The X Factor

What is the X factor for you at the moment? Is it the unknown of your present and future; is it Mr X – Nick Xenophon; is it about the direction of Christmas?

We have recently had a Federal Election, and for South Australia there was the X factor in the form of Nick Xenophon who was standing for a seat in the Senate. What will that mean for SA and Australia now that he is in? We shall soon find out.

At Christmas time we focus on another X factor – Xmas, as some write it, and so I wish to reflect on this X factor for a few minutes.

There are two things that come to my mind in this context. The first is that X is the unknown, and the second is that the X in the Greek language is the equivalent of “Ch” in English.

The Unknown
In maths X is the unknown. Using it instead of Christ in the word Christmas seems to infer that Christ is likewise the unknown, even unknowable, maybe even the distant unknown.

Perhaps it is convenient for some to take the name of Christ out of the word Christmas because of their unbelief in Christ as the Son of God who came to be the Saviour of the world. Maybe it reflects an ignorance of the origins of the Christian faith – that the Christmas account is integral to Christianity.

This is reflected in the following story: “Just a few days before Christmas two ladies stood looking into a department store window at a large display of the manger scene with clay figures of the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, and the animals. Disgustedly, one lady said, “Look at that, the church trying to hone in on Christmas!”

But then I think of Paul in Athens discovering numerous altars with the inscription, “To an Unknown God.” Because what they thought of as unknown was intimately known to Paul, he proceeded to preach Christ to them (Acts 17:22-31). This is a tremendous example to all Christ followers this Christmas.

A Letter in the Greek Alphabet
When the word “Christ” is written in the Greek language, their letter representing “Ch” is written as an “X.” So it is that X may well represent an abbreviation of the name “Christ,” and instead of Him being the unknown, He is truly known and knowable.

So we see that X marks “the spot,” who in this case is Christ Himself, the known God who lived among us in human flesh. In this He was God with skin on; God in Christ come to earth to give humanity the understanding that God does understand and identify with our human plight – our suffering, our sickness, our sinfulness and our selfishness.

May we at this Christmas celebrate the God who has made Himself known through Jesus, the one who is both known and knowable. May Christ to us be the one we preach to those who have built their altars to their own, “Unknown God.” May the X factor in your Christmas truly be Christ, the Son of the Living God, the one who is the Saviour of the world – eternally!

DWT

A Gift to Change You...

As we enter the Advent season. When we focus on the coming of Jesus into our world, I would encourage you to look for those unexpected moments when God breaks into your consciousness in a new and challenging way.

The Jews had prayed long and hard for a saviour who would free them from oppressive Roman occupation. They had their own ideas of what that would be like, but God had a different idea. God sent a Saviour!

Not a warrior King who would raise up an army and by force free them from their oppression- but rather a tiny babe-symbol of amazing love. Fragile and weak but yet with the potential to change the world--not with the sword but with a message of peace and hope.

God is a God of surprises and God's ways are not our ways. Who would ever have imagined as they gazed on that sleeping child that he would inspire people through many generations to live lives of selfless love.

God continues to break into human lives in unexpected and life changing ways. I would encourage you, in the midst of all your Christmas busyness, to experience God in all His gracious fullness as you recognize those moments when God offers you yet another gift that will change your life.

Shalom,

Marj. Dredge
National Coordinator of Churches of Christ
Women’s Ministries Australia

Wise Link December 2007

The December Edition Part 1 & Part 2 of WISELink is now available online.

I will once again be publishing the feature article(s), please feel free to discuss the article in the comments area of each post.

Time to Listen

A couple of weeks ago I was listening to the Sports Programme on the radio and heard an interview with Kevin Gosper from the International Olympic Committee regarding the revelations of Marion Jones and the doping issue that she had revealed. Many have stood in judgement of her and journalists and members of the Olympic committee due to the fact that Marion Jones has revealed that she took performance enhancing drugs during her time as an elite athlete. She was held in high regard by her peers and she had been at the pinnacle of her career. She won 5 medals at the Sydney Olympics as well as countless medals at world championships. But she won them by cheating.

In a media conference outside a court in the USA, Jones admitted to taking drugs. At this conference she thanked her close family and friends and asked them to forgive her. She apologised to the world for what she did.

All her achievements are now nothing, all her medals are meaningless and all she had strived for is finished. She is now left with nothing. They were achieved not on her own strength but from outside influences. It’s a heartbreaking story and hard to imagine what she must be feeling, as she sees her world crumbling around her. She has lived a lie, all her dreams have turned into a nightmare.

“There, but for the grace of God go I”? We, too, could find ourselves in a similar predicament. Think about this. We have died and now stand before God, to find that everything we had been doing was pointless. The race of life we had lived has counted for nothing. The things we thought were important for Him, weren’t. They were our choices for us not God’s. We had replaced His will for our lives with our own will and had done what we wanted to do, and not followed God’s way.

When we forget God and go on our own wilful way with our work, pleasure, family or friends—we are essentially running in circles. Our priorities in life change and everything is a mess. We are doing just what Marion Jones did, cheat. Except we have cheated God! Not just the people around us. If we have lived under the guise of Christianity, and not lived our lives as God has called us too, we are cheats.

What race are you and I competing in. The race to please those around us and most of all ourselves? Or are we living God-centred and driven lives that will bring honour and glory to God?
It is necessary for us to take a good hard look at ourselves and see what we are doing. Yes we can all have an opinion on what Marion Jones has done, but while I don’t condone it, I cannot judge her as I in my life have things that I am not proud of either. I need to ask God’s forgiveness on these, as does Marion Jones. God is the only One whose forgiveness counts.

We all need to stop and examine ourselves, so, get out a check list, sit down and spend time with your Coach (God) and take a good hard look at how you are performing in the race of life.
Is our training the type that God wants of us ... Are there things that we need to change? We need to concentrate on what He is wanting us to do. It’s time out to listen to our Coach, study the notes he has left for us to guide us in our training and most of all to do something about what we learn from His Word and our relationship with Him.

Take the time now to examine yourself as I am of myself. Ask yourself the BIG question “Is what I am doing in this life making a difference in the world?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27

a quote for you

"If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life."

-Rachel Carson

via beliefnet.com

Wise Link November 2007

The November Edition of WISELink is now available online.

I will once again be publishing the feature article(s), please feel free to discuss the article in the comments area of each post.

New Life

It is Spring. and in spite of the lack of rain, many gardens are bursting into bloom. Everywhere I go, gardens have thrown off there winter drabness- and brilliant blues and lavenders, oranges and yellows greet the eye.

Just recently I was reflecting on God’s grace and mercy and recognised that we take so much for granted and do not really appreciate that God’s mercies are new every day. It is so because we spend an inordinate amount of time looking backwards! What a waste! The reality is that our God is a God of new beginnings so is always out in front of us, inviting us to follow new paths and new opportunities.

Humans are strange creatures, though. We find it very difficult to let the past go and venture into the unknown. The “past” even if it has not been a good experience, is still a “safe” place to be. Rather than moving forward, we spend a lot of time reflecting on the “what might have
been”! We look back and ponder how different things might have been had we just said this or done that, or, indeed, chosen a different path.

The reality, however, is that what is done cannot be changed. What has been said can never be taken back. The moment is passed and gone and regrets are of no value. It seems to me that life is faced most positively and to best advantage when we learn to let go and let God lead us into the places God has already prepared for us. Those places are places of growth and inspiration and challenge. God does not ever take us to a place for which God has not already prepared us—
even if we have yet to realise that is so!

When we seize the moment and give it our best shot, inspired by God’s Holy Spirit and acting with integrity and grace, we discover ourselves to be blessed beyond imagination. If we open ourselves, daily, to the possibility that God might actually choose to use this day to reveal God’s self to another through us, we can embrace the day with certainty and anticipation. We will find
ourselves being able to forget what is behind and move into that which is yet to come.

I would encourage you that if you MUST look back, then do so only to see how much God has already done in your life and draw confidence and assurance that there is nothing that you and God together can not handle and appreciate that every day with God is the beginning of Spring.

MD

Wise Link October 2007

The October Edition of WISELink is now available online.

This month's WISELink we are looking at the new life.

I will again be publishing the feature article, please feel free to discuss the article in the comments area of the post.

one flaw in women

Women have strengths that amaze men.
They bear hardships and they carry burdens, but they
hold happiness, love and joy.
They smile when they want to scream.
They sing when they want to cry.
They cry when they are happy
and laugh when they are nervous.
They fight for what they believe in.
They stand up to injustice.
They don't take "no" for an answer when they believe
there is a better solution.
They go without so their family can have.
They go to the doctor with a frightened friend.
They love unconditionally.
They cry when their children excel and cheer when their friends get awards.
They are happy when they hear about a birth or a wedding.
Their hearts break when a friend dies.
They grieve at the loss of a family member, yet they are strong when they
think there is no strength left.
They know that a hug and a kiss can heal a broken heart.
Women come in all shapes, sizes and colors.
They'll drive, fly, walk, run or e-mail you to show how much they care about
you. The heart of a woman is what makes the world keep turning.
They bring joy, hope and love.
They have compassion and ideas.
They give moral support to their family and friends.
Women have vital things to say and everything to give.
HOWEVER, IF THERE IS ONE FLAW IN WOMEN,
IT IS THAT THEY FORGET THEIR WORTH.

Passion:

Pronunciation: 'pash & n (n) from Latin pati to suffer –1: the sufferings of Christ between the night of the Last Supper and his death –2: the state or capacity of being acted on by external agents or forces; –3: the emotions as distinguished from reason –4: intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction –5: an outbreak of anger; ardent affection –6: a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept –7: an object of desire or deep interest.

Just recently, I have been thinking about the effect of passionate feelings on our lives and the way we live them out. We can be passionate about anything we choose, and sometimes we will throw our every waking moment into pursuing it.

Recently I went with my family to an AFL game at Telstra Dome in Melbourne to see St Kilda play West Coast. Apart from some passionate West Coast supporters who had travelled from Perth to see the game (there were many on our flight across to Melbourne) by far the most were there to support St Kilda. We couldn’t miss the true blue supporters who showed proudly their team colours and paraphernalia. (I know one ardent supporter who proudly has worn their colours for years even when they were at the bottom of the ladder!)

Back to the game though. We were surrounded by a continual out pouring of passion throughout the game. There were some there that I thought were going to have a coronary or such like in the way they reacted to the umpiring decisions or opposing teams players. Then there was one man who got up from his seat and ran down the concourse to give the umpires a real serve when he didn’t agree with their decision.

I, not having any particular care on who won the match, sat back, watched and wondered. “What difference would it make to the church today (as we know it) if we were as passionate for the Lord’s team if we followed the Christian life as passionately as the AFL team supporters do, or whatever sporting team or interests that you follow.

It is not just football fans who follow their interest so intently – there are those who are passionate about their hobbies, their craft, their car, their garden, their fishing, their music, etc. and many of us put a great deal of effort into having the necessary tools and items needed to follow our passion.

So where is this going? No, its not an excuse to talk about football but a way to look at how we respond to our passions, and line up how passionate we may be about the Lord and His impact on our lives.

To be the person Christ called us to be, we need to be passionate about Christ and the difference He has made in our life, and therefore show and tell it to the world. It is easy for us to be closet Christians because then we don't have to stand out and wear our team colours. We can just go along with the crowd or we can be passionate about the team – that we are not just supporters but members, and we need to Stand Up for Christ in all we do, say and act as it is the mission we have in life.

Christ stood up for us and was willing to go all the way to the Cross for us. How much then do we owe to Him for what He has done for us.

Let’s nail our colours to the Cross and really Follow Him.