Can A Christian Support Euthanasia?

About two years ago I was first properly introduced to the concepts of euthanasia and assisted dying. Since then I've learned a lot more about them; I've attended debates and speeches, and read material from both supporters and opponents. I've read the EOLC Act and polls showing the public's perception of it. I also have conversed with people, gaining a better understanding of their thoughts. I've found some things to be as I expected, but plenty has shocked me too. 

In truth I was convinced by secular reasoning to make space in my schedule for these topics and not leave them for someone else to deal with. I hope to share some of those soon, but right now I would like to focus on the Christian, biblical perspective.

I've been surprised by how often professing Christians have told me, "I'm not sure what I think about this." Particularly embedded in my memory is a conversation that included this acknowledgment from someone with a strong mission focus. To my shame I was too stunned to respond well, but I left pondering the irony of the situation and wondering what our thoughts had to do with it. Doing missions is about being an ambassador for Christ, something all Christians are called to do. If that is our focus, then shouldn't our question be, "What does He think about this?

"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God." ~ 2 Corinthians 5:20

Some of us will remember memorising all ten commandments during our childhoods, including the sixth: "thou shalt not kill." People fluent in the Hebrew language inform me that separate words are available for "kill" and "murder," as there are in English. This one would be correctly translated as "murder". But don't get too excited. The exceptions are self-defense, the death penalty, and war. An exception for "mercy killing" simply doesn't exist. 

But let's go right back to the beginning. In Genesis 1:27 we read: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." All the animals had been created already, and now mankind enters separately. All creation is pronounced "very good" but humanity alone is chosen to bear God's image. As such, human life holds special, inherent worth and value. Because we love God, we treat His image with respect. We don't harm or destroy it. And that goes for all lives; none are any less valuable than others and we don't discard anybody.

In many passages of Scripture we are called to love one another. One of the ways we do this is by bearing one another's burdens. We seek to alleviate and end suffering--not sufferers. We protect, support, and promote life. 

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." ~ John 10:10

Our Saviour came to give abundant life. Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Would followers of Christ follow His example, or that of His and our greatest enemy?

There's a lot more that could and should be said, but for the sake of time I will wrap up here with one last point. God reserves for Himself the power to give and take life. He alone decides when it is our time to leave this earth and enter eternity. If we take that into our own hands we choose to serve ourselves instead of God and in doing so we proclaim that God is no longer God of our lives, but instead we are our own god. Serving anyone or anything above the God who created us is nothing short of idolatory. 

Culture may argue and change its mind every few years about what is acceptable and what isn't, but God isn't confused or indecisive about the truth and He makes it clear so that we don't need to be either. I'm thankful for that. 

If Bible Heroes Followed Modern Wisdom | Esther

All around the world, children enjoy beautifully illustrated stories of heroic characters right from the Bible. These stories fill readers with awe and wonder, spark imagination, and (hopefully) instill biblical truths. I know I had my favourites, and it was fascinating to imagine myself in the hero's or heroine's position and wonder how I would've handled the situation. Recently, I've wondered how these stories may have turned out if the main characters had followed modern wisdom as accepted and promoted by the modern church, across many denominations. And this is the result. This series will feature well-loved stories of Bible heroes, retold to according to modern wisdom.

Long, long ago in a far off land, there lived a king who reigned over a large kingdom. After months of showing off his riches and splendour, he hosted an incredible feast in the palace. It lasted a whole week! The curtains hung from silver rods, the couches were made of gold and silver, and even the drinks were served in golden vessels! At the end of the week, the king had enjoyed himself so much that he became drunk. Against protocol he called for the queen to come so that he could show off her beauty as well. He felt very angry when she refused. So he made a law that she wouldn't be allowed to see him anymore, or be queen.

After he calmed down, his advisors suggested that beautiful girls be brought to him so that he could choose his favourite and make her queen. The king liked this idea and agreed to it. His officers got to work gathering beautiful girls from all around the kingdom. When Esther, an orphaned Jew raised by her cousin, was taken, her cousin checked how she was and what was happening to her every day. 

Esther was beautiful and she won favour with her custodian and all who saw her. And in this respect, the king wasn't much different than everyone else. Esther won his favour and he loved her more than all the other girls. So he put a crown on her head and made her queen. He gave another feast to celebrate, and granted a remission of taxes.

One day, Esther saw her cousin Mordecai at the king's gate wearing sackcloth and mourning deeply. She sent one of her servants to find out why, and learned that an edict had been written in the king's name instructing people to kill, destroy, and annihilate the Jews and plunder their goods on a specific day. Everywhere the decree reached, the Jews fasted and cried and lamented.

Mordecai told Esther that she should go to the king and beg and plead for the lives of her people.

She responded: “All the king's servants and the people of the king's provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live. But as for me, I have not been called to come in to the king these thirty days.”

Then Mordecaid said: "Do not think to yourself that in the king's palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

"Oh Mordecai," said Esther, "I truly do appreciate all your time and effort looking after me since my parents died, and I thank you for that. But sometimes you take things a bit far. God is mighty! He's sovereign! He is so much bigger and greater than you and I, and His plans can't possibly be overthrown by my actions."

"You know I'm not questioning God's strength, Esther. His plans will certainly succeed with or without your obedience. If you keep silent you will not overthrow God's plans, but you will perish; you and your father's house. Maybe He brought you to the throne with this situation in mind."

"Sometimes I wish all this would just stop Mordecai. All my friends used to talk about the special things they did with their parents, but I don't even remember mine! I always felt like I missed out and that was hard. Then I got dragged away from the home I did have to perform for an angry man with a drinking problem who only wants me for my body. I've been through a lot! I just want it to stop. I need a break. I want to relax and take things easy for a little while, and enjoy my new position as queen. Why do you insist on making me think about negative things again?"

Esther lay back on her golden couch to rest, her servants ready to do her bidding at any moment and save her from the trouble of ever lifting a finger again. She felt content that God was truly powerful enough not to need her, and that He gave peace to His people and therefore wouldn't expect her to think of something so horrible. She never gave the matter another thought. 

The Jews were delivered by another source and God's plan stayed on track. Esther perished along with all her father's household.

You can read the real story in the Book of Esther. There are ten chapters.

The Side of Jesus We Don't Hear About

Each one of us has different strengths, weaknesses, and insecurities. We have different personalities. We've studied and experienced different things. We've mixed with different people and been members of groups with differing cultures, expectations, and focuses. These things combine to form the worldview by which we operate and process new information. 

Our worldview is like a lens through which we see the world around us. If you've switched lenses on a camera, you know that the same scene can look very different from one lens to the next! Or think of cellophane. Looking through different colour pieces provides some pretty drastic differences in appearance. Perhaps you've noticed that a single remark made in a group can elicit a great variety of responses around the room. The speaker gives the remark based on his worldview, and each hearer listens to it through his own worldview. It is probably worth noting that our communication skills also have an impact. Sometimes it's incredible how much gets lost in translation. On occasion I've witnessed a listener repeat back what he heard the speaker say, and been absolutely dumbfounded how he came to such a conclusion because the two statements were worlds apart!

Sometimes I ponder how we can effectively communicate our point so that everybody is on the same page. It can be hard when we all perceive things so differently. And the bigger the topic, the harder it gets. I feel for authors and pastors and anyone trying to impart knowledge on massive and complex subjects. 

I remember reading material by some of the famous theologians of old when I was younger and complaining that they were too depressing and seemed to have missed the joy that the Bible said Christians would have. (1 Peter 1:8, Romans 14:17, Nehemiah 8:10) When I tried recent publications they seemed to be happier, but had compromised on both power and holiness. Could it be that each of us discovers gaps in our own understanding and focuses on filling those, and others from different backgrounds (and with different gaps) are unintentionally misled?

Although declining numbers of people identify as Christian, most of society still has some opinions about Jesus, and they are quick to remind us of those anytime we say or do something they don't like. Of course, society isn't a very reliable source of theology. 

It's true that Jesus was (and is) perfectly loving. Children came to Him during His earthly ministry and He made time for some of the outcasts and most obviously sinful people in the society of those days. But He never compromised His holiness or truth while doing so. He walked this earth in sinless perfection, 100% God and 100% man at once. 

"And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”" ~Matthew 21:12-13

Can you imagine if He did the same thing in today's times? This doesn't quite sound like the Jesus of storybooks, but it is what God saw fit to record for us in His Holy Word. We must not pick and choose the bits we like and just leave the rest. If we want to know all we can of Jesus we must take into account all of the information available to us. We can't exclude awkward passages like Matthew 10:34-39, and Matthew 23. They might not align with society's opinions but that's okay. We aren't following society, we're following Jesus.

Jesus never commanded us to go forth into all the world and twist Scripture so no one would be offended, and I suggest we probably shouldn't do so, since He didn't either and we're supposed to become increasingly more like Him. 

"Jesus was angry enough to purge the temple, hungry enough to eat raw grain, distraught enough to weep in public, fun loving enough to be called a drunkard, winsome enough to attract kids, weary enough to sleep in a storm-bounced boat, poor enough to sleep on dirt and borrow a coin for a sermon illustration, radical enough to get kicked out of town, responsible enough to care for his mother, tempted enough to know the smell of Satan, and fearful enough to sweat blood" ~Max Lucado

Of course, I haven't given a full picture of the Saviour here; that wasn't my intention. I only wanted to highlight some of the passages I don't recall hearing mentioned all that often, but are still important for truly understanding who Jesus really is. As I was saying earlier about lenses, if you've had different experiences and had these passages drummed into you at the expense of other ones, this might not be the most useful article you've ever read. Let's dig into our Bibles and search out the full story. I don't want a counterfeit "Jesus" of my own construction. I want to know and follow the Jesus of the Bible, who sits at the right hand of God.

"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." ~Colossians 3:1

Church and The Bible

Although I discussed this very thing with several people when level 3 and 4 restrictions were first announced, I held back from publishing anything here because I had other commitments I felt obligated to fulfill first. I now wonder if that was a bad idea and if I perhaps should've given up a meal or a couple hours sleep to scrape together enough time to publish something here.

Throughout most of my lifetime New Zealand Christians have experienced a great deal of freedom to worship. We could attend church services whenever and wherever we wanted. We had free access to Bibles, books, and other publications--both online and from our local Christian bookstore. We could study our Bibles at a cafe or public park without fear of serious repercussions.

I fear we allowed our liberty to become opportunity for the flesh. We allowed ourselves to be captivated by the world's entertainments, choosing it's frivolities over strengthening our spiritual lives. For how many years have we neglected prayer and left our Bibles untouched on the shelf, or unopened on our phones?

When laws were passed that directly attacked the God we claim to serve, we looked the other way and screamed "SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE!!" if anyone questioned our inaction. Yet, when the government instructed every church in the country to close its doors, we forgot all thought of separation and rushed to obey, cheering the decision as we did.

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." ~Hebrews 10:24-25

Doesn't the Bible also say to obey the government though? It does -- an important point -- but let's not forgot to check what else it says, or we risk running into problems. As my pastor has preached recently, it's important we learn Scripture in context and truly study it. Learning a single verse here and there leaves the door wide open for misinterpretation. In fact, right within its pages we learn that Satan tempted Jesus with Scripture by misapplying it.

"But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men." ~Acts 5:29

Modern Christians are quick to remind us that we can worship without a building. "Churches are empty, but so is the tomb," they say. At face value that seems like cute encouragement, but I'm not one to settle for face value. I got thinking about Bible heroes and wondered how their reasoning compared with ours today.

Remember Daniel? The one who got thrown into the lion's den and had plenty of books and Sunday School lessons written about him? The high officials of his day didn't like him and looked for ways to get him in trouble. They knew he prayed by a window three times a day, so they got the king to make a rule forbidding this for thirty days. I can just imagine today's Christians giving Daniel advice after he heard the news:

"Close the curtains before you pray!"

"Just pray in a closet or your bed or the bathroom! You can pray anywhere, it doesn't HAVE to be at the window!"

"Daniel, we're told to obey our authorities! And God can see your heart without you needing to say anything. And besides, it's only for thirty days! Just DO AS YOU'RE TOLD!"

But Daniel didn't do any of those things. Far from it. Daniel 6:10 tells us: "When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously." (Emphasis added.) Had Daniel behaved otherwise our Bible today may have been an entire book shorter, and we never would've had one of our favourite and heroic stories.

Paul, one of the most well-known New Testament writers was tortured and imprisoned for the faith. Just the other day I read how one group of people he visited begged him not to go to Jerusalem, but to stay with them instead so he could avoid imprisonment. If he had agreed not to preach, or at least not controversial things, he could've lived an easier life. And our New Testament would be a whole lot smaller. 

Moving forward, I'm curious to see how pastors will preach on many of these passages in Scripture. "These are cool stories but we should treat them as simply that. They don't really have anything to do with our lives today. Although the heroes of the faith risked their lives and reputations for Christ, that stuff was just for the past and has no relevance to us today. We should sit quietly in our homes and do exactly as we're told without ever questioning how legal, moral, or biblical the rules imposed on us are." (2 Timothy 3:16)

If we have reached a point where churches are inessential and merely social gatherings, then we're doing something wrong. Maybe we just need to repent of our rebellion and acknowledge that God's ways are truly higher than ours, or maybe we need to reconsider what church is even supposed to look like and how it should operate.

A Child is Born

For to us a child is born, 

to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

and his name shall be called 

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, 

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

~Isaiah 9:6 ESV

A Few Thoughts Amidst the John Crist Scandal

I awoke one day recently to news of a scandal involving a comedian whose work I've enjoyed, something that's never fun and certainly doesn't feature in any of my ideal ways to begin a day! 

To be fair, John Crist was somewhat obscure with a fairly specific audience, so the story hasn't hit the headlines of mainstream media (as far as I'm aware) and you could be forgiven for not knowing about him. I have shared some of his skits on this blog previously. You can find details of the situation here.

While I'm no expert in these matters and make no claim to providing any sort of professional advice, I have decided to share a few of my thoughts relating to these revelations. 

Seeing someone fall publicly has never been a favourite pastime of mine, but in this case I'm disappointed by a few things specifically. I'm disappointed that claims of Christianity were used take advantage of my fellow believers for both personal and commercial gain. I'm disappointed this behaviour was allowed to continue for so long. I'm disappointed by the deafening silence of Christian leaders who knew what was going on and should've handled things better.

There's something we need to remember: intelligent and wise aren't the same thing. Wisdom involves doing the right thing, intelligence has no such requirement. Wisdom then is inherently good but intelligence has the potential for either good or evil. Master manipulators can be intelligent enough, and they identify who will make the easiest victims. They learn their victims' weak points. They learn what to say and do to get what they want. Next time you're tempted to become infatuated by someone's apparent intelligence, remember this distinction and take a moment to consider whether that intelligence is being used with wisdom.

Some things are cool, and some are not. Going to a show by your favourite celebrity is cool; chatting online as you would with a friend is not. Getting a picture after the show with your favourite celebrity may be cool; going to his hotel room is not.

Girls, if something seems weird, pay attention. Don't compromise. Not because he's famous. Not because he's rich. Not because he can help your career. Not because he's cute. Not because you don't want to lose him. Not because he says he's a Christian. Not because he makes threats. Not for any reason.

Don't assume someone is who he (or she) portrays himself as on social media. Each one of us CHOOSES what to post and share, and what we'd rather others didn't know about. While some of us may use social media just to share our lives with our friends and family, for others it is a marketing tool. Many people in the entertainment industry today use social media to promote and market their "brand", if you like. I'm not saying that's wrong, but it does mean they will put a lot more thought than you into tailoring their posts to achieve their desired outcome (sales). Every post is carefully crafted to grow their brand, not to give you an accurate or holistic view into their life, beliefs, or values.

Why was this allowed to continue for SEVEN YEARS? This isn't an isolated case by any means; sexual and other abuse is far too common. Fellow believers, we are the church; how are we equipping ourselves to be able to respond well when we come face to face with a situation like this? Will we turn a blind eye and allow the perpetrator to gain more victims? What can we, you, I, do today to better educate ourselves about abuse? 

Of course we are not to go around bad-mouthing everybody; gossip is condemned for a reason and I'm not suggesting we throw that teaching away. There also are plenty of situations when it's good and right to work through a person's struggles in private. But things have been taken too far. Some things are truly serious and it seems we've lost sight of that. I'm sick of the silence. I can't take it any longer. Certain things NEED to be brought out in the open, into the light. Stop saying you want to keep things quiet to allow the perpetrator to sort things out privately. Silence helps the perpetrator continue the offending behaviour. Silence doesn't help the perpetrator sort his life out. Silence doesn't help the victim/s. Some things have to be brought out into the open to be resolved. Speak up. Speak up to protect the victim. Speak up to prevent more victims. Speak up to hold the perpetrator accountable and give him the opportunity to truly resolve his issues.

"Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them." ~ Ephesians 5:11

If you've also been hurt and are a victim of abuse (sexual or otherwise), speak up. Ask for help. Get to safety. Seek healing. There is hope.

Lastly, I agree with "Sarah" at the end of the article I linked above. John is not beyond God's reach and it would be wonderful if he would turn from these habits and find recovery. We will not brush such behaviour under the rug and pretend it isn't happening, but if change truly takes place then we will welcome restoration and a new life.

"And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." ~ Acts 2:21

Note to the guys: Because the situation I'm discussing is male to female I've continued writing that way throughout this post for consistency and clarity, but I by no means mean to imply that this is the case in every situation. The same advice can probably apply to you just as much by switching gender of pronouns. There are, sadly, girls around who will want you for the wrong reasons and will mistreat and misuse you.

Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version) copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

ATI Conference (Part 1)

Finished 17th January.

Last year we went to ATI Regionals for the first time. It was held on Friday 22th and Saturday 23th July, at the Manukau New Life Church on Jellicoe Road.
We somehow managed to get up and arrive there on time(!)  to register - 9am.

Worship and notices were at 9:30, then the children all left for the children's program, which on the Friday was held at Manurewa Bible Church (Manukau New Life had a double booking so there wasn't space for the children there that day).

At 10 o'clock we listened to Steve Dulin speak: Put Everything Under God's Control.
Some of my notes from this talk:
"If A = B and B = C then A = C

A: You shall love your neighbour as yourself
B: You shall love your neighbours as I (Jesus) have loved you
C: Love yourself as Jesus has loved you"

"We can change the world if we love the world"

Morning tea was at 11am; attendees brought plates of food for snack times.

At 11:30 we listened to Dr. Bill Gothard speak on The Overlooked Secret of Personal Rhemas.

I have a lot of notes from Dr. Gothard's talk, however they're not making much sense even to me anymore!
But, did you know that every chapter in Isaiah is a commentary on a book of the Bible?

Then it was lunch time - 12:30 to 1:45. Mum and I picked everyone up from Manurewa Bible Church, and went home for lunch, after which we dropped them back at the church for the rest of the children's program that day.

On arriving back, we were able to talk for a few minutes before going in to the next session - The Rewards of Serving God and The Pain of Loving Money, by Tom Harmon.
My notes are just about nil for this talk, but I should note that Mr. Harmon is very interesting to listen to, as he is quite, well, animated!

Afternoon tea break was at 2:45.

Continue to Part 2....