Click here to view the video on YouTube.

I watched it, and I found it to be quite thought-provoking. I definitely agree with Pastor Driscoll’s message in this video; that as Christians we are to pursue not what we might demonstrate potential for, but rather what God has called us to (or our individual specific “purpose”). Overnight I spent a lot of time thinking about the practical ramifications of this.

Watching it, I experienced a little familiar discomfort, that as a Christian I might be pursuing not what my true purpose is, but rather what I have demonstrated potential for. So could this article I’m writing here be in some way an attempt to justify myself and convince myself to carry on going as previously?!

Firstly, if you can, please watch the video. I think it is particularly useful that Pastor Driscoll differentiates between  “good” Christian ministry – genuinely good, genuinely holy,  – and what someone’s true calling might be.

Secular potential versus Spiritual Calling?
This was a point that I initially made on Facebook (copied and pasted from there!)
I think that God mi…ght give us some gifts or skills that might combine to form some apparent potential in one area, while He would prefer us to use that combination of gifts in another way. For instance, someone might be blessed with physical strength and dexterity which might appear to show that they have potential as a professional athlete, while God might want them to use their strength to work as a missionary in places where physical strength are required.

I have nothing against secular potential.  However, if we know that God’s will is for people to come to a saving knowledge of Christ, then arguably, our expression of our secular potential (at least in this example) does nothing to further this.  So you are a Premiership footballer?  That’s great but how does it actually impact on winning souls for God?
On the other hand, if this is what God has actually specifically called you to do, then please do it!
Going deeper, however, it can be easy to simply contrast between secular work, or non faith-based work, and Christian ministry, with the idea that something with a Christian flavour is our calling. However Pastor Mark makes the point that there may be a specific area within Christian ministry that is more truly our calling than other aspects of Christian ministry that we might (equally?) demonstrate potential for.

And yet, while I believe that all this is true, going beyond this, I believe that there might still be a legitimate place for personal initiative and creativity – and even stumbling and confusion – in deciding/working out our true God-given purpose.
Pastor Mark uses the example of Jesus who was specifically called as a preaching missionary.  I think that most Christians would agree that Jesus had a very very specific purpose – and necessarily so.  Not just anyone could go to the Cross and die for the sins of humanity, after all. This is the reason why I don’t particularly think that Jesus is a good example to consider in the purpose question. Perhaps for the rest of us our purpose does not have to be as sharply defined as it was with Jesus – simply because it does not need to be.

Prayer
Jesus also happens to be God.  There are a few things that are true of Jesus which will never be true of anyone else – and there are a few other things which could only become true of us after lots of prayer, time immersed in intimacy with God.  And while Jesus might have attained these latter things perfectly, we can only ever hope to have an imperfect grip on them while we remain down here on earth.  Jesus as a man was perfect.  He heard perfectly from God, without any sinful nature to get in the way.  So Jesus could definitively say “This is why I have been sent”.  Can the rest of us always categorically state that “This is what God has said”, on any issue?  I accept that for some people on some issues, like Pastor Driscoll, God might make His voice and His will utterly clear and indisputable.  But for many other people, He might reveal His will in less distinct ways.  This is part of the mystery and beauty of God – if we think we have free will, then how much more does He have free will!  And He uses it to do exactly what He likes, He relates with people differently, He speaks directly to some people, indirectly to others.
Part of growing as a Christian is learning to distinguish this voice of God, the way He speaks to us.

A place for confusion?
Sometimes speaking to Christians, you get the impression that if you are “in the will of God”, then everything will happen smoothly, whereas roadblocks or obstacles indicate that you are “out of the will of God”.  This is my favourite analogy as follows:  It might be “God’s will” that you should drive a car, but that doesn’t mean that you would just be able to get into a car and perfectly pull off, conducting perfect manoeuvres straight away. You still have to go through the process of actually learning to drive, making mistakes, forgetting to pull up the handbrake, or to check your mirror. And yet, in that process of learning, making mistakes and facing obstacles, you can still consider yourself to be comfortably within the will of God.  So also I believe that when as Christians we are trying to make our way in God, in growing in Him, even when things get messy and confusing, as they usually do, we can still be confident that we are generally in the will of God.

A place for passion?
I believe that if God has made it very clear to you what your calling is or should be, then of course you should go out and pursue that.  I also agree with Pastor Mark that you should spend serious time in prayer to find what this will could be.  But if, after that, you still have not received any distinct words from Heaven, then I believe that it is legitimate to follow our passions – even our potentials within the boundaries of God’s word, the Bible. I believe it is good and right to spend time thinking (and praying) and also planning, considering – the best and most creative way to use our skills, our passions, our potentials to fulfill the will of God. It is like this – God has already abundantly revealed His will for us, contained in the Bible.  We know that God wants people everywhere to come to the saving knowledge of Christ.  We know that that is His will.  We know that God wants the Gospel to be preached to all people.  We know that that is His will.  If we can find a way of expressing our passions and our potentials within that where God has not individually given us anything more specific, then I say let’s throw ourselves into that!  I think that even within that broadly defined will God is capable of directing us as He wishes, if we have started wrongly.  Or, to put it another way, God might speak to some of us and “call us” through our passions and potentials, even as He chooses to speak audibly to some others. This is Tosin being pragmatic, to prevent anyone from endlessly beating their heads if they fail to “hear from God”, even while passions are blazing in their heart.

Doing things because you have to
This is a very important consideration for me.  Sometimes, something might fall outside of what God has specifically called us to do, and yet we might do it because we feel we have to.  For instance, I don’t particularly feel “called” to translate the Bible.  I do it because I feel I have to, because no-one else has produced an open modern translation of the Bible. If there was another open translation available, I would not be producing another translation.  However, by translating, I am facilitating something else that is part of what I do feel called to do, or what does lie within my passions – spreading the Word of God by simply recording and broadcasting the words of the Bible.  Similarly just over a year ago, in “interesting” circumstances, the idea was raised of my starting my own church.  I have never felt the slightest “calling” towards starting my own church (and it is not something I have ever felt the least passion for – quite the opposite, actually), and yet the idea had occurred to me several times, even before that.  If I did start my own church, it would be because I felt I had to – because I have despaired of ever finding true, biblical, powerful Christ-centred teaching in any of the churches that surround me. (The alternative would be to dump church altogether.  Which would be the better option?)

Money
And now we reach the biggest part of this issue for me.  It is one thing to talk about our calling. However, practically speaking, we also have to support ourselves financially. How are we to regard our efforts to support ourselves in relation to our spiritual calling? Paul was a tentmaker by trade, and yet talking about himself he did not say “Called to be a tentmaker”.  He said “Called to be an apostle”.  Does  this mean that our secular trade is completely removed from our spiritual calling?  So in practice, could we make money from  anything that is decent and legal and that does not contradict God’s standards?
Something that might be different about our times compared to Paul’s day is that work to earn money takes up SO MUCH time in our day.  Our Western society and everyday living systems are capitalistic to an extent that was probably unimaginable in the days in which Paul lived.  So in practice, our secular trade might take up so much time that it would negatively impact on our spiritual calling which God has called us to do.  As Paul himself said: “The love of money is the root of all evil”.  (It might not necessarily be our own love of money that is the problem, but rather our need to earn money to survive in a world which does love money).  For a long time I have maintained the opinion that our modern “work” and its demands are the key reason why we as Christians have less time to pray and to do God’s work. So as Christians, how do we deal with this?  Perhaps we are to live as simply as we possibly can, so we can spend less time working for money and more time working for God…?

Basically, I believe that Christians are completely missing the point in the debate about gay marriage.  And if we fail to grasp the pertinent aspects of the Christian position, then how can we honestly represent it to anyone else?  Actually, this goes for more than same-sex marriage, but also for everything that we believe contradicts the stated will of God in His Word, the Bible.

Prepare to be offended?
Let me just warn you beforehand that this blog post might cause you offence.  I intend to be very frank about what the Bible says about homosexuality.  And yet, offending anyone is my last intention in this article.  Whatever your views on homosexuality, and homosexual marriage, could I ask you to just bear with me, and carefully read and listen to what I say to the end of the article to fully hear out my viewpoint?  I hope that on conclusion you will find it offers a positive and hope-filled – and also very pragmatic approach!

I have gay friends, and I hope that they will know that I greatly respect them (otherwise they would not be my friends!) I also know people who are gay and Christian, and find no tension between their faith and their sexuality. I would rather have it that someone was a follower of  Christ, following precepts of Christ, as a practising homosexual, possibly disagreeing with my own views – than that they were not Christian at all.

What the Bible says
With all due respect to my friends who are gay, the Bible makes it very clear that God regards homosexual practice as a sin.  It is utterly indisputable that this is what the standard Bible as we have received it, and as it exists today, says. In both Old and New Testaments, homosexual practice is represented as being an utter abomination. In the Old Testament, it qualified for the death sentence (that is, male-male; female-female as far as I am aware was not mentioned).  (In the New Testament, the religious death penalty for this and other sexual sins was effectively abolished when Jesus said, in reference to the woman caught in adultery: “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone” – John 8v7)
In the New Testament female-female does get an oblique reference, but is represented as an aberration, a sign of the depravity of the times.
Romans 1v26:
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions.  For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature”… -[ reference to female-female homosexuality]

v27 [reference to make-male homosexuality]… “Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”

Even though verse 26 referring to women does not make it very clear that it is talking about homosexuality, in verse 27 referring to men it is totally clear that this is exactly what the writer is talking about,  and the “likewise” shows us that the Apostle Paul was talking about the same thing in verse 26 as he went on to talk about in verse 27.  This is why we can conclude very confidently that he was indeed talking about female-female homosexuality in v 26.

In these and other Bible verses of both Old and New Testaments, it is made clear that homosexual practice is wrong.

And yet, there are people who present arguments to refute this, to argue that homosexual practice is not quite the sin that these passages would suggest. I have read arguments pointing out that Jesus never spoke about homosexuality, or perhaps people would query the authorship of the letter to the Romans, or suggest that individual verses were possibly inserted later etc etc.  I have to admit that I am not an expert in these arguments, and if you are interested, I would advise you to research more deeply into them. However my stance in this article is the traditional Christian one, that homosexuality is indeed a sin in God’s eyes.  If you can present a credible argument that homosexuality is not a  sin, biblically speaking, without eroding the authority of the Bible as infallible, then by all means please post a link to this argument in the comments below.

How Christians are missing the point
This is how I believe we as Christians are missing the point.  In both the UK and the US, and perhaps also in other places too, Christians are actively campaigning and voting to make sure that laws are not passed legalising homosexual marriage. It is as if Christians are trying to impose the will of God or obedience to God’s law, on society generally, through legislation.  This will never work. Both the UK and the US have significant Christian heritages, to the extent that Christians in these countries can think fondly of both the UK and the US as being “Christian”.  To me, it is as if Christians in these countries are trying to desperately maintain the Christian identity of these countries, through issues like the same-sex marriage debate.

Now, I am not saying that we should discard our Christian heritage in the UK and US, and happily embrace the idea of our countries being as godless as possible.  What I AM saying is that it was not through legislation, it was not through aggressive campaigning and politicking that these countries acquired Christian identities in the first place.  It was through prayer, seeking God, fervent intercession, preaching the Gospel of Christ. This is the way God works.  His Spirit comes in and changes the heart of each individual, to make us all want to conform to His will. If our countries have lost their general Christian outlook, it is because individuals within the country have hearts that are turned away from God and His Word and His truth.  If we want to reclaim that Christian heritage or identity, then we as Christians have to return to the old ways.  We have to seek God, we have to intercede passionately for our country in prayer, we have to fast – and we have to preach the Gospel.
When, hopefully, our countries are restored to true faith in God, then we can never afford to get complacent. We have to keep praying, we have to keep interceding to make sure faith in Christ remains at the forefront of our communities. Heaven is the only place where we will be able to afford to get complacent. As long as we remain on Earth the enemy of God and of mankind, the devil, can always creep in and seek to pull us as individuals or as a society away from the truth of God – as he has clearly managed to do in the UK with society generally.  This is why we must remain vigilant.  Even if we were to win the same-sex marriage debate or votes, this would not actually change people’s hearts, would it?  The only thing that can effectively change people’s hearts is God, working through His Spirit, or through His Word.

Remember that for many decades – if not centuries – at least in the UK – there were no laws against homosexuality.  This was because there was no need for these laws. People on the whole were so tuned into God – or pretended to be – that the idea of disobeying God in something that He called an abomination  was largely unthinkable. I am sure that some people were (of course) engaged in  homosexual practice but it was probably something done very quietly, discreetly.

So this then, is the reason why I believe that we should never have to impose our own faith on others. Let us instead impose our faith and our wishes on the one Person who can actually do something about it – God – and then HE will act to turn the hearts of society back to Him and His ways. Also, when God genuinely changes people’s hearts, it rarely feels like an imposition.  Rather it is something joyful and exciting, something that people rush to do.  The Gospel is Good News! This is all the more true when we realise that God loves us more than we could ever love ourselves, so ALL His commandments are ultimately for our benefit. If God tells us not to engage in X, it is not because He wants to beat us with a big stick, but rather because He loves us, and He knows what is best for us. When we truly understand this and embrace it, it helps us more easily to put aside things that we had been previously been clinging to.

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Post-Script:  After a few exchanges on Facebook, I feel I should clarify the terms I have used in this article.  By “MARRIAGE”, I have meant getting legally joined together.  This is confusing as in the UK (at least) a distinction has been created between getting legally joined, or civil partnership, and “marriage”.  Currently in the UK people can legally engage in homosexual civil-partnerships, but “marriage” is reserved for heterosexual unions.  I have always felt that this is a case of “words” or semantics.  After all, civil partnerships have essentially the same rights as heterosexual marriage, while heterosexuals cannot be joined in civil-partnerships – so it is as if the word “marriage” is what is used for heterosexuals, while “civil-partnership” is used for homosexuals.  However, a Facebook friend pointed out that with the term “marriage”, people might be able to get joined in church or another religious institution regardless of whether their union contradicts the teachings of that religious institution or not.  I think that this would then be a case of society imposing its views on Christians or faith generally.  The Christian faith is not a democracy.  What is acceptable in the church building or in the Church as the Kingdom of God cannot be decided by public opinion, but rather by the Word of God. However, I still believe that the way to preserve our own Christian entitlement to worship God His way is through prayer. When we pray, then God can work in people’s hearts so that society as a whole can democratically elect to let Christian institutions be governed by Christian principles.

http://www.landlinephoneservice.net/blog/2012/the-ten-commandments-translated-to-text-talk

On this blog I shout a lot about the need for financial probity or transparency, integrity and honesty in Christian ministry.  And yet, there is a certain incident in my own history where I personally demonstrated none of these.  I should have confessed a very long time ago, but up till now I’ve been too ashamed to admit what I did.

I am a web designer. A few years ago, when I was attending a certain church, I agreed with the leaders of their youth department to create a website for them for free.  So that was fine, and I went ahead and created the website.  But then, I turned around and asked for payment, and pretended that I had expected payment all along. I don’t know what came over me – it was not premeditated.  I should just have confessed right there and then.  But instead of owning up, I went ahead and lied further to cover my tracks.
And now to have to admit, so many years later, that it was a lie all along…

Now the reason I’ve been able to get away with not confessing was because there were grounds for claiming confusion, or crossed wires.  But no, it was a lie.

By God’s grace I am so committed to God, and I was so committed to God even back then that it is so embarrassing for me to admit that I am capable of doing this.  But clearly I am.  At the time I even said “I’m sorry (too) for not making my expectations about payment clear” – making it sound as if it was a case of crossed wires, when all along I knew that I had definitely agreed for the work to be free, and that I was lying (I feel so ashamed!)

What I feel to be worse now is not even the initial lies, but rather those long years of silence. I must sincerely apologise to the everyone concerned as this apology is so long overdue. I am so sorry, and I hope you can all forgive me!

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

All glory, all honour, all power be to His matchless incomparable name, now and forever, to Him who is now seated on the right hand of the throne of God:

All Hail King Jesus!

All Hail King Jesus!

All Hail King Jesus!

ALL HAIL KING JESUS!!!!

“Bless the LORD, O my soul!
O LORD my God, You are very great:
You are clothed with honour and majesty” – Psalm 104v1

Revelation 5 from verse 8:
8.  Now when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

9.  and they sang a new song saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,

10. And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth

11.  Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of thme was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.

12.  saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honour and glory and blessing!”

13.  And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honour and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”

14.  Then the four living creatures said “Amen!”
And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshipped Him who lives forever and ever.

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HALLELUJAH! Woop!  JESUS IS ALIVE!!!

Apparently the name “Biblos” possibly originates from a port name Byblos… from where Egyptian papyrus (for scrolls) was exported to Greece: according to this Wikipedia article
Origin of term “Bible”

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.