Satan is described mentioned or alluded to in a number of places in the Bible. In the Old Testament, apart from the Garden of Eden reference (in Genesis 3) we see him in Job 1 & 2, Zachariah 3:1, and 1 Chronicles 21:1. Isaiah 12 (esp v 12 -15) and Ezekial 28 (Esp v 11-19) describe how Satan was cast out of God’s presence and the special position that he had.
This was obviously prior to the temptation in the Garden of Eden because in the Garden, Satan represented rebellion, temptation and ultimately evil in bringing Adam and Eve to sin. But whilst it was before the account of Adam and Eve, it must have been after creation. Genesis 1:31 tells us that after God created the heavens and the earth, everything was good; in other words, Satan had not yet rebelled. In fact in the Ezekial 28 passage mentioned above, we are told that Satan was originally in the garden as “the anointed cherub” (NKJV) and that this is where wickedness entered his heart, and he fell at this time.

 

This is a question that ultimately can only be answered by faith. A convincing argument can be made from for example either a scientific point of view or a philosophical point of view. In fact, many believe that the evidence points so strongly to there being a God, that it takes more faith to not believe in God than to believe in the existence of God!
But, despite the evidence, it still comes down to question of faith. As we grow in our faith, we can increasingly discern God’s work in our lives today, but this can only be seen through eyes of faith! The greater our faith, the more we see God at work. So, the choice is ours! Do we want to believe in the existence of a God, or do we choose to put aside the evidence and declare that there is no God?
If you want to know whether God is real, I encourage you to become a seeker of truth who will then be prepared to make a decision of faith. The series we are offering from end of January right up until Easter (2010) is devoted to answering these questions to help you find your faith. You are welcome to come along!

 

Christians choose to follow the God of the Bible. This God was incarnated through Jesus (Christ) coming to earth. According to Christian belief, Jesus provides the only way for people to individually choose to be reconciled to God. In addition, Christians believe that Jesus was divine. He was the son of God.
According to this Christian description of what God looks like, you’d have to say that whilst other religions talk about “god”, they are talking about a different entity or concept.

For example:
•    Hindus believe that Jesus is a god, but they believe that there are about 300 million other gods as well! These gods include animals such as cows, monkeys and even rats!  If you want to check it out, google the “rat temple” on youtube.

•    Buddhists believe that Jesus was a wise guru or an enlightened teacher, although this depends upon the strand of Buddhism you ascribe to.  Buddha himself was agnostic.  He didn't know if there was a God or not.

•    Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet, in fact the most important prophet after Mohammed. But in their eyes, Jesus was not God. Nor was Mohammad for that matter.

In fact, the Christian religion is alone in believing that  Jesus is God. Whilst different religions use the term “god”, the meanings of the term are different.
How do you decide which religion is right? Test their claims.
Jesus claimed to be God. He was crucified (as had been predicted) but three days later He rose from the dead (as had been predicted).  There are historical accounts that testify as to what occurred, just as there are historical writings that predicted what would happen.
But ultimately the decision to believe that the identity of who the one real God really is, can only be found through faith.

 

God’s greatest desire is that we should all come to know Him and be united with Him for an eternity. It would be great if God were just to mandate that we were all to love Him and long for a relationship with Him, but He can’t do this. Why not? Because He has given us choice. He will not compel us to love Him, just like I can’t compel my wife to love me, because the result would not be love. Love can only come from choice. You cannot mandate love!

So, back to the question. There are currently billions of people who are not in relationship with God. The Bible says that the end will come when all people groups and cultures have been given the choice to enter into such a relationship. That hasn’t happened yet.

For example in North India alone, there are hundreds of millions of people who have never heard of how God so loved the world that He devised a rescue plan for all men and women, boys and girls. According to that plan, Jesus came to earth to tell us how we could all have eternal life with God.
All people need to hear of this plan and have the right to make an informed choice. And then the end will come.
 

When I started going out with Sharon, who was later to become my wife, I would think I heard what she said or what she wanted. Guess what? I was so often wrong!  Twenty Five years later, I still get it wrong, but not nearly as often!

Way back then, when I most often got it right was when what I wanted (or thought) coincided with what Sharon wanted (or thought). At those times we were on the same page to start with. So when this was the case, we often heard each other accurately. Twenty five years later, we know each other so much better! We know more about each other’s expectations, desires and backgrounds. We know each other better, and as a result we hear more clearly and more accurately for each other – often without words.

Our relationship with God is like that. The more we know Him, the clearer and more often we will hear from Him. We can get to know him through talking to Him (and expecting Him to not only hear but answer!). That’s called prayer.

Also, by reading the Bible and meditating on what it says, and what it’s saying to me. This is important because the Bible is really the book about God and His plans for me. What better way to hear!

Another way is through worship, when we put our focus on coming into His presence so that we can be touched by and hear from Him. It’s hard to hear from someone when you are far away from them and not in contact with them!

Some people hear from God through an audible voice. Others have a deep impression on their hearts; where they just know that they know. For others, it’s hearing through someone else a word from God that resonates with the Bible and what is on their hearts.

So, how do you hear from God? By getting to really know Him, drawing close to Him, listening for what he has to say to you and having the faith to be guided by this. Be sure to get godly counsel about what you think God may be saying to you, check that it’s in line with what the Bible says and that you have a sense of conviction that this is really what God is speaking – then not only listen, but really hear and let God’s word shape your life! He wants to talk to you, are you getting to know Him and listening?

 

People may appear to have it all together, but it’s not always, or hasn’t always been the way. God tends to use broken and messy people, but He doesn’t want to leave them like that. People in leadership at New Directions have histories that include co-dependency, alcoholism, drugs and promiscuity, not to mention pride, insecurity and … the list goes on! The motto “No Perfect People Allowed!” can be seen in the past and the present of those in leadership. But then God’s grace cuts in. His magnificent healing grace. And lives have been transformed.

In the Bible, Jesus tells a parable about person who had been forgiven much, and contrasts this person’s gratitude to another person who seemingly had their life together and had little to be grateful for. Many in the leadership of New Directions have much to be grateful for.
This gratefulness drives us to remember that (as Jesus said in John 15) apart from Jesus, we can do nothing!

To be in leadership at New Directions, one of the requirements is that we all make a regular commitment to seeking God and His wisdom, the transformation that only His word can bring, and a reliance on the indwelling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. If we don’t do this we will tend to rely upon our own competence rather than submitting our talents, experience, hurts, hopes and lives to Him for Him to take and use.

Part of this process is a commitment to the early morning Friday and Sunday prayer meetings (which anyone is welcome to come to!) as well as the daily habit of “Life Guiding” which involves reading God’s word and journaling on it, and in so doing  meditating upon scripture and opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit to make the word of God living and active, to guide us and reshape us.
As a church we are committed to Reaching people, seeing them Restored and then Releasing them in ministry. This isn’t just a commitment we make for those in leadership. Our leadership group is an open community into which all reached and restored people are invited as they are prepared to be released to love and serve God.


 

Over recent centuries, there has been an important change going on. Christianity had largely been shaped by beliefs that were formed by practices and traditions rather than on what the Bible said. As a result, structures and hierarchies have risen up in many cases as a result of these traditions, practices and beliefs instead of looking at what the Bible has deemed important.
As a result, when individuals (re)discovered important biblical truths, they attracted followers and denominations were formed.

Today, in many cases these doctrinal beliefs are not the factors that separate denominations. Sure they may be different, but in many cases, not that different! Instead, denominations are increasingly based upon heritage, shared values, style of ministry and relationship. The bottom line is that for most people, denominational loyalty ranks pretty low.

In fact what is most important is finding a healthy church that will follow the Great Commission mandate that Jesus left us in a biblically faithful but culturally relevant way. Church is meant to be a relational community where we can find Jesus, grow in Him, worship Him, become His body and be empowered to become world changers; irrespective of which denomination we belong to!
 

God says a lot about alcohol – mainly that we are not to abuse it. If we do, we will become drunkards. Likewise, we are not to abuse food. If we do, we will become gluttons! In the Bible, abusing alcohol and abusing food are often mentioned in the same context.

Just as the Bible says that we can eat whatever we want, it says that a little wine is good for the stomach! The problem is not in alcohol or food, but in what we do with it. When we misuse either they take a hold over us instead of us having control over them.

You could put money in the same perspective. The bible says much about money, but money in itself is not evil. In fact much good can be done with money. It’s the love (or preoccupation/obsession) with money and wealth that is the root of all kinds of evil!
 

This is a huge question that I wish I had more insight into!
Sometimes depression occurs because of physiological reasons. There can be a chemical imbalance or deficiency that requires correction.

At other times there may be an unresolved issue, such as forgiveness, in our lives. What this does is keep us captive to unresolved feelings, commonly surfacing in depression.

Then again, there can be unmet expectations that we take on board and get burdened with.
Or then again, perhaps we have been in an environment too long that doesn’t provide the nutrients that we need, and as a result our emotional tank is drained.

Also, some personalities are much more prone to depression than others.
Some of the greatest people n the Bible have probably suffered from depression.  Just consider David and what he wrote in the psalms, Elisha and his time running to and in the cave, Jeremiah the weeping prophet and Isaiah who, like Jeremiah brought news of the coming disaster. Or Nehemiah who wept for months. God can use us in our sorrow and depression just as He can use us in our times of strength.

Christians and non Christians get depressed just like Christians and non Christians get sick. I think the issue is what we do and where we turn in these times of trouble. Do we turn to God for strength, joy, peace, healing and resources to sustain us or do we give in to the condition that we find ourselves in?
 

We must accept that we are going through radical change in our world, and where radical change used to happen perhaps every hundred years or so, for the first time in history, radical change is the norm.

Whilst the absolutes of the Christian faith remain the same, and our values may not change, virtually everything else has changed and will change! The world has never experienced radical change like this before, and we have never before seen opportunity like this before.

Our challenge is to embrace new technology to communicate and to extend the community that we offer. The world has changed. We must come to grips with new ways of communicating and doing community. But in so doing, we must ensure that we do not compromise the true values that we hold, such as love and community.

Churches that don’t adapt will die. They will become irrelevant to the world around them. They will become Christian museums; testimonials to how things were done in the past.

Churches that adapt, but do not hold onto their values will become churches that fail to be an expression of the body of Christ. Our challenge is to be churches that adapt and in so doing use the technological advances to see society transformed, whilst holding onto the beliefs and values that we are called to cling tightly to. That’s when and how we will see the gospel spread as never before!

 

I remember two occasions I have save people from drowning when I was in the right place in the right time in my kayak. They were really beyond hope apart from someone else who could physically help them and literally save them. But with matters of faith, it’s a bit different. Sure, we can have an important part to play, but I can’t spiritually save someone else. Spiritual issues are a matter of that person’s own choice. It’s a matter between them and God.

If I try to save them, I will be trying to “convince” them, but in reality the Holy Spirit must “convict” them I want them to put their faith in Jesus and their saviour, rather than me as their convincer.

So what role do we have in seeing people saved?
The Bible is clear that our role is to tell those who are not “saved” about the pathway to salvation and to bring them to realise that they must make a decision as to whether or not they will ask Jesus to be their Lord and as a result, receive forgiveness for their sins and be brought into God’s family for an eternity.

The Holy Spirit’s role is to bring conviction when we are faithful in doing what we are called to do.
The responsibility in the unsaved person’s lap is to choose. They will accept Jesus as Lord and saviour, or they won’t. That’s their response and responsibility alone.

At New Directions we find increasingly that the convicting power of the Holy Spirit is powerful. When we first started the church, it was not uncommon for an attender to take 9 months, a year or even longer to “be saved”. These days the power of the Holy Spirit frequently sees people convicted to make a choice to receive Jesus within a matter of weeks.

Salvation is not up to us, although we do have a role to play. It still depends upon a person deciding to choose salvation. But we can be sure that as we do our bit, the Holy Spirit will do His bit, bringing conviction that open hearts will be moved by.

 

I think that hurts are, unfortunately, a fact of life. And when we have expectations in relation to a person or a group of people, hurt arises when our expectations do not become reality. The greater the expectations, the greater the hurt.

In a church, we aspire to extremely high ideals. After all, we are united in our faith in God, in our worldview (which corresponds to the word of Jesus) and in our commitments to loving one another in an extraordinary way.  In fact the bible tells us that we all have the one spirit, so why do disagreements and conflict happen?

I think that there are a number of reasons. One is that we are all different people with different personalities, experiences and values. Whilst we may be united in many ways, we are still unique and different. And we react in different ways. But at the same time, we have incredibly high expectations that we will all be united with the same thinking and feelings! I think that we misinterpret this to think that we will all think the same.

So, when trouble happens, the hurt becomes very deep, because our expectations were so high. To use an analogy, if someone of the opposite sex with whom you were a friend began dating another person, chances are that you would not have the depths of feelings (hurt) about this as if your husband or wife began dating another person. The greater the expectations, the greater the potential hurt. Likewise, the greater the love, the deeper the cuts from betrayal, conflict and unmet expectations.
Don’t give up on trying because of the potential for hurt. Keep trying for the treasures that you may find!