Suicide Epidemic!

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steak and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

I have been saddened by recent news of several people committing suicide or attempting suicide in the last 3 weeks. Suicide is a major issue in our society and after doing some research, I discovered that Australia is currently ranked No.5 in the world for suicide overall, with Sweden ranking No.1. Once upon a time we were No.1 in suicide amongst young males.

It costs Australia over 17 billion dollars each year to carry the accumulated impact of suicide and yet only 91 cents is spent per suicide victim on suicide prevention (Chaplaincy Australia). Something has to change. Under the oversight of Ps Mark Bateman, Chaplaincy Australia, is contributing significantly to combat this epidemic all over Australia. Mark is always sharing stories of briefing football teams, fire-devastated communities and running prevention programs for various areas of industry. This is a much needed ministry and Ps Mark is at the front of the battle lines doing a fantastic job. Organisation’s like Chaplaincy Australia need your support.

Behind the physical act of suicide there is a deeper spiritual battle raging in people’s souls. There are also issues of self-worth, depression, despair and hopelessness brooding in people’s minds and hearts. The bible says that the devil is the author of destruction in our lives. While our own sinfulness, apart from Christ, leaves marks of brokenness and destruction, Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking to attack these broken and weakened areas of our humanity. It is in these moments that lies and destructive thoughts can can cause us to question the value of our own existence on earth and it is in this state, we are most vulnerable to suicide.

I personally know what it’s like to hate yourself and feel totally hopeless about continuing on with life as I’ve known it. I’m sure that there would be many others reading this who would admit to sharing some of the same struggles. But the point is God has a better way to approach life.

Jesus way of life is found in repentance from sin, believing in Jesus Christ and living by faith in his love and grace. Jesus Christ gets a raw deal in this day and age and yet, as the Son of God, he only ever set out to bring fulness and abundance of life to us through the cross. 

Left to our own devices, life is hopeless and dark (Read Ecclesiastes) but God promises to never leave us or forsake us. He will be with us even to the end of the age. We do not need to battle sin and the devil on our own, we have Jesus Christ as our saviour, strength and hope. Your perspectives change when Jesus Christ enters your world. How you think about yourself and others becomes better in light of knowing you’ve been made in the image of God with eternal value and worth.

I want to encourage you to look out for your family and friends and people on the fringe. Every person is precious and priceless in God’s eyes. You may not realise the incredible battle that someone is in right now with suicide. Don’t wait till it’s too late. Invest time and energy in building healthy and transparent relationships with people around you. Pray for them. Live life centered on the truth of God’s Word and not on the lies of the enemy. Pray against this epidemic in our nation and become an ambassador of hope to your generation.

Lead the Change!

A night with Chuck Missler!

Planet Needs Help

Last night I was invited to hear Dr Chuck Missler speak at Richmond AOG. What an eye opening experience. Chuck Missler has been studying the bible for 60 years, has three earned doctorates, graduated from the US Naval Academy, has been apart of the US intelligence community for several years, served on dozens of defense contractor board of directors, has produced thousands of hours of bible teaching & multiple volumes of bible commentaries and overseer of K-House Institute.

Dr Chuck gave two presentations on the strategic trends affecting the world at the moment. These include:

• Collapse of the US as a superpower
• 20th Century was America’s century but no more
• 21st Century marked as the year for China to emerge as the new superpower
• The political agenda of muslim nations to attack and destroy Israel (especially Iran)
• Israel’s military exercises in preparation for response to nuclear attack
• President Obama resourcing muslim nations surrounding Israel with hundred’s of millions of dollars
• US considering withdrawing support for Israel (1st time in US History)

He also gave insight into the rising influence of Islam across the globe. Some of these include:

• The two arms of Islam Sunni (moderate) and Shiite (extreme).
• Allah not actually the ‘God’ but a moon god (demonic).
• Where muslim population makes up over 2% of population the downward spiral of that community begins.
• Iranian president feels called by God to ethnically cleanse all Jews from the planet.
• France to be a muslim republic by 2050.
• Birth rate required to sustain a national culture is 2.11 and avge birth rate for many European countries is 1.8 and yet the avge for muslim population in those same countries is 8.1.

All of this is very interesting and gives us insight into what is happening across the globe at the moment. We need to be informed and aware, not scared and definitely not burying our heads in the sand. We need to raise the bar on our own relationship with God and grow closer to him and know what the truth is and live it out.

Lead the Change!

Creation vs Evolution!

Our origins are important because it affects our destiny. There are many voices in the world that would attempt to squash the biblical perspective of creation and intelligent design for a more athiestic and secular evolutionary theory of the origins of the earth and mankind.

In 1859 Charles Darwin wrote his famed, “Origin of species by means of natural selection or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life”. The overall theory was that white humans had out evolved blacks and become superior to black humans, but you will never get told this side of Darwin from your college professor. There are 10 problems with secular evolutionary theory:

1. How can nothing make everything?
2. How can random chaos make an orderly universe?
3. How can no ‘designer’ create something that was designed?
4. How can impersonal matter create personal humanity?
5. How can the unintelligent make the intelligent?
6. How can a transition of species happen over a long period of time but no fossil record exist that such a transition actually happened?
7. How come we’ve been unable to replicate evolution despite trying desperately to do so?
8. How can some people say the earth is eternal when even evolutionary theorists hold to BIG bang cosmology which assumes there was a beginning?
9. Why should anyone try to make a meaningful life for themselves if the secularists are right and all of life is full of hopelessness and despair? The end result is simply suicide.
10. It’s biased and just bad science because spontaneous generation was proven wrong several hundred years ago.

The alternative to creation is simply paganism (a lie).We are all worshippers and so if we don’t worship God we will worship his creation (Rom 1:18-32). The ultimate result of worshipping creation rather than the creator is sexual perversion because the human body is the crowning achievement of God’s creation. 

Oneism is rife in our society and teaches us that all of reality exists in one circle and the goal is to eradicate distinctions (as found in Genesis 1-3) and bring everything into one. Oneism is postmodernism where there isn’t any good or evil and we should only have one religion, the worship of self! Oneism seeks to get Jesus Christ out of the way because Jesus claims to be the only way to truth and life (John 14:6).

The Dalai Lama reinforces oneism when he says, “We used to think that life was two but really it’s one.” The movie Golden Compass reinforces this when it puts all angels into the category of ‘one’ even if those angels are demons. This theme of oneism is seen in the movie ‘Star Wars’ where everything relates back to the force and even in the kids movie Lion King, Elton John made millions from his hit single, “Circle of life”. Oneism attempts to eradicate every distinction as found in Genesis 1-3 and to look to ourselves as the ultimate god of our reality.

But Trueism says that there are distinctions in our early origins (Gen 1-3) and that Jesus Christ was outside the proverbial circle of oneness and came into our reality to save us from our sin because we were lost, blind and dead in our sin (Rom 3:23). The bible is a theological history more than a scientific textbook. The bible exists not to tell us how the heavens go but how to go to heaven. It tells us about the ‘Who’ and the ‘What’, that God made the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1). We are worshippers. The question is whom do you worship? The creator or the creation?

Lead the Change!

Church in decline…

Churches all over Australia and America are in decline and we need to assess why this is happening. Here are several reasons why after observing the church in both countries.

In the USA the church is in decline because:

• It has aligned itself too much politically
• It’s not passing the baton of ministry generationally
• Church education is inadequate
• Too much division over theology
• There are less resources to reach out

Often we make secondary issues in the culture, primary issues in the church and the church blames the culture for its decline rather than taking responsibility for itself.

Tyler Jones offered these 3 reasons for the church’s decline and I would agree. Here they are:

1. Church has taken eyes off Jesus and he is no longer first love
2. Church has taken eyes off its mission and become territorial
3. Church has become toxic in nature and avoids accountability

The answer is LONG TERM ACTIVE REPENTANCE!

The ultimate need of the church is to centre itself on Jesus Christ and revolve everything it does around who Jesus is and what he’s called us to do.

Lead the Change!

Angels and Demons!

Last night I saw the new movie inspired by Dan Brown’s Davinci Code, Angels and Demons. It was an intense journey of conspiracy, investigation and corruption.

Tom Hanks plays the lead role as Professor Langdon who is summoned by the Vatican to help them solve a kidnapping of 4 cardinals who are in line for the top job as Pope after the former had died. It is presumed the Illuminati is involved. 

This movie explores the issues of science vs faith, the will of the Holy Spirit, the integrity of church leadership and the role of secret societies like the illuminati. 

The ending has a great twist to it and will keep you guessing until the last few frames. Worth the watch!

Lead the Change!

Dating Pt2: 26 Principles!

There are 4 types of dating relationships:

Pre-arranged marriage: Cultural & biblical expression – While not practiced in Aussie culture, it’s quite popular in certain cultural groups around the world and has ancient biblical origins. To a teenager it’s the worst idea in the world but to a parent of a 5yr old princess I think it’s a brilliant idea…hehe.

Courtship: Biblical & traditional expression – This was very popular until mid 1900’s where it was exchanged for the more casual non-Christian dating. I recommend this type of dating for teenagers because teenagers don’t even know what they want tomorrow, let alone who they want to spend the rest of their life with. Parents need to take a vested interest in their teens lives and help them navigate their experience of dating relationships. Courtship dating basically involves a potential young man who is interested in a girl to meet with the parents of the girl and express his interests and intentions with the girl. In one sense the potential suitor dates dad before he dates the girl and if he gets approval then a date is the next step in the process.

Non-Christian dating: Heathen expression – I don’t recommend this because of the devastating and un-biblical consequences of it. The English word dating was introduced into the English vernacular in 1896 as a synonym for prostitution, the transaction of money for sexual favours. The downward spiral of society over the last 100 years has reshaped our understanding and expression of dating relationships and marriage. This type of dating involves looks like, hook up, shack up, break up, repeat… The world’s idea is try before you but but God’s idea is commit before you consummate. Let’s look at the last type of dating relationship.

Christian dating: Biblical expression – The ultimate goal of this dating relationship is marriage. I recommend this for young adults or mature adults who have left home and are responsible for themselves and make their own decisions as a responsible adult. This type of dating is about building a legacy for the future and not for selfish gain.

Here are 26 principles of a dating relationship (1 Corinthians 7 & other scriptures):

1.  Don’t have sexual intercourse until you’re married (v1)
2. If your sexual desire is strong, get married (v2,9,36)
3. Once married don’t deprive each other of sex (v5)
4. Identify whether you have the gift of singleness or not (v7)
5. Maximise your singleness for God (v35)
6. Don’t pursue dating until you are ready for marriage
7. Be reasonable with your expectations
8. Don’t overlook whom God has put in front of you
9. Remember, going on a date is not dating (1 Tim 5:1-2)
10. Getting a date requires men to initiate the event
11. Only date one person at a time
12. Don;t have a dating relationship with an unbeliever (2 Cor 6:14)
13. Only invest into dating someone you are attracted to
14. Only marry someone who agrees with you on gender roles & family numbers
15. Don;t give your heart away too quick (Pr 4:23)
16. Men, is she modest? (1 Tim 2:9-10)
17. Men, does she have character? (Pr 31)
18. Men, does she have a negative influence on you? (Book of Pr)
19. Men, can you provide for her? (1 Tim 5:8)
20. Men, will she follow your leadership?
21. Ladies, are you able to follow his lead and help him? (Gen 2:18)
22. Ladies, do you feel safe with him?
23. Ladies, is he tough enough to cope with pressure?
24. Ladies, is he a 1 woman man? (Job 31:1)
25. Ladies, do you want yours sons to be like him?
26. Ladies, how valuable are you to him? (Eph 5:25)

Lead the Change!

 

Kingdom Culture Pt8 – Community

At our ministry leadership team meeting on Tuesday we had a former staff member of Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago come and share with us about his experiences on staff in Bill Hybels team.

One of the key things that our guest kept emphasizing was the need for community within the life of the church – a place to belong. People are hungering for connection and relationship.

The Christian Church is positioned uniquely within the wider community to provide exactly what people are searching for – a place to belong. When churches don’t build this we are a false representation of Christ and his mission in the world.

Acts 2:42-47 gives us a brief but detailed snapshot of what community in the early church looked like. “All who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”  

As a result of the community within the early church God added blessing and fruit to it. We can experience the same today. It doesn’t matter the size of the church, what matters is the heart of the church. Leaders within a church set the pace and example for community. Cold leaders ultimately breed cold congregations. But if the leadership is warm and interested in people, then the after effect will be reproduced in the church community.

At Activate Church we are seeking to build this community through life groups that meet regularly each week throughout the city of Melbourne. It is our hope to connect many disconnected people within the church community and outside the church community into authentic relationship with Christ and his followers.

Lead the Change!

Easter Weekend!

Every Easter thousands of people flock to their holiday destinations for 4 days of frivolity and fun. There’s nothing wrong with taking a break and relaxing but I want to challenge you this year to prioritise gathering together in a local church somewhere to worship God and remember what our sin did to Jesus Christ on the cross.

I want to be counter-cultural as a follower of Christ. I believe that Easter weekend is the most significant weekend in the annual calendar and I have always prioritised attendance at church and reflection on the goodness of God in sending his son Jesus Christ to die for my sins and to rise again to give me new life.

How are you going to spend easter weekend? Is it going to just be more about you or would you be willing to sacrifice you to think about Him?

This weekend at Activate Church we are hosting a Good Friday service at 10am and Easter Sunday services at 10am and 6pm at Ringwood Secondary College Performing Arts Centre. You can check out the website www.activatechurch.com for more details. Why don’t you make it a priority to attend church, any church and think about the significance of Jesus Christ and his death on the cross and why over 2 billion people over this weekend will do the same thing.

Lead the Change!

The tension between success and failure!

Most of us have our own ideas of what success and failure is. Alot of our perception of success and failure is shaped by the culture we grow up in and are currently apart of. Many of us fear failure and hunger for success but it’s quite possible to spend our entire lives leaning our ladder against the wrong building thinking that what we are investing our lives in is well worth it, when in fact it isn’t.

Being a full time minister and senior leader of a local church, I know all too well the tension that exists between success and failure in the ministry. Success and failure is not something we talk alot about in ministry circles, it remains a taboo subject. Most of our discussion on the subject has to do with the question, “How many members are in your church?” After the number is shared, opinions are formed and conclusions made.

I haven’t heard any preacher ever talk about the subject from a biblical perspective and yet it’s something that’s just under the surface of our hearts and drives alot of what we do and don’t do, even if we would hesitate to admit it.

Over the years, apart from God’s Word, I have read a couple of books that have contributed to my thinking about success and failure and they would be worthwhile additions to your library (I will include these books in my ‘Books Reading’ PAGE later today).

Many of us define success to be the accumulation of material possessions and popular experiences: houses, cars, clothes, boats, overseas holidays, etc. While these things are not bad in themselves, life has to have more depth to it than just working to purchase the right things. It’s recorded in Ecclesiastes 1-2 that the richest man who possibly ever lived, King Solomon himself,  said that after pursuing riches, wisdom and toil that all is vanity and a striving after the wind. In other words it’s meaningless.

We must sure to be careful how we dfine success and failure because whatever we define it to be that will become what we chase after and what we desperately try to avoid.

One of my close friends has shared an insightful thought to this discussion by saying that he doesn’t believe in the concept of failure because every experience is a learning opportunity to be more successful next time. Failure is not an event, we just live our lives and discover along the journey of life and this discovery helps us to become more fruitful. For him the issue is whether we are fruitful or not. He uses the analogy of the GPS in our cars. Once you program your destination in to the GPS, you can make as many wrong turns as you like but the GPS will get you back on track. So the same is in the journey of life. We can make wrong turns but as long as God is our GPS and we are open to His guidance, He can get us back on track.

For me, I have wrestled with the tension between success and failure because I have wanted to succeed…whatever that means. I do have some ideas about the tension that exists between success and failure and what these twin issues are. Alot of my thoughts have been shaped by the story of King Saul in 1 Samuel 15. Check it out. I am going to be sharing my thoughts at Activate Conference next week at the 9am Friday morning session. Register to hear what I believe will be helpful for your own life and ministry. 

I would like your feedback on what you think about what I’ve shared in this blog and I will pick this theme back up next Thursday.

Lead the Change!

Importance of SOLITUDE!

One of the most underrated habits in our busy lifestyles is solitude. I am a big believer in the principle that says, before you can effectively lead others, you need to lead yourself. Solitude is one of the ways we lead ourselves so that we can be far more effective in our relationships and tasks.

The habit of solitude is being completely alone with God away from all human contact for extended periods of time. It is counter-cultural and challenging to our contemporary way of life with mobiles, computers, TV, music, radio, kids, school, friends, travel, work, church, etc… BUT it is necessary and needed. Solitude is being refeshed and restored by the natural rhythms of life and taking time to listen to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus modeled solitude throughout his earthly ministry. Before starting his ministry Jesus spent 40days in the wilderness praying and fasting. Before Jesus selected his disciples, he spent the night alone in prayer. When Jesus received the news about John the Baptist, he withdrew in a boat to a secluded place to be alone. After ministering to over 5,000 people and moving in signs and wonders Jesus retreated to the hills to be by himself.

Success, the roar of the crowd, demands and urgent tasks can be intoxicating to our sense of self-worth but if we are to live for the audience of 1 and stay on mission for our entire lives we need to schedule time into our lives to be quiet and still before God.

Your best creativity won’t be realised in times of stress and conflict. Your best creativity will be expressed out of times of reflection, stillness and meditative thinking. In other words solitude is the master key to living life to the fullest. You can only pull out of the well what you have put in there. You can’t spend your time with everyone and expect to continually be a blessing to them. The axe (being you) grows dull without constant sharpening. Solitude with God sharpens you up and prepares you for a greater contribution to the world.

Lead the Change!