Book Review: Gabby, God's Little Angel

Gabby, God's Little Angel is a cute little book and my girls love it. It's about a little guardian angel whose first assignment is a girl who turns out to be a bit of a handful - the main message being that God loves each and every one of his children, and he's sent his angels to protect us.
Having said that, though, I'm still a little unsure what to rate it. This whole idea that each of us has a guardian angel protecting us is not really in the Bible. And the book shows the angels up in "heaven", sitting on clouds and watching us down below.
One of the most dangerous ideas that Christianity has picked up is that heaven is a place of clouds and angels that we will go to when we die. This book obviously doesn't say anything about "when we die", but I wonder if it doesn't help when we tell our kids this is what heaven is like?
I was just flicking through a new book for kids yesterday, which was basically written to help them through the grief when a child loses someone they love. Brilliant concept. But their pictures of heaven - the place we're supposedly looking forward to, that makes all of this pain worthwhile - were of a place of fluffy clouds, with angels flying round, where we'll sing songs forever. It's a shame really.
Here's what's really going to happen - and it's much more real and worth looking forward to than that shallow image: One day God is going to restore and renew everything - flowers, trees, mountains, streams, hippopotamuses, chrysanthemums, the earth, the planets, the universe, and us too. God is going to bring heaven (the realm of God) and earth (the physical realm) together, never to be separated again. It's going to be like what we have now, but unimaginably better and more amazing. Fluffy clouds? Come on. I'm looking forward to the breathtaking beauty of mountain ranges, pacific islands, people with no limit to their creativity. A restored, renewed UNIVERSE, with no more pain, violence, cancer, crying, or death.
Now THAT'S worth looking forward to. Can't we tell our kids that instead?
But as for this cute little book about Gabby, God's Little Angel, I guess I'm ok with it. God is in a different realm at the moment, and I'm fine for kids to imagine he's in the clouds. And he does send his angels to protect us.

How to Smell like Jesus

A few years ago I did a series of talks for a youth camp called "How to Smell Like Jesus." The idea came from 2 Corinthians 15, where Paul writes, "Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God."

How might we become people that smell like Jesus, I asked, so that we can make the world a little more beautiful, and so that others around us will begin to notice the sweet fragrance? The goal, I told those teenagers, is for people to come up to them and ask, "What is that heavenly aroma?" I know, this might seem a bit of a stretch of the imagination if you happen to know any teenage boys....

Can you think of any people in your life who give off this kind of Christ-fragrance? I can.

But unfortunately, I can also think of some Christians who give off an entirely different kind of smell. Matthew Paul Turner agrees, in his book "Relearning Jesus"...

"Most of the weirdest things I have encountered in my life have 'Christian' written on them.... The stench of Christians is revealed more through evangelism than anything else. I smell it often, the scent of misplaced words and poor, inexcusable timing. When mixed with uninterested patrons it becomes an especially nasty odor."

Hands up if you've smelt that one.

I was going to go on to give some ways of becoming a less nasty and more heavenly fragrance, but I think I might leave that for another post. For now let's stick with this question:

When do you think Christians smell the worst? Or if you'd rather not dwell on the negative: When have you seen someone doing something that had an undeniable Jesus-aroma to it?

Love to hear your thoughts!

Jesus and Buddhism

Wow. Check out this quote, from one of the characters in "A New Kind of Christian," by Brian McLaren...

"We have to realize that Buddhism is more than a religion, more than a culte. It is also a culture. So I can't see why Jesus couldn't invade Buddhist culture, just as he invaded Jewish and Greco-Roman culture in the first millennium and European cultures in the second. If in the third millennium Christ enters Buddhist culture, he will spark an outbreak of real Christianity - just not Western European Christianity. And if Christ enters Islamic culture, he will spark an outbreak of real Christianity, but again, it won't be Western European Christianity. That to me is the missionary challenge of the third millennium: not eradicating Buddhist or Islamic or tribal cultures but blessing them with Christ - letting Christ enter them and drive the evil from them... and in that way redeem them. And my guess is that each will bring something that will enrich our Christian heritage too... And in the process, maybe we'll let Christ enter our own Western culture in a new way too. That's a nice thought!"

What an amazing vision! I love it.

Rekindle Your Love of Touring

I recorded some jazz trumpet for an ad for Tourism Queensland quite a few years ago. Completely forgot about it, but I just got the most recent issue of The Road Ahead magazine in my letterbox today and they've used a shot from the ad as the front cover. So of course I then had to see if I could find the ad, and wouldn't you know it, it was on YouTube. So here it is for you to enjoy! It's a pretty cute ad.

Above All Else

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else,
and he will give you everything you need." - Luke 12:31

"Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:9-10

Good Friday: It Is Not About You

My family and I went to a church service on Good Friday that left me upset for the rest of the day, and not for the right reasons.

I was expecting to leave in some level of sadness because this Friday was a dark day in history. It's the day we reflect on Jesus' horrific death, crucified at the hands of the Romans, by his own people, though he did nothing to deserve it. I was expecting to feel some sense of connection with the evil in the world. We put him there, on that cross. Jesus' closest friends left him to die, and it would be arrogant of me to think that I would have done any different. As humans, this was our darkest hour.

But I was upset for much different reasons.

The message that came across over and over again in this service - through the words spoken, the reflective acts, the dramatic monologue, even the songs that were sung - was "It was all for you." Jesus died on the cross so he could be your personal saviour. It was your sin that put him there. Love for you that held him there. It was all about you. At one point we were left singing the refrain over and over again, "For me, for me, for me, for me..."

At this point, many of you are thinking, "So what? That's the truth isn't it?"

Many people won't see a problem with this message, because the same one is communicated every week. A bumper sticker I've seen lately (unfortunately my company sells it) reads, "Crown of thorns on his head, Cross of wood on his back, You on his mind."

Many Christians think the Gospel is: Jesus died so that we can have a personal relationship with God, and go to heaven when I die.

But that is the gospel isn't it?

To put it bluntly, no. That's not the gospel. There was a lot more going on that Friday than Jesus saving you - although that is a nice outcome.

Let me come at it from a different angle. I have three beautiful little daughters, and I love them dearly. But suppose I told my oldest daughter, "Lily, everything I do, I do it for you." Yes, there is some truth in that. I do love Lily, and there's a lot I would give for her. Much of what I do benefits Lily - working, praying, providing and so on. But to put it in those words - while there is some truth - is actually FALSE. There's a huge amount more going on, including my other kids, my wife, living for God and working to bring Jesus' kingdom to earth. To say something like this is just to pander to Lily's ego and make her feel good. Flattery, we call it.

The same thing was happening in that Good Friday service. Yes, you are saved because of Jesus' death on the cross, but to say that it was all for you is actually a long way off the truth.

Jesus didn't die JUST for your personal salvation. There's a MUCH bigger story than that. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus was the inauguration of a new kingdom, a new world which will lead to the restoration and renewal of the whole of creation. The cross of Christ drew all the streams of the old testament stories and prophecy together into one glorious climax. The cross of Jesus was the ultimate turning point in the whole of history. Jesus' death and resurrection changed EVERYTHING. There is a new king and this is how he's bringing his kingdom in: sacrifice and incomprehensible love. "There is no greater love than this: for a man to lay down his life for his friends." The king put himself last and gave everything for the sake of others. And then defeated death itself.

And it was all about you? Please. How can Good Friday, of all days, turn into a message about us?

Perhaps the thing that angered me most is that we hear the same message over and over again from our culture: "It's all about you. You deserve it. You are the most important person in the world." They flatter us because it works.

And then we go to church and hear the same message? Even on Good Friday? If a rock band does this - just giving the people whatever they want - we call them a sellout.

Wake up Christians! It's not about you. There's only one person worthy, and he gave it all up for the world.

School is...

"School is a building that has four walls - with tomorrow inside."
- Lon Watters

Tired? Stressed?

You'll feel better on Swisse.

Or so the ad says. And sure, you probably would feel better. Or if you don't have any Swisse tablets available, you could grab one of the plethora of energy drinks around these days. Red Bull gives you wings? We need to come back to earth.

Is it really a good thing to be able to just take a tablet and keep going? Is it a good thing that these energy drinks are selling so well in our culture? Does that tell us something?

Why do we do this?

Tiredness and stress are warning lights. They're our body telling us "You're doing too much. There's a lot on your plate. You need to rest." You can't just ignore these things, turn off the warning lights and keep going. What if a pilot did that? "Damn, another warning light. Gee that's annoying. I'll just flick that off."

Might not be a pilot for long.

I know it's just a silly metaphor, but the reality is pretty important too. We're not invincible. We're not superman. We can't keep writing cheques our body can't cash.

If you see these warning lights, for goodness sake, have a rest. And make sure you're getting at least a day of rest each week. God knew what he was doing when he designed you.

The lights are not just to annoy you.

Simple Ideas for Simple Churches

It's not always beneficial to run like a large church.

I preached at a little church recently that had about 15 people in the congregation. If you've ever facilitated a small group in a home, you'll know this is a great size group! You can have some amazing discussions with different perspectives, eat meals together, connect with the kids fairly easily, and build some great friendships along the way.

If they ran it like a small group, this church would have been alive and thriving! But somehow they felt they needed to run it like a traditional large church. They had Sunday morning services, with the pews all set up in rows, notices at the beginning, the correct amount of hymns, and sent the kids (all three of them) out the back to Sunday school while I preached to the rest.

I have no problems with this way of doing things, but is it the best way for a small church?

As a result, this little church felt like they weren't doing a very good job, but the reality is, this group of people is one of the most lovingly unified, generous churches I've ever seen. They really care for one another, and they're giving all they've got to make a positive difference in their local community.

If you're a small church, my advice is: don't try to run like a large church. You don't need to. Make the most of the amazing opportunities you have. Have meals together (a great place to gradually introduce non-church friends to the rest of the group). Get rid of the pews and have multi-perspective discussions instead (rather than hearing from just one person behind a pulpit). Get involved in each others' lives. Care for each other. Enjoy the strong friendships, from the smallest kids to the oldest grandparents - this is so much more difficult to cultivate in larger congregations.

There are HUGE benefits to being a small church. Don't miss out by trying to be something else!

Review: Story Engineering

Story Engineering: Mastering the 6 core competencies of successful writing, by Larry Brooks.

There are almost limitless possibilites when you're designing a home. Thousands of different ways it could end up. You could make it eco-friendly and build the whole thing out of bamboo. You can make it open and airy, and "invite the outside in," as Better Homes and Gardens says. You could build it on water. Or you could build it at the top of a tall tower, as a nice place to keep wayward princesses.

But however you do it, there are some basic structural elements that EVERY house must have. As I was singing with my 1-year-old this morning: "Build a house with a floor, with a floor, with a floor. Build a house with a wall, with a wall, with a wall. Build a house with a roof, with a roof, with a rooooooooof..." Of course, the house didn't turn out too well in the song, but the fact remains: you can be endlessly creative in your designing, but any house still has to have some kind of roof, walls, and a floor. As well as a place to sleep, a place to prepare food, and somewhere to, shall we say, shed the unwanted food....

Story Engineering, by Larry Brooks, is a little like this. It's a book on how to plan and build a story or screenplay - explaining all the work a writer should do before beginning to write, in order to have a winning story at the end. As opposed to flying by the seat of your pants (pantsing, Brooks calls it) in the hopes that if you just start writing it will all work out in the end.

When I first started reading this book, to be honest I wondered if it might kill the creativity, making storytelling clinical and formulaic. Like he was saying, "You want to build a house? Here's a photo of one. Do that." But as I got a little further in, and Brooks began giving guidance on the six core competencies, I began to see that they weren't formulaic at all.

What this book does is explains what a wall needs to be. And a roof. And a floor. And then the author says, "Once you've got that, feel free to go crazy! But just make sure it's got those elements." After all, a house without walls would be a little impractical (where would you hang photos?...).

I would recommend this book to any aspiring writer. It really is helpful and freeing. It's enjoyable to read (if sometimes a little repetitive, but I could understand why). You're not guaranteed to have a bestseller if you master these six competencies of storytelling, but it's highly likely you'll have a flop if you don't.