The May 2008 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.
7 May 2008
23 April 2008
To err is Human, to Forgive, Divine …
“To err is human, to forgive divine” is a true saying for me because honestly I don’t find it easy to forgive, myself and those closest to me. If I did I know I wouldn’t be finding it so hard to write to you! But I wrote to Ruth (our editor) recently to offer to write a regular column in WISE. So here I am, thankful to Ruth for the great topics she has set for 2008, but wishing I hadn’t been so eager because this issue focuses on forgiveness. There’s nothing like writing a piece or preparing for a Bible study to hone our understanding, is there? So back to the topic at hand.
Forgiving God is actually the topic, and I’m real glad because forgiveness is what God is good at, although we forget this at times.
I was sitting with a woman the other day. Her fridge had just blown up in the over‐whelming heat wave. All her food had gone off and she needed assistance. She pointed to her head as if she were to blame for her predicament. We reminded her that fridges, especially older ones, have a habit of conking out when you need them the most. No, it wasn’t her fault.
Often people come to CareWorks with some sense of shame and failure for seeking help. We seek to reassure people that their situation is a result of a whole host of reasons, and failure is a human reality we all face. Rather than being blamed they are supported in finding a way through the maze of failings they are experiencing. At the heart of our approach is the awareness of our God who is so compassionate and forgiving, who expresses extreme acceptance, and doesn’t come down on us like a ton of bricks to condemn. The cycles of resentment and revenge, bitterness and back‐stabbing, and self‐condemnation are so prevalent in our community, and we are not above them. Forgiveness is continually needed by all people.
God affirms that an act of loving forgiveness is what reconnects each of us with God, others and ourselves. How crucial is the word of Jesus who has become the forgiveness of God for all people. This is for me the astounding message of Easter that after and in spite of death, defeat and devastation, God freely forgives us, keeping no account of our failings and proclaiming us “not guilty”. He gives us the opportunity to begin again. In Jesus, God makes forgiveness human in this world of relationships where forgiveness can seem impossible.
We are called to be Women of Crucifixion‐Resurrection, breaking the cycles that would destroy us and others, and proclaiming a new beginning. At the worst of times, when Jesus was condemned, he cried out to God profoundly, “Forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” How can anyone unless they experience another way in us, divinely enabled?
Grace and Peace, Julie
Julie Simpson is the newly appointed Executive Officer of CareWorks. A Churches of Christ Pastor and qualified social worker she has shared ministries with husband Grant in the Southern Circuit and Mt Barker.Julie has also been an aged care and hospital Chaplain. Julie is a mum and grandma, and a member of the Prospect Church at Blair Athol‐Kilburn
Seize the Moment
Over the last few weeks I have been made to think of making the most of the moment put before me. My life has been in a state of change, something I don’t like and find hard to cope with. Many hours I have laid awake at night contemplating the “could have beens,” the “should have beens”, and the “maybe if I had done something different I may have been able change the outcome.”
All of this is a waste of time if I take to heart the fact that God is in control. I know this is so, but I like to think that I am in control, and there are times when I want to BE in control and not leave it to God.
I have been doing some research on the Internet. There has been one reoccurring theme that has been jumping out at me over and over during these past few days. That theme is “To make every moment with our loved ones count.”
This has set me thinking, “How can I best make today count for my family? Tell them I love them everyday, create an environment for them that is loving and enjoyable and accept them at all times!”
There were at least 5 articles I have read that were on this theme, totally different from what I was looking for. So I decided that this was not “co‐incidence” but “God ‐incidence” and I stopped and took stock of what I was doing.
The last article I read was in a digital scrapbooking site that I receive emails from daily. They always have a thought for the day as part of their email. I find this is the most interesting section of the email, apart from showing me more about one of my chosen crafts. But this one challenged me even more than usual as I realised that maybe God was trying to get my attention.
To précis the story, a lady was sharing that she had sent some photos of her children to her father who was gravely ill because she didn’t have time to go and see him. So instead of taking the photos to show him and to show off her newly acquired ability of digital scrapping which he was interested in, she posted the photos. She never phoned either, just posted them across town to him.
Within a couple of days she received a call to let her know that her father had passed away during the night. Yes he had received her photos and had cried as he looked at them the night before. He knew his time was very short. But the daughter’s moment to share with her father had gone! She would never have the opportunity to show him what she had been doing, to tell him that she loved him, and to share many other things she realised she should have done.
Her message to me is to seize the moment, live in the now, get rid of regrets that hold me back, and to show my family and friends that they mean everything to me.
What can this mean for all of us? We all can live in regret and allow it to hold us back from doing what God has called us to do and be. We need to live today as though it was our last. To leave behind our regrets and hurts, and allow those we love and care for to know that they are our world and mean everything to us.
There is a saying that goes “Seize the Day,” but I think for me it is, “Seize the moment and live it in triumph for Him.” God gives us each moment, and what we do with it is our gift to Him.
Let there be no “what ifs” or “could haves” in your life. Clear out the regrets and live your life to the full in and for God. In so doing we will give Him all the glory and honour due to Him.
WISE Link April 2008
The April 2008 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.
I will once again be publishing the feature article(s), please feel free to discuss the article in the comments area of each post.
11 March 2008
Wise Link March 2008
The March 2008 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.
I will once again be publishing the feature article(s), please feel free to discuss the article in the comments area of each post.
25 February 2008
The Old has gone and behold I make all things new
2007 has gone and 2008 is here.
I sit here and contemplate 2007. It has gone along with its joys and sorrows. The memories remain but the year is spent.
While watching the New Year Celebrations in Sydney on the Television, I thought about the difference a second makes. It changed from 2007 into 2008. I watched people party and make resolutions for their lives in 2008. Many made these resolutions that they knew they wouldn’t keep. They thought about the changes they may have to make to in their lives from what they are at present.
Most of us are driven to set goals for ourselves. We want to improve. We know in our hearts that we should improve. Thinking back to Christmas, we know we have eaten too much Christmas fare, so we think a diet is the way to go. Or there’s an ambition that we want to achieve so why not now. Unfortunately, we often set goals so lofty that we are set up for failure before we begin.
One lady’s list showed the changes she would like to make in her life, and goes like this:
During 2008, I would like to...
So as we have seen one month of the New Year of 2008, how can we make a difference in the world in which we live?
With God’s help we can achieve much in our lives before Him if we ensure we put His will and way for us first in our lives. God makes all things new and it is He who gives our life meaning and purpose.
Perhaps as 2008 unfolds, let’s make a New Year’s Resolution to:
I sit here and contemplate 2007. It has gone along with its joys and sorrows. The memories remain but the year is spent.
While watching the New Year Celebrations in Sydney on the Television, I thought about the difference a second makes. It changed from 2007 into 2008. I watched people party and make resolutions for their lives in 2008. Many made these resolutions that they knew they wouldn’t keep. They thought about the changes they may have to make to in their lives from what they are at present.
Most of us are driven to set goals for ourselves. We want to improve. We know in our hearts that we should improve. Thinking back to Christmas, we know we have eaten too much Christmas fare, so we think a diet is the way to go. Or there’s an ambition that we want to achieve so why not now. Unfortunately, we often set goals so lofty that we are set up for failure before we begin.
One lady’s list showed the changes she would like to make in her life, and goes like this:
During 2008, I would like to...
- Not take myself so seriously
- Find some time each day to laugh
- Plan time to learn new things
- Journal more often about the blessings I have received
- Look at myself in the mirror everyday and say, “You’re okay”
- Tell more people more often that I appreciate what they do for me
- Throw or give away things I haven’t used in the past year
- Exercise more regularly
- Eat more vegetables and fruits because this helps me to be more healthy and I refuse to go on a diet and forget the chocolate, though it is vegetable!!!
- Plant some flowers in my backyard
So as we have seen one month of the New Year of 2008, how can we make a difference in the world in which we live?
With God’s help we can achieve much in our lives before Him if we ensure we put His will and way for us first in our lives. God makes all things new and it is He who gives our life meaning and purpose.
Perhaps as 2008 unfolds, let’s make a New Year’s Resolution to:
- Not only know who God is but BE the person that He calls us to be.
- Thank God daily for the blessings He gives us.
- Encourage the people around you - family, work colleagues and Church family. Encouragement
is a very special gift that costs us nothing but when given enables people to go that bit further in the work for the Lord. - Take time out and be refreshed in Him to know Him more, and above all listen to Him and His will for us in 2008.
- Be the change in your church/home/area/workplace that will make an effect for God that’s everlasting.
- Appreciate those around you for who they are.
- Be prepared to go when He calls and do things you can hear Him prompt you to do.
Let’s allow Him to RENEW us in 2008!
22 February 2008
Wise Link February 2008
The February 2008 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.
I will once again be publishing the feature article(s), please feel free to discuss the article in the comments area of each post.
9 December 2007
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!
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,
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
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.
I will once again be publishing the feature article(s), please feel free to discuss the article in the comments area of each post.
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