Invisibility Versus Transparency

If you are a Nurse, then according to a recent poll, you are most trusted person in Australia!* I get concerned about someone when I hear them say, "Don't you trust me?!" But I get deeply troubled when I hear a Christian say it! I assume that in every Christian's discipleship pathway they were taught about The Fall and its damage upon every human being since then. I assume that those who have been a Christian for a while understand that everyone is subject to a fallen nature which causes us to involuntarily prefer sin and rebellion over righteousness and submission to God, His Word or His delegates. Our universal perspicacity (tendency to shrewdly distort things in our favour) causes us to use passwords on websites and locks on our doors.

"Trust no man", the Psalmist wrote (Psalm 146:3). In fact, no where in Scripture does it require, recommend, or encouragement us to trust another person.

¶ Thus says the LORD:
"Cursed is the man who trusts in man
and makes flesh his strength,
whose heart turns away from the LORD.
Jer. 17:5

This is why accountability and transparency is not an unreasonable requirement of those you interact with.

My understanding of what the Bible says about the universal human condition causes me to willingly submit to the appropriate scrutiny of others about the use of my time, my productivity levels, my key relationships, my use of money, my reliability. "Don't you trust me?" is not something I can honestly remember saying since I came to understand what the Bible states about the human condition (over 30 years ago now). This is not meant to be a boast. It is, in fact, an admission.

Because we are all flawed humans, we can only truly interact with each other on the basis of there being some accountability and appropriate transparency. Those who are closest to me see more of who I truly am - that is, I am more transparent with them. "But doesn't this require trust?" you ask. Yes it does. But I have learned that the Bible requires not that I trust others - but that I be trustworthy.

You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.
Second Timothy 2:2

Trustworthiness is at the heart of the Bible's command to followers of Christ to be 'faithful'. By being faithful we become dependable, reliable, and somewhat predictable - that is: worthy of trust. By being faithful to Christ we become known for being truthful, honest, and God-fearing. This also means that we are happy to be accountable and reasonably transparent, because we have nothing to fear from such scrutiny. This might be why I become a little suspicious when someone asks ('demands') "Don't you trust me?!", because this sounds too much like - I am not accountable to anyone.

There is a craving, though, in every human heart, to trust someone. When we do this with someone who has not earned our trust, we get hurt. But despite our hurts, we still want someone to trust.

¶ Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5

When someone holds you to account, they are doing what is absolutely necessary for you to become trustworthy. If you resent someone checking on your work, you can never become trustworthy. If you are uncomfortable with someone asking where you have been, why you are late, how you managed to lose it, what have you been doing all day, or who you were meeting with today, you are possibly preventing yourself from becoming trustworthy.

In writing to his protegé, the apostle Paul told Timothy to pastor the church at Ephesus by preaching the Word of God (2Tim. 4:2). And what was the main value that preaching the Word of God could deliver to those he was pastoring?

and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,  that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 
Second Timothy 3:15-17

God has given the Scriptures to (i) make us wise to receive salvation through Christ; (ii) teach us; (iii) reprove us (reprimand); (iii) correct us; and (iv) train us. Which of these Scriptural functions doesn't involve accountability? And to which of these Scriptural functions can we submit to without becoming increasingly transparent? The follower of Christ who therefore tells everyone to 'mind their business' and 'that is none of your business!' has failed to recognise that following Christ inevitably requires increasing accountability and transparency. But the believer who welcomes the effect of the Word of God in their lives is on a journey toward "completeness" and being "equipped for every good work" (2Tim. 3:17). If you want to be 'complete' and 'equipped', be accountable to the right people.

INVISIBILITY, THE OPPOSITE OF TRANSPARENCY

In the full story of Jack (most often associated with beans and a giant) he comes across an enchanted coat which has the power to make him invisible. F.W.Boreham asks, "How could Jack have conquered the giant; how could he have slain the dragon; how could he have escaped from the ogre's bone-littered dungeon; how could he have rescued the charming princess whom he afterwards married, but for that enchanted garment?" (The Other Side of The HIll, 1930, page 67) Boreham reminds us that Plato first wrote about the use of invisible powers in his book, Republic, where Gyges discovers 'a ring of invisibility' which when placed upon the finger and turned in a certain direction "rendered the wearer totally invisible" (p. 68). H.G. Wells wrote the book, The Invisible Man, who discovered the chemical secret to becoming invisible. If you had the power of invisibility what would you do with it? What if half the world had the power of invisibility - would the world be a better place? F.W. Boreham argues that it would lead to rampant crime and chaos. Invisiblity, it appears, is the opposite to transparency! Yet today there are followers of Christ who are more invisible than they are transparent.

Rom. 3:19 ¶ Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God.

Rom. 14:12 ¶ So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

If you want to enjoy the riches of knowing and following Christ, your journey will be one of increased scrutiny and transparency. Our flesh (our sinful nature) will recoil at such a notion. But our God-given new spirit will rejoice at the opportunity to know Christ better and serve Him more effectively. And as you come up this mountain of intimacy with the Lord (refer to Psalm 15) you will be delighted to find that you will be accompanied by other trustworthy pilgrims who also submit to the accountability that the Scriptures necessarily bring. Thus, rather than having fewer and fewer people to trust, you will discover more and more people that you can trust because they have become trustworthy. As a result, you will become more trustworthy and more Christ-like and therefore a more attractive and persuasive witness for Jesus and His Gospel. The next time you crave invisibility, choose transparency instead.

Ps. Andrew

YOU HAVE TO

BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO...

There are some things that I do because I want to. There’s a few things I get to do because I like to. But most things I do because I have to. In fact, most of what I have done, I had to do.  And I am the better for it.

In my office there are several thousand books. All these books are in my field of interest. Most of them I purchased, many have been given to me (often by Publishers, writers and booksellers). But there are some that I “had” to buy and read. As it turns out, the books that have most often had the biggest impact on my life have been these books that I had to buy and read!

Take J. Barton Payne’s book, Old Testament Biblical Theology as a case in point. I had to read it for a course I undertook when I was a student with ICI College. I didn’t read it by choice or for pleasure. But it gripped me. It had a profound affect upon me. It helped me to better understand God, His Word, His purpose for mankind, and the difference between a covenant and a testament. I ended up highlighting something from every paragraph in that book. 

The same thing might be said of seminars that I was required to attend. The most profound seminars that I have been to and gained from were both ones that I would not have chosen to attend. Yet, it was a Ministerial Professional Ethics Seminar, that revolutionised the way I approached my pastoral ministry. 

The Father sent Jesus to die. He had to obey. The result was that both He and we were the beneficiaries (Jesus was exalted to a place of highest honour and we were redeemed).   The next time you “have” to do something - especially read a required book or attend a particular seminar/conference, you may discover that these are God’s means for equipping you. In fact, each time you enroll in an ICI College / Global University course you are positioning your soul for God to not only bless you - but to bless through you. If you have grown distracted, tired or wearied of studying, you have to get back into a consistent study routine again and you have to keep going. Because it’s when you have to - and you do - that you end up growing the most. 

Andrew Corbett

MARRIAGE IS NOT OFFENSIVE

Marriage is something. That is, it also not something. 

This simple concept is the basis for defining anything. In the case of marriage, Australian legislation isn't the basis of its definition because marriage is a concept that, like shapes and colours, is best described and therefore naturally withstands any attempt to redefine it. 

As a marriage celebrant I am required to ensure that all five criterions for proceeding with a marriage are satisfied. Complimentary Gender is just one of those criteria. All five criterions are essential for it to be a marriage. 

Someone may take 'offence' at this notion but this does not mean that the notion itself is 'offensive'. 

Being offended is not a convincing argument for anyone's case, especially in this instance when the Marriage Act applies to every Australian equally. 

But if two people truly love each other?

At the risk of being misunderstood, love for another person has never been the reason for marriage. After all, how a person feels today about another person is not something the State has (or should have) any interest in. Such affections do not need State sanctioning. Yet this mantra is chanted as if it was the reason and basis for marriage. 

There is nothing in the Australian legislation that requires love between a couple so that they can marry. "Love" is not one of the five necessary criterions for proceeding with a marriage.

Care, nurture, protection and provision are essential obligations for marriage because of a married couples' immense potential and privilege to have and raise children. Throughout history where marriage was ignored, the affect on women and children was disastrous. In some parts of the world today where men are deeply irresponsible, and refuse to marry, women and their fatherless children are the victims and often end up in a poverty-cycle not of their own making. In pre-WW2 Soviet Russia, marriage was relegated to an era of ideology not compatible with Atheistic Communist Socialism. When Russia faced invasion it realised that it did not have its most basic social unit reinforced: the nuclear family consisting of married parents with their children. This led to a nation on the verge of societal collapse. Marriage was promptly reinstated and promoted for the greater good of Mother Russia so that they stood chance of resisting their invaders.

Marriage is something. It is something that simply cannot be redefined in much the same that a shape, a colour or number is something in particular and therefore not something else. It is desperate and triflingly petty to call this an offensive notion.

Andrew.

THE YEAR OF JUBILEE

When God established Israel by bringing them out of Egypt into the Land of Promise, He gave them Laws, Ceremonies, Festivals, and the extraordinary concept of Jubilee. Israel attempted to keep these Laws. Israel also attempted to keep the Ceremonies and Festivals. But Israel never kept a Jubilee, until...

We live in a debt-ridden society. According to some sources, the debt level of the United States is thought to be at least $16T (sixteen trillion dollars) and according to Yahoo Finance it is increasing by $35,000,000 (thirty-five million dollars) an hour (that's $2B a day!). If the US Government was able to make debt-payments of $75M a year, it would take 14,000 years to pay off this debt! Research by the US Federal Reserve reveals that the average level of personal debt in America is $15,325; the average mortgage is $147,924; and the average University student's College debt is $32,041.According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average Australian owes around $2,300 on their credit card; $14,000 for their car loan; and $7,000 in hire purchases and the like. The average Australian university student debt is $9,000 (although anecdotally we could reasonably suspect that Australian student debts of around $20,000+ are becoming more common).

I was recently at a meeting with a few other Australian pastors where the issue of Church-Debt came up. One pastor was attempting to raise tens of thousands of dollars as a deposit to secure a bank loan for his church. Another pastor had borrowed $2.5M and had been paying 'interest-only' for the past 3 years or so. Another of the pastors had also borrowed around $3M and after 7 years their church still owed around $2.5M. When we were last in the USA, we visited the famous Crystal Cathedral near Los Angeles. At the time there were rumours of its debt blowing out to $50M before it was sold. (The actual figure was later discovered to be much higher.) While in the U.S. I had the privilege of ministering for a great young pastor who took over a church with a $28,000 a month interest bill for their church building loan! He's doing a great job but his job is made all the more difficult because of this massive debt.

Perhaps it's because I grew up under the domestic shadow of bankruptcy that I have such a personal aversion to debt. People often ask me after a crowded Sunday morning worship service when we will commence the next phase of our building program so that we can accommodate more people? My answer is grounded in my personal aversion - when we can afford it.

The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
Prov. 22:7

But imagine a country whose national laws required that all debts be cancelled simultaneously every fifty years. This was Jubilee.

And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, when each of you shall return to his property and each of you shall return to his clan.
Leviticus 25:10

The year of Jubilee was to be a year's celebration of debts cancelled, lands restored, forced servitude ceasing. Captives would be released. Those suffering the indignity of poverty would have their ancestral farm-lands returned to them and thus break the yoke of poverty. Those being oppressed by lenders would now be delivered from their humiliation and oppression. For a year, the Jubilee Year, very lttle work was to be done. The Land was to be rested.

That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of itself nor gather the grapes from the undressed vines.
Leviticus 25:11

But Israel never observed Jubilee!

The Land was never rested.

The oppressed were never set free.

Then one day, the Land vomited them out.

¶ "You shall therefore keep all my statutes and all my rules and do them, that the land where I am bringing you to live may not vomit you out...(Lev. 18:25) and the land became unclean, so that I punished its iniquity, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. 
Leviticus 20:22; 18:25

The prophet Jeremiah warned Jerusalem that this would happen. But still no Jubilee. This was not acceptable to God. This was not "the year" of freedom, deliverance, salvation, restoration, and celebration that God had called for.

One day a young man, with one of those funny Nazarene accents that causes people to look derisively in snobbery, opened a scroll in a provincial house of worship. He single-handedly initiated Jubilee.and we are still coming to grips with what He did -

And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
¶ And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."
Luke 4:17-21

Today we use the term 'Jubilee' to refer to a celebration of fifty years. We use it to describe the length of the Queen's reign, a marriage, or the commemoration of some event. But Jubilee means much more than celebrating 50 years. Jubilee means salvation, deliverance, restitution, healing, and prosperity! When Jesus Christ of Nazareth declared "the year of Lord's favour" - He then immediately announced- Today this is being fulfilled. And indeed it is! I began to experience Jubilee when I was 15 years old when I surrendered my life to Christ and received the forgiveness of my sins, the salvation of my soul, and reconciliation with GOD.

In world that ignores GOD, ridicules GOD, and scorns GOD's laws, it's probably little surprise that the fruit of such courageous injudiciousness includes widespread relationship dysfunctionality and spiralling personal debt levels. Perhaps it's time for us to have a little Jubilee to point the world back to the GOD who loves them and has the best for them if they would but submit to Him, His ways and His Word so that they too could experience the salvation, deliverance, restitution, healing, and genuine prosperity that can only come through knowing Jesus Christ.

Ps. Andrew

BREATHE

Just take a breath! Breathe. Life became possible when the Divine Breath filled the First Man. The Church became possible when the Second Man breathed on His disciples. Your life is renewed and energized when you learn to breathe.

The Holy Spirit is referred to as the Breath of God in Scripture. Indeed, the word 'spirit' is the Hebrew word: 'ruach', and the Greek word: 'pneuma' (from which we get the English word, pneumatic).

The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Job 33:4

To be 'out of breath' is to be tired, fatigued, spent. You don't have to be a runner to feel like this. Many people are breathless from trying to keep up with life. They have forgotten how to breathe, or at leastbreathe deeply.

Followers of Christ have a grossly unfair advantage when it comes to taking a breath. We have several Divine gifts that give us a huge edge in the breath-stakes. We enjoy the Breath Of God daily as we re-oxygenate our lives in His Breath of Life.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
Second Timothy 3:13

I just needed a moment to get my breath back. My day ended quite late last night. Increasingly my days are filled with that unwelcome sound of dead-lines wizzing past me. Increasingly, new opportunities present themselves which must be seized (although they paid no regard to my schedule by making an appointment with my PA, Miss Eyekal). Delightful interruptions now pepper my days so that I get to the end of my day almost breathless. Thus, last night I found myself needing to breathe. I turned to Titus for oxygen. I began to breathe again.

¶ But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.
Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness.
Titus 2:2

Most people shake hands with those they reach out to. Jesus breathes on those He reaches out to. Without His breath in my face I simply could not go on let alone attempt to do what He has put before me. I suspect Poppi (my dog) felt at least some of His breath this week as we both went for late night walks together. Poppi was on the look out for cats to eat on our walk while I was praying. My heart-cry prayers to The-God-Who-Breathes frequently became praying in the Spirit. (I have long felt the benefit of applying 1Cor. 14:4). As I returned from my 3k walks, I was in one sense breathless but in a truer sense now breathingbecause I had been walking with The-One-Gives-Breath.

John 20:22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." 
John 20:22

The apostle Paul was breathing in his prison cell - then later in the Mediterranean - not once, not twice, but thrice! (2Cor. 11:25). (When you learn to breathe you can cope with things that overwhelm most people.) John was breathing on Patmos when he received the Revelation - even though he had just survived an execution attempt and was now experiencing banishment.
It's no coincidence that when God birthed His Church He did it with His breath (Acts 2:2) and everytime the Church meets to worship the Giver-of-Life we are renewed again by the Breath of God.

But it is the spirit in man,
the breath of the Almighty, that makes him understand.
The Spirit of God has made me,
and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
Job 32:8; 33:4

Perhaps you just need to take a breath. The Breathe Of Life called people to breath and its recorded in the Psalm 46:10. "Be still", He wrote, "and know that I am God." Be still. Breath. Know God again. It's in experiencing the breath of God that we begin to understand. And surely we live in a breathless age and could use someone to show them what real breathing is.
Ps. Andrew

Discerning A Teaching

I was recently asked to evaluate a teaching by a very popular 'Bible teacher' ("S.W.") who claimed that his insights were grounded in 'the original Rabbinic teachings'. This is a list of concerns which I quickly came up with -

1. We should always be concerned when someone teaches something that has never been taught before.

2. We should be on guard whenever a "Bible" teacher says that Christianity is "too concerned with being 'right'". 

3. We should be very cautious when a "Bible" teacher makes a claim such as, "this is all through the Bible" but fails to give even one supporting Biblical citation. In one instance SW made this claim about Hebrew women having to bathe for three days before they got married. He said that this is all through the Bible, then cited Esther being prepared for an Assyrian wedding (not a Hebrew wedding!) as his proof text.

4. We should be discerning about Biblical examples given to make a claim. In one instance, SW states that a man who failed to live up to his marriage covenant would be physically beaten by his father in-law, and he then cited the bride in the Song of Solomon being beaten by the town elders. This is a preposterous interpretation of the Song of Solomon text, and attempts to endorse the mis-treatment of women. I find no Biblical support for this claim irregardless of the poor use of a Biblical example.

5. We should be careful when someone says that a covenant was little more than a contract.

6. We should be very careful when someone attempts to read New Testament teaching into Old Testament stories. For example, SW completely misses the point of Pentecost when he says that it was the one festival which required leavened bread to be used and leaven means "sin". He goes on to say that the priest was to pour oil over the leavened bread which means that Pentecost was a picture of the Holy Spirit being poured out on sinful flesh. But this is not the point of Pentecost. Leaven represented "Gentiles" and the priest waving the two loaves represented the union of Jew and Gentile under the New Covenant. This is a point that the Epistle to the Ephesians makes.

7. We should be concerned when any "Bible" teacher justifies New Covenant action on the rules of Jews and Hebrews. Just because it became a part of Hebrew culture for divorce to be granted for nearly any reason does not mitigate the point of the marriage covenant that it was meant to be for life. This is surely the point that Christ makes in Matthew 19:6. SW asserts that a Hebrew wife could initiate divorce on the grounds of her husband's "slothfulness". Unless a Biblical proof text can be supplied to the contrary, this statement seems to be grounded in fantasy rather than Biblical or even historical fact.

I trust that the principles cited above will help you to be more discerning about what teaching you allow to shape your life and how it affects your devotion to Christ.

Andrew Corbett

Who You Are Is Not Yet Who You Will Be

WHO AM I?

The Sale of The Century was one of Australia's most popular and longest running TV game shows. It featured a section called Who Am I? where contestants would have to guess the identity of someone starting with obscure facts and progressing to well known facts. But what if those facts were your facts? Could you guess the identity of the mystery person? Do you know who you are?

"To thine ownself be true" said Shakespear's Polonius in 'Hamlet'. In modern language: be yourself. Peter Sellers (aka, The Pink Panther) was to be interviewed by a TV Talk Show host.

"Who do you want me to be?" he asked the host. "Be yourself" was the reply. "I can't." "Why not?" "I don't know who I am!" said Mr Sellers.

Some people do know who they are, yet they fail to understand who they should be. They know what they like, what they're good at, what they're not good at, what motivates them, what irritates them, and whether they work like a cat or a dog. But sometimes these same people use this knowledge as an excuse for not becoming who they should be. They don't try new things. They don't keep learning. They don't ask for correction. They don't seek to improve what they're good at, let alone improve what they know they're not good at.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ
Ephesians 4:15

After a while, you can discover who you are. Your natural inclinations toward certain activities, your experiences, your training, your physical condition, your opportunities, your upbringing, your successes, your critical outlook, the type of people you attract, all help to inform you about who you are. But the danger is that this leads to the ugly practice of justifying stagnation. You may be an anti-social person. But if you follow Christ, you can not remain an anti-social person. You may be an impatient person. But if you follow Christ, you can not remain an impatient person. You may not be very academic and loathe studying. But if you follow Christ you can not remain willfully unlearnéd. Who you are is not yet who you should be.

I consider that it takes humility to become who Christ has called you to be. For some, Christ has called you to be extraordinarily successful. You will face some very humbling reactions from those around you as you fulfil this call. People will misunderstand. People will accuse you of snobbery. People will assume you are being arrogant. All these reactions require deep humility on your part. To be who Christ is calling you to be demands that you don't allow your pride to lead you to seek the acceptance of the crowd at the expense of the approval of the One.

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died; my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, save in the death of Christ, my God; all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood. Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small; love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. When I Survey The Wondrous Cross, Isaac Watts

It is not humility that keeps people from being successful or even attaining greatness - it is nearly always pride of one form or another.We are becoming who we are designed to be. But this presents an obvious and immediate problem. If I am not yet who I am meant to be, this means that I must change. My addiction to comfort means that I am reluctant to change. Change requires being stretched to my limits. It unavoidably involves failing, which I loathe. It therefore involves some degree of humiliation, which again, I loathe. But in order to grow into the person God has ordained me to be, I must change.

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 
Second Corinthians 3:18

We sometimes have "dreams" of what we want to do or be. For me, winning Wimbledon was a part of it. [Sigh] Then along come setbacks, disappointments, surprises, and we 'feel' that we are not becoming who we are designed to be. Yet, the Bible unveils an amazing mystery. God uses pain, tragedy, loss, failure, problem-people, and humiliation to carve and fashion us into into who we are called to be. God redeems what the world considers 'negative' experiences in order to accomplish something outstandingly positive in us!

¶ Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:12-14

What keeps us from becoming who we are meant to be? Apart from a reluctance to change, we are dogged by fear. Sometimes we are unable to be honest about who we really are. We claim to be someone or something that we really are not. Added to these two hindrances is our peace-treaty with Excuses. "I'm too old to change now." "I'm just not a very tidy person." "I'm not a reader." "I'm a really shy person, I don't make friends easily." "I'm not very good at remembering names." "I just didn't get time." And so on.  As a follower of Christ we have a choice at which altar we will bow our knee: the altar of God, or the altar of Excuses. One altar summons us to change so that we can better reflect our Lord. The other altar tells us we have no need to change.

I am becoming increasingly convinced that what Tasmania urgently needs now is for Christ's followers to show some loving leadership and demonstrate the ultimate joy that following Christ brings. This leadership involves showing what it means to honour Christ by - the way we speak, how we spend our time, relate to others, use our money, care for our families, attend church, and our means of finding peace. To do this authentically, we need to know who we really are. Some are called to lead and make decisions yet are reluctant to do so and experience misery most of the time as a result. If you've ever seen "The Al Jolson Story", you will recall that this born entertainer (at one time called "the greatest entertainer on earth") married a woman who demanded that he stay at home and never perform again. The movie shows how Jolson went into virtual depression as a result. Others are writers, or musicians, or artists, or craftsmen, yet fooling themselves into thinking that this is just a silly waste of time and so they neglect who God has made them to be. Some are pastors or preachers or worship leaders yet dismiss this call by having the wrong audience fill their vision.

God has called each of us to play our role in presenting a glorious Christ to the world. Who you are is not really about you - it's about Jesus. When you follow Christ, who you are says volumes to the world about who you think Jesus is. Are you changing into the image of Christ that God has designed for you to be? Note the key word in the previous sentence. Who are you?

Ps. Andrew