narembeen Shire and they are each quite different from one another. Why don’t you check out the back page of the Fencepost for details of what’s happening, and then go check it out? I think you’ll find that deciding to get involved in Church is a great decision to make. If you are someone who has been turned off Church or turned off God for whatever reason, I am always happy to talk to you about that. Give me a buzz on 9064 7210 or drop me a line at m.c.birch@narembeen.com.
Does Belief Make a Difference?
If you say that you care about the environment, but you don’t bother to recycle or you regularly throw rubbish out of your car window, then you obviously don’t really care about the environment. If you say that you care about people who are suffering but you don’t do anything to relieve that suffering, then you obviously don’t really care. If you say you care about your kids but you don’t spend time listening to them, enjoying them and training them for life then you don’t really care that much. If you say that your marriage is important but you don’t do anything to keep the romance alive and the commitment strong, then you don’t actually care that much about it.
According to the Australian Community Survey (1998), 74% of Australians believe in God. More recently in the U.S., a survey of over one thousand doctors found that 76% believe in God. Another recent survey of 1600 young people born between 1976 and 1990, conducted by Monash University and the Australian Catholic University, claims that 48 per cent believe in God, while 20 per cent do not, and 32 per cent are unsure about the existence of God. According to the National Census in 2001, about 80% of people in the Narembeen Shire say that they belong to a specific religious group.
But saying or thinking that you believe in God is one thing. What difference does it make to what you do?
I have found that when I have put my faith in God into action, it has made an incredible difference in my life. The Bible says that faith without action is dead – it’s good for nothing- but faith that moves us to action can change the world.
Monday, 21 May 2007
Sermon - About Brotherly Love
Living to Please God pt 3
About Brotherly Love
1 Thessalonians 4:9&10
Introduction
I want to read you some crime statistics for last year from the
Last year in
406 Murders; 10,546 counts of Aggravated Assault; 10,971 Robberies; 11,542 Burglaries; 39,413 cases of theft. (A robbery is taking by force, burglary is unlawful entry to commit a theft, theft is stealing without the use of force against the person.) There were also 11,655 Motor Vehicle Thefts.
“Now, what is so strange about that?” you might ask.
Just this - that if the citizens of
The name
What a noble idea! But the behaviour of its people does not always live up to the title they own.
Today we are continuing to allow the Bible to speak to us about how we live. Today it is talking to us on the theme which gives
Read: 1 Thessalonians 4:9-10
9 Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. 10 And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout
Pray
Last week, Paul gave some direct and specific commands to the Thessalonians regarding the rights and wrongs of sexuality. This week, he moves on to the subject of brotherly love. What teaching or instruction does he give on this subject?
The answer? None! He doesn’t need to! He says “We don’t need to write to you about this because God has already taught you to love each other. You are already doing it, so keep up the good work and do it even more!”
You know what? The exact same thing can be said to our church family today. We don’t need someone to teach us about brotherly love – God has already done that. We are loving our fellow Christians, but we also have plenty of room to do it more and more.
There are a number of questions that statement brings up for us…
1) What is “Brotherly Love”?
Today we are talking about the brotherly love that exists between Christians. This does not in any way say that we should not love those who are not Christians, but it recognises that there are different types of love.
A little earlier in the letter, in chapter 3 verse 12, Paul prayed that their love would overflow for each other and for everyone else. A Christian should have overflowing love for all people, but the nature of that love changes as the nature of the relationship changes.
It is the same in all our everyday relationships. Love for a friend looks different to love for a parent or child. They both look different to our love for a spouse. Love for God is different again.
There is a special bond of love that exists between Christians. Paul observes that the Thessalonians loved “all the brothers (Christians) in all
The “Brotherly Love” we are talking about today is the familial love that is not just felt but expressed to fellow Christians. Learning to love one another provides the practice we need to teaches us to love others outside the family of God. It strengthens the Church so that it is able to complete its mission in the world. (restate)!
2) Have I been taught by God to love my Christian family?
I guess the simple answer to this is “Are you a Christian?” The answer to both questions is the same. Anyone who says “Yes, I am a Christian”, also must say “Yes, God has shown me how I should love my Christian family.”
1 John
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
If you are a Christian you must know about Jesus Christ, and what He has done to bring you into God’s family. And knowing how you were brought in to God’s family is enough to teach you how to love God’s family – you are to lay down your life. In the big things and in the small, Jesus demonstrated this for His original disciples. Jesus literally gave His life to save us from sin and death, but He laid down his life in small ways before then. In surrendering His own rights and preferences for the sake of others, He showed us how we should live.
One example was an event that took place only hours before His arrest. At such a time He could be excused for being preoccupied with His own problems, and expect to be treated as He deserved by those closest to Him. Instead, He takes upon Himself the role of a servant and washes His followers’ smelly, grubby feet. Afterward He says to His disciples: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” – John 13:15
If you know anything about the life and death of Jesus, then you know how to love your Christian family.
3) Am I loving all of my Christian family within my sphere of contact?
I cannot answer that question for you, but like Paul did for the Thessalonians, I can answer on behalf of the group. Again, the answer is “Yes”.
In the life of our church I regularly see evidence of this practical love. I see people providing prayer support for each other. I see people showing genuine interest in each other and concern for each other. I see people giving practical help to each other. I see people giving emotional support. I see people giving financial support. I see people enjoying one another. I see people working together. I see people serving. I see this not only within our local church family but between Christians of different churches and different areas.
Yet, like the Thessalonians we still have plenty of room to grow in our love. We don’t always express a fervent love for each other. Sometimes it can even seem as though we are disinterested in our church family. Sometimes we don’t allow others the opportunity to love us – we keep people at a distance. Sometimes we act as though other people’s shortcomings excuse us from our responsibility to love them.
Today you have an opportunity to let the Holy Spirit show you how you need to grow in love for your Christian family. Sincerely ask God to show you how you can “do so more and more”.
4) What if I have trouble loving some people?
What if there are people who you just can’t seem to bring yourself to love? People who seem to irritate you? People that have hurt you? People that you don’t find at all interesting or desirable?
The answer to this question is found as you answer this question: “Where does love come from?”
In chapter 3 of this letter, Paul asked God to make the love of the Thessalonians overflow. In these verses, He says that it is God who taught them to love each other.
1 John 4:7&8 puts it like this:
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Loving people does not depend on them or us or what has happened between us, it depends on how much we are allowing God to do His work in us. As God works in us we become more like He is. Just as His nature is love, so our nature is becoming love.
However, there are some situations in which God needs to do a lot of work before we are ready to love the people involved. This is the case when we have been deeply hurt by others. There is a healing process involved, and the ability to love those who hurt us lies toward the end of that process. Don’t feel guilty about not being at the end of that road yet, but don’t refuse to travel that road either. Until you have been freed to love that person or people, you cannot be the person that God wants you to be.
To refuse to love others, or to move along the path to being able to love others, is to reject God. That’s a serious issue.
Conclusion
When I look at
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