Time to move on...

Time keeps marching on, as does responsibility...

The unknown beckons, but one thing stays constant...

If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. (Philippians 1:22)

God has fruitful work for me to do, I just need to trust him as it happens.

I'm not an eye

1 Corinthians 12-14 paints a beautiful picture of how the body of Christ should work together. It also has given me a nice framework to avoid excess frustration as I have found certain ministry activities very challenging these past twelve months.

I see other people do them effortlessly and wonder why I can't. But then again, this is a good thing, partly because it encourages me to be me in what I can do, and what I end up doing.

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body--Jews or Greeks, slaves or free--and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.

The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

Artwork pointing me forward

My sister (the married one) created an artwork months ago for me, it sits in my room, with the following words on it.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

The temptation at times has been to not trust God, to get frustrated, and to just find things really hard, caught up in what I feel I should have.

A whole chapter of my life (and a chapter of ministry opportunities) is coming to an end. I will soon be done with UNSW, with only a few things left to do. But God has been very gracious to me, not necessarily in what I wanted, but more so in what I needed to grow in and learn. He has everything in control, has given me eternal life though I am a wretched pitiful sinner, and has hopefully lots of service for me to do for him between now and when I finally claim the prize Jesus has won for me.

God has made my paths interesting over the past 12 months, bringing me into relationship with many incredible and godly Christians. He has also been preparing me for various ministry roles, though it is hard to see what exactly they will entail yet. Please pray that I will continue to trust him, and that I will continue to be following him with my priorities till death or his glorious return.

What Men Think

It is always dangerous to worry about what other people will think because of your actions, and if that is a reason for making an action, people should be worried.

However... I really appreciated the public encouragement found here from Al Mohler of our Diocese's directions.

Here is a sample...

Dr. Peter Jensen, the Anglican Archbishop of Sydney, is one of the most influential evangelical leaders in the worldwide Anglican Communion. The archdiocese he leads is among the most conservative within the Communion and, not surprisingly, one of the healthiest as well.
...
In a recent article on the wrath of God, Dr. Jensen wrote this:

"[T]he contemporary church uses three strategies to soften the offence caused by the cross. The first is to cloud the whole thing with mystery. We are permitted to say that Jesus died for us but we are not permitted to say what this means and how it relates to sin and wrath and judgment. Second, is to offer some other explanation for the cross than what the Bible itself says. We are told that the cross occurred solely to demonstrate the solidarity of God with us in our suffering. Third, is to ignore the cross altogether and find the centre of Jesus' mission in the incarnation or even worse in his present friendship for us, sung about in endless trivial songs.

The wrath of God is as real as your sin. The only thing which can satisfy the wrath of God is a satisfaction paid for your sin provided by God himself. Jesus has done this by dying for you on the cross, saving you 'from the wrath to come'. Whether we like it or not, that is the heart of the gospel. Turn the wrath of God into something else, or ignore it, and you will not have Christianity, but some other religious look-alike. That is our choice."

Those words sound refreshingly like the great Anglican leaders of the past, such as Bishop J. C. Ryle (1816-1900), the first Bishop of Liverpool. An Anglican archbishop preaching on the wrath of God? Read it for yourself.

Archbishop Jensen's brother, Phillip Jensen, is Dean of Sydney and its St. Andrew's Cathedral. A gifted preacher, his sermons at the cathedral may be heard here.

The Sydney diocese is an encouragement and hope in the Anglican Communion.