About 5 years ago someone emailed a link to a message by an author called Peter Kreeft. Had I known he was a ‘full-on Catholic’ I would have never clicked on it. But thankfully Providence hid that information and I listened. I had never heard anyone speak like this in my protesting world. There was a depth, and dare I say it, ‘magic’, that made me an instant addict to his material.

Once you start reading one Catholic author it’s not long before you are reading more. I’m now at a place where 95% of my favourite authors are Catholic! I don’t know where my faith would be without them. The so called ‘Mary worshippers’ warmed my soul to Christ as never before and taught my heart, not just my mind, to love God.

It’s inevitable that if you are interested in Catholic books you are going to be interested in the Catholic Church. What do they do in those traditional buildings? How does it compare to the church I grew up in? Before I discuss the differences, there is one important similarity. Catholics and Protestants have the same goal in mind when it comes to doing church. Both are worship services designed to bring us closer to God. And this is something we should acknowledge and celebrate more.

‘Worship’ on a Sunday morning in my particular Protestant tradition is exclusively about the singing/music. ‘Let’s worship then so-and-so will bring the word (preaching)’ is a line I hear almost every week. The only people on the ‘worship team’ are musicians and singers. If you ask for the ‘worship leader’ you will find yourself talking to the person who leads the singing, not the pastor or someone from community care. Priority is given to singing, then preaching. They are the only two consistently practised ‘sacraments’ I have experienced. And as for ‘Holy Communion’, it would be more appropriate to call it ‘casual communion’. Communion is a ‘tag-on’ to the service in my tradition, and generally takes place only once a month.

Catholics have a very different approach to bringing people closer to God. Their worship service or ‘Mass’ is completely focussed on Communion or the Eucharist, as they call it. Celebrating the Cross and partaking of Christ’s body and blood is the prime reason good Catholics go to church. Their Eucharist is more than vague symbolism, it’s supernatural. They believe the bread and wine, once consecrated, miraculously becomes divine substance, The Real Presence of Christ.* By consuming the ‘body and blood of the Lord’ they become one with Christ, not just spiritually, but physically. Christ enters the very physical cells of their earthy body. To faithful Catholics, the Eucharist is a complete God invasion. Jesus Christ becomes ‘flesh of their flesh and bone of their bone’.

I used to think the Eucharist was way-off and culturally irrelevant. Now I’m not so sure. The Protestant way I’m familiar with is certainly modern and attracts many people, but I have a growing concern that the Catholic way may be more scriptural, and in line with reality. My ‘growing concerns’ aren’t based on feelings or that most of my favourite authors are Catholics. I have 3 reasons for considering the Catholic position.

My first is ‘exclusive dependence’. The most destructive weapon unleashed last century was not the nuclear bomb. It was starvation. Stalin used the deprivation of food and water to kill 7 million of his own people. Pol Pot did the same in Cambodia to exterminate 3 million. Armies feed and water their troops well because without food there is no fight. You may own the world’s biggest aircraft carrier but if the captain hasn’t eaten for 3 months the ship is going nowhere.

The reason food and drink are so powerful are because life totally depends on them. Our bodies have an exclusive dependant relationship with food and water. Culture, art, education, sport, entertainment, music etc all add to life, but they don’t sustain it. Only food and drink do. We can’t just smell food or go near water. They must be consumed and become part of our body to be of any use.

Bread and wine are far more appropriate than music and preaching to demonstrate our exclusive dependence on God. Christ is food to us, we can’t live without Him. In light of the facts about food and drink let’s read the words of Jesus in John 6:50-55.

This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

According to scripture, Jesus declared Himself to be food we eat, not a song we sing. This is a hard truth for a Protestant to swallow (pun intended), but I was taught to respect the authority of the Bible. This is a scriptural truth I cannot dismiss as Catholic dogma.

The command, after all, was Take, eat; not Take, understand. — C.S. Lewis, Prayer: Letters to Malcolm, Chap. 19

My second reason is ‘cultural significance’. This truth hit me on a recent overseas trip. Most of the in-flight programs were about food and culinary experiences. The social significance of food in the country I was visiting was all too obvious. I saw business people doing deals at a restaurant in New York, women discussing things at a coffee shop in Nashville, and men catching up at a bar in Chicago. Without exception, every social event I engaged in on my trip was over food. I was not surprised upon returning home to find MasterChef the most watched program on Australian television.

If we want to get to know someone or catch up or discuss something the invitation will be to dinner or lunch or coffee or dessert. We use food and drink to celebrate a wedding and also to reflect at a funeral wake. In some middle-eastern cultures an invitation to share a meal is the beginning of a life-long commitment. You effectively become part of the family!

Those are all fine examples, but what does the Bible say? Here are a few examples from the Old and New Testament. It was with food mankind broke covenant with God and sinned in the Garden. It was with food Jacob stole his brother’s birthright, and with food he established another. It is with food the Passover is celebrated. Jesus’ first miracle (turning water into wine) was at a wedding feast and his last gathering before the Cross was a supper. And let’s not forget the grand finale, the invitation to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb!

The cultural significance of food and drink is understood by everyone. It is practised in all cultures at all times. It’s universal, it’s catholic.

My third reason is ‘the offence’. Let’s start by continuing with the words of Christ in John 6:56-61.

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?

Did they take offence? Yes, to the point most of those who were following Him up and left, never to return. Why didn’t Jesus quickly assure them that He was only speaking figuratively? The disturbing fact is He made no attempt to correct their understanding. Maybe His words were destined to be more than vague symbolism.

Only those who are fixated on Christ can accept such offensive truth as John 6. True disciples put their faith in what Jesus says even though their reason/logic and religious views are offended. When I first heard of transubstantiation I was offended, so I rejected it. Now I’m beginning to think my offence was a test, a sign that it might be true. Whatever way you look at it, Jesus is certainly living up to prophesy, ‘… a stone of offense and a rock of stumbling’ (Isaiah 8:14).

The Eucharist of the Catholic Church scares me. Am I one of those people who pick and choose what I believe based on what I’m comfortable with? Or what about those Catholics who see the Eucharist as insurance for sin and use it to live lifestyles that are anything but God glorifying? Surely they must be drinking damnation on themselves (1 Corinthians 11:29).

As much as I’m fearful, I’m also attracted. If it’s true, then the Eucharist is God coming near in an almost unbelievable way. He is not just above you, beside you and behind you. It is ‘Christ in you’. He is entering the very cells of your body through real food and real drink. How meek is our God that He would offer Himself in this lowly way? Personally, I cannot conceive of a more humble or holy thing.

Catholics and Protestants have much to offer each other. Both have the same goal in mind. The real issue is that of ‘first and second things’. The great thing about this principle made famous by C.S. Lewis is that it offers us both! We just need to get the order right. If the Protestant way I’m familiar with is first then it rests on the shoulders of good musicians and skilled speakers/preachers. If the priority is given to the communion found in the Catholic Eucharist then it depends on faith and Christ alone. And I must confess, it is the latter that has my attention.

* If Christ’s Real Presence inhabiting bread and wine seems hard to believe, remember, a similar miracle has taken place with your own body. Technically, your body is made of the same physical matter as the ground you walk on. What makes the difference is divine habitation. Just as your spirit has transformed physical matter, so has the Real Presence transformed the Eucharist. Protestants have been happy to sing for years ‘All things are possible’, why not the Real Presence in Holy Communion?

What is this ‘abundant life’ Jesus speaks of? I asked some good friends from church what they thought. Even though they found ‘abundant life’ hard to define, one thing was clear from our discussion: none of them thought they were living it, whatever it was.

I’ve heard John 10:10 quoted many times, mostly, and more confidently by ‘prosperity preachers’. Other believers seemed scared of the word ‘abundance’, probably fearing it meant ‘excessive’, so my ideas and opinions on this verse were largely shaped by the former. The abundant life (to me) meant feeling happy and victorious (all the time), perfect health, excess money, owning heaps of stuff, and having all your dreams fulfilled.

The first crack in my ‘abundant life’ occurred in my late teens when I started honestly questioning things and experiencing mind-bending doubt. I longed to feel happy, victorious, and full of faith. I tried everything: 5 a.m. prayer and Bible reading, ‘altar calls’, charismatic conventions, youth rallies. Confessing an ‘abundant life’ while secretly living the opposite set me up for spiritual depression. I felt like a 1st class hypocrite, a faithless fake.

The next crack was learning about the persecuted church. The poverty, pain and suffering they often willingly endured did not line up with the claims of the prosperity doctrine. The ‘abundant life’ only seemed possible in affluent western countries. What about the other 70% of the church? Surely God is not that partial.

So what is the ‘abundant life’? The first step is not finding a technical definition. The abundant life is better observed than defined. In other words, you’ll know it when you see it. And two people who stood out to me were Saint Francis of Assisi (died 1226) and Brother Lawrence (died 1691).

If we endure things patiently and with gladness thinking on the sufferings of our blessed Lord, and bearing all for the love of Him: herein is perfect joy. — St Francis of Assisi, The Voice of the Saints, Tan Books 1965 (Pg. 127)

I did not engage in a religious life but for the love of God. And I have endeavored to act only for him; whatever becomes of me, whether I be lost or saved, I will always continue to act purely for the love of God. — Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God, Hendrickson Publishers 2004, (Pg. 7)

The stories of these humble men astonished me. There lives were far from easy. They suffered much and owned little, but their lives were marked by a deep joy and love for God. What else could grace Saint Francis to say, ‘Grant me the treasure of sublime poverty’? or give Brother Lawrence the divine contentment to remain a simple cook in a Carmelite monastery? Their childlike wonder at existence and their practice of the presence of Christ in daily living demonstrated they had what Christ spoke of. They had abundant life.

It’s fine to cite examples like Saint Francis and Brother Lawrence, but what about the one who made the offer? Did Jesus Christ have life abundant? The fact I never hear Him mentioned when this topic is discussed clearly shows there is something drastically wrong in our thinking. Christ cannot offer something He did not have Himself! He is our ‘life’ example, the one we look to.

…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. — Hebrews 12:1b-2a

God defines reality. And according to Him the abundant life is the Christ life. Jesus Christ’s offer to experience abundant life in John 10:10 is an invitation to follow, to live as He did. So how did the Son of God live? What did He do? The very next verse tells us: ‘I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep’. Unlike the ‘name and claim’ preachers who influenced me when I was growing up, it’s not what we take up but what we lay down.

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. — Philippians 2:5-8

The first step in living the Christ life is to lay down our life. The abundant life is about humbling ourselves and becoming servants. I now see some of my own spiritual depression was due to a lack of humility. Instead of emptying myself like Christ, I ‘grasped’ for my rights. I was full of myself. I believed God owed me a continuous spiritual high. It was ‘my right’ as good a Pentecostal.

He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in prayer to God. — Luke 6:12

The abundant life is also a life of prayer. This was central to Christ’s life. Jesus never wrote a book or pursued speaking engagements, but He did pray, a lot. So much so the disciples asked Him how to do it. They found Him praying in the morning, at night, in the desert, atop mountains, and even on the Cross. Through gladness and pain and ordinary days, the Son of God was always in communion with the Father.

For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… — Romans 8:29

The abundant life is about us conforming to His image. It’s a process of decreasing and increasing (John 3:30). The more we decrease the more He can increase. The Christ life is the only thing that can overcome the worldly life (love of money, prestige, power, comfort, self). The abundant life overpowers the ‘lusts of the flesh’ and fixes our eyes on the things that last. It sees beyond this world and lives for the next.

…who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. — Hebrews 12:2b

If we want to ‘have life and have it abundantly’ then we must follow Jesus surrender our ‘rights’ and lay our life down. The Christ life is humility, and prayer, and conforming to His image. The Christ life is the abundant life.

All Bible quotes from the NASB

You don’t decide to like something, you just do. For example, I have always liked corn on the cob. I don’t know why, I just do. And despite numerous warnings from my parents, I liked playing with matches when I was a kid. I can’t ever remember deciding to like waterfalls, sunsets or starry nights. I simply saw them, and spontaneously, I liked them. We don’t have to work at it. Our likes obtain and maintain our attention.

Not only do the things we like sustain our interest, they are also obvious. It’s easy to tell the people who like sports, for example. We see them happily invest their time and money. Sport is what they talk about, think about, and often socialise about. The question of what we truly like may best be answered by those around us. Our ‘likes’ unmask us.

God wants more than ‘a decision for Christ’. Ultimately, He wants spontaneous desire and natural affection; He wants us to like Him. Look past all the church programs, ‘Christianised’ music and theology talk. Do you really like God? [2]

Second question: do you know God? Again, don’t be quick to answer. Think it through slowly, ‘Do – you – know – God?’ I suspect much of the modern church (me included) does not really know God. Two reasons come to mind. The first is Noise.

If I were a physician, and if I were allowed to prescribe just one remedy for the modern world, I would prescribe silence. For even if the Word of God were proclaimed in the modern world, how could one hear it with so much noise? Therefore, create silence. – SØren Kierkegaard [3]

In 1st Kings 19 Elijah is hiding in a cave, waiting on God. Verses 11 and 12 say there was a great wind that tore the mountain and broke the rock into pieces. ‘But the Lord was not in the wind.’ Then there was an earthquake, and a fire. But the Lord was not in them either. Finally, there was ‘the sound of a low whisper’. It was there in the quiet Elijah finally heard the Lord speaking.

I grew up as part of a well-known Pentecostal youth movement in Australia. I must confess the only things we were interested in were ‘great wind’, shaking the earth/planet and Holy Ghost fire. We were encouraged to ‘make a noise for Jesus’. God was all about action, excitement and ‘worship that rocked’. My involvement did me a lot of good, but unfortunately, ‘quiet’ became the enemy. Silence to me meant nothing was happening, and therefore God was absent. No wonder His ‘still small voice’ was hard to hear. How could it compete with all the noise and activity? [4]

Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him… — Psalm 37:7 (ESV)

Our modern lives are averse to silence. TVs, clock-radios, mp3 players, car stereos… they have made it possible to live a silent-free life. Not even church culture has escaped this revolution. Our meetings must flow and all gaps must be filled, preferably with music. The last thing we want is an ‘awkward silence’. This is a far cry from Psalm 46:10 which tells us to ‘be still, and know…’

Music is probably the worst culprit for noise in modern life. And it matters not if it’s ‘Christianised’ or ‘praise and worship’. Constantly listening to music prevents us from hearing His still small voice. It also helps us escape ourselves. A guy from the rehab where I live told me he believed one of the biggest problems was his ipod. He always had music in his head. He was never alone with his own thoughts. Silence scared him.

People who ‘can’t live without music’ are people who can’t live with themselves. Music serves as a diversion, a way of escape. Silence scares us because we are forced to face our self. When the headphones are out and all is quiet, what will we find? Our fear of boredom confirms our emptiness and addiction to noise.

In silence and stillness a spiritual soul advances and learns the hidden truths of the holy Scriptures. – Thomas a‘Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, bk. 1, chap. 20 (no. 6)

The second thing that confirms my suspicion we don’t really know God is our attitude toward the Old Testament. Most Christians have never read through it. Others refuse to read the Old Testament, apart from Psalms and Proverbs. The God they find there is too powerful, wild, and mysterious. The Old Testament God cannot be tamed. But with our multiple English translations and sporadic reading, we can turn the Jesus of New Testament into a soft, non-threatening, passive Westerner.

There are at least 295 separate Old Testament references in the New Testament (www.bible-researcher.com). Jesus Christ fully endorsed the Old Testament and quoted from it numerous times. There is no way around it; the God of the Old Testament is Jesus, the Christ. He is ‘the same yesterday, today and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8). ‘The meek and lowly Lamb of God’ is also the ‘Lion of Judah’. Until we start to embrace and explore this grand, mysterious paradox we are presuming more than we really know.

‘Do you like God?’ and ‘Do you know God?’ are simple, penetrating questions we need to answer. So unplug the headphones, turn off the TV, find somewhere quiet and honestly ask yourself: does God really interest me? Do I truly know Whom I have believed in?

[1] There have been many times in my rehab work when I have chosen to love people I wouldn’t normally like.
[2] I grew up in a good Christian home and was taught to love God, but I really didn’t like Him. Later in life I encountered authors such as Peter Kreeft, C.S. Lewis and G.K. Chesterton and started to spontaneously like God. Divine providence particularly used The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis). The God of the Old and New Testament, in the form of the great lion Aslan, was able to sneak past my ‘watchful dragons’ of familiarity and rigid, anti-paradox rationality. I was naturally drawn to this Christ figure in the world of Narnia. I couldn’t wait for Him to appear. What would He say? What would He do? He was in no way a tame lion, but He was good. The truth of Narnia didn’t stay between the pages; it transferred into reality. It changed everything. The world became enchanted and the universe alive with God. To become aware that the beauty of God had captured my interest, that I actually liked Him as a person, was a wonderful realisation. But even better, my ‘liking’ has now turned into ‘longing’.
[3] www.peterkreeft.com ‘The Sea Prayer’
[4] Not only is being still and silent the only way of hearing ‘the sound of a low whisper’, it is also the most powerful way of showing honour and respect. I find it interesting that the most effective way to remember those who have sacrificed their lives for us in war is a ‘minute of silence’. People united in silence make a powerful moment of respectful contemplation. Why should God be denied this same honour, especially around Communion time? In my Evangelical experience there always seems to be a keyboard or a guitar playing to ‘set the atmosphere’, to break the silence.

The 60s chanted ‘make love, not war’ but what they really did was make war on love. This bold assault not only changed the way we think about sex and marriage, but also what we think about God and reality. Nowadays the phrase ‘God is love’ more or less means, ‘peace out’. Everything is OK. It doesn’t matter how you live or what you do. God is just a care-free cosmic hippy.

God loveth not Himself as Himself but as Goodness; and if there were aught better than God, He would love that and not Himself. — Theol. Germ., xxxii, The Problem of Pain (C.S. Lewis), chap. 10 (p. 157)

The hard truth is this: God does not love everything. He loves only what ought to be loved. And the only thing that qualifies is goodness or holiness. God’s intense love of good will not allow Him to ‘peace out’ when it comes to sin and selfishness. For God to ignore these things would contradict His character and destabilise all that exists.

Love has a side that many of us want to ignore: To love is also to hate. For example, if you love truth you will automatically hate lies. If you don’t care about lies then you won’t care for truth. To love justice means to hate injustice. It’s directly proportional. The more you love good, the more you hate evil.

Some people talk as if meeting the gaze of absolute goodness would be fun. They need to think again. – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, bk. 1, chap. 5 (p. 31)

Pure love has sobering implications for us. It is easy to see we are not as we should be. I can certainly vouch for my own depravity. So what will this holy infinite love of God do to selfish sinful people as us? Before we despair, consider this: There is a fundamental good in existence or being. God is our creator. Our origin is in Him. After God brought everything into being He declared it ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31). God loves His creation, and especially that which He made in His image. His love is our first cause. ‘God’s love was the force that created being out of nothing, it is the real foundation on which all reality stands’.[2]

God loves us on a foundational level (our being/existence) but hates the pride that has bent us into sin and selfishness. So what is the answer? It is here we must turn our attention to the binding nature of love that G.K. Chesterton pointed out.

Unlike ‘free love’, God’s love bound itself to humanity by binding (nailing) Christ to a Cross. This is the only way pure love can embrace a fallen creation. And it is here at the Cross we clearly see the two sides of God’s holy love. The decimation and brutality show God’s hatred for sin and selfishness. But the gift of Christ’s body demonstrates His compassion for us, His creation.

To ask that God’s love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God: because He is what He is, His love must, in the nature of things, be impeded and repelled, by certain stains in our present character, and because He already loves us He must labour to make us loveable. – C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, chap. 3 (pg. 41)

Love that carries a cross is not passive. The holy love of God cannot ‘peace out’ and let us be. God’s love will purge our lives. This is the promise of Philippians 1:6, ‘… he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ’ (ESV). That which was bent and broken at the Fall will be restored; not even death can stop it! We will be holy as He is holy (see 1 Peter 1:15-16).

God’s love will destroy evil. Selfishness is destined for the flames. If we proudly bind ourselves to sin [3] we will suffer its fate. But if we bind ourselves to the Cross then the love that made us will also purify us.

What drives God to eliminate sin and selfishness is love of goodness, not love of judgement. Don’t think of God’s love in the hippy sense; think of it in the biblical sense. The love of God is not passive and carefree; it’s pure, it’s faithful – it’s a consuming fire.

The fires of hell may be made of the very love of God, experienced as torture by those who hate him: the very light of God’s truth, hated and fled from in vain by those who love darkness. – Peter Kreeft, Hell (essay) [4]

[1] G.K. Chesterton, The Defendant, NY: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1902, 23
[2] Joseph Ratzinger, The ‘Yes’ of Jesus Christ (p. 91) The Crossroad Publishing Company, New York
[3] In case we have forgotten, gluttony, homosexuality, greed, and love of money are still sin in God’s eyes. God understands our struggle with them, but not when we bind ourselves to them and say ‘This is who I am’.
[4] www.peterkreeft.com

I heard an evangelist give a very emotional account of the pain Jesus went through on the cross, the main part being a doctor’s report and step-by-step explanation of what happened physically to Jesus during His crucifixion. The evangelist laboured for an emotional response by highlighting the cruelty Jesus endured. It was all about physical suffering. I was emotionally moved (probably because we Westerners are so passionate about physical comfort) but deep inside felt something was missed.

I don’t want to devalue what happened physically – Jesus’ suffering was intense. But He was not the first nor the only person to be crucified; thousands were executed that way. Most of the disciples died painful deaths – Peter, say some sources, was crucified upside down, others were sawn in two. If Jesus’ physical pain was the most significant thing about His suffering, against the great crowd of martyrs who have died, are dying and will die, His crucifixion will fade into history as just one of many who have suffered.

What makes Christ’s suffering so unique? What separates Him from every martyr in history? The answer, I suggest, is in one line Jesus said from the cross. Jesus’ crucifixion was like many others until we arrive at Matthew 28:46 and Jesus cries out, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ This one line opens up a new realm of suffering. Through this cry we see why the most painful aspect of the Cross was not the physical (as bad as that was).

‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ is the cry of a break-up. Break-ups hurt, of any kind. Whether it be the last day of high-school or estranged family members or divorce. Break-ups affect the core of our being and our reason for living. They attack what gives us meaning in life – relationship.

When the world shook and the sun was wiped out of Heaven, it was not at the crucifixion, but at the cry from the cross: the cry which confessed that God was forsaken of God. – G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy, chap. 8 (p. 135)

Why was this particular break-up so horrific? There is absolute unity between the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Unlike humans, their relationship is perfect and so close they are considered ‘One’. The Father watched over Jesus in the manger and while He grew up; the Holy Spirit was at His baptism. They were there when Jesus was betrayed; while the lies were told at His trial; at the spitting, the punching: the whipping; the crown of thorns; the nails at the cross.

As awful as it was the Father was present through all the physical suffering Jesus endured (could you handle watching your son or daughter suffer like that?). But when our sin was laid upon Him it was so detestable the Father turned His back on the Son. The greatest break-up of all time occurred because of us. That pure line of communication was broken at the Cross. Our sin ripped apart the Godhead.

The fundamental aspects of God’s character are holiness and righteousness. He jealously guards these qualities. When purity and holiness are swapped with sin and corruption, it’s a big deal. Jesus (who was innocent, holy and pure) swapped His perfect reputation and unblemished character for that which is filthy, vile, and contemptible. Jesus became sin on our behalf, our atonement. The iniquity of men, the malice of Satan, and the wrath of God all converged at the Cross.

The evangelist who laboured on the physical side of the crucifixion should have looked back at the garden and investigated what happens when someone’s sweat becomes like drops of blood. It’s natural for blood to flow when the skin is pierced, but to sweat blood indicates an intense internal suffering beyond the physical. Jesus must have been thinking, ‘What’s the Father going to do when the sin of the world is laid upon me?’, ‘Can I endure His wrath and separation?’ No wonder He pleaded, ‘If possible, take this cup from me’.

We can never fully comprehend Christ’s agony in the garden of Gethsemane, but at least we don’t have to miss understand it. It is the agony of God and man in one Person, coming face to face with sin. — Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (April 5)

We have all sinned… but more importantly I have sinned. It’s my unholiness. Our heart won’t be revived, humbled and truly thankful until we realise it was our sin that caused Jesus’ separation and indescribable suffering. I caused Him the most pain – not the torturer who flogged Him, or the soldier who drove the nails through His hands.

Even though the Cross was some 2000 years ago on our timeline, by faith it is eternally present to cover our sin. Through His blood eternal justice has been served on our behalf, not just group justice but personal justice. The problem of our sin nature and righteousness has been dealt with. Jesus has turned the cross from a symbol of suffering and pain into one of amazing grace and mercy.

The realisation that knowledge was more than a means of control hit me during an NBC studio tour in New York City. Upon entering the studio where the show Saturday Night Live (SNL) is filmed, a girl next to me developed a bad case of the ‘ohmigods’. No-one says ‘oh my God’ like, or as frequently, as Americans. (Believe it or not, ‘ohmigod’ is officially recognized as a word by Encarta Dictionary.) Her machine-gun repetition of this so-called ‘word’ continued until we were seated when she ended her burst with, ‘This is life’.

I was expecting the NBC tour to yield some interesting facts, but not the meaning of life! Her reaction to an empty stage set where actors I’d never heard of performed silly skits seemed ridiculous. ‘What sort of a person carries on like this?’ I thought. But as I was casting aspersions on her mental capacity the thought came to me, ‘You’re not much different’. Then I remembered something that happened in Chicago the week before.

To visit The Marion E. Wade Center in Chicago had been a dream of mine. This small museum commemorates 7 great British authors, one of whom is C.S. Lewis. Frankly, I’m a ‘Lewis freak’. The truth that God revealed through the pen of this humble author has had a remarkable effect on my life. His writing radically changed the way I viewed reality and how I felt about Jesus Christ.

I spent over an hour staring at ‘The Wardrobe’ that Lewis and his brother Warnie played in as children, recalling its significance to The Chronicles of Narnia. There was Lewis’s desk and chair. I pondered over his pipe and pen. I even had access to some original Lewis manuscripts! I studied his handwriting and the paper he used. It was the opportunity of a lifetime!

I spent the whole day staring at a wardrobe, some office equipment and a few old manuscripts! I’m sure if the ‘ohmigod’ girl could have seen me she would have doubted my mental capacity. The objects and places were different but our reactions were similar. What made the difference? What caused all the excitement? Simply this ̶ knowledge.

Her knowledge of SNL transformed the studio for her. She knew all the actors, the characters they played and the props they used. There were memories and emotions attached to the SNL stage set. The same was true for me and The Wade Center. My knowledge of C.S. Lewis changed everything. His desk wasn’t just a desk; it was the place where life-changing literature came into existence. The Wardrobe was more than a space to hang coats; it was part of a story that had stirred my emotions and imagination.

Knowledge not only has the power to change our future and the way we see things, it can also satisfy our hearts greatest longing. Do you have to be philosophical and educated to find this knowledge? No. It was a child who so clearly showed that to me.

Three-and-a half year old Abby, who is my sister’s second daughter, lives in Nashville. Abby has a loveable but quirky personality. She didn’t care for me much until she was 2 when suddenly, on a holiday at Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, I became her beloved ‘bee boy’ (long story). Ever since we’ve had a special bond. Abby was a major reason for my visit to the USA. Before heading to Chicago and New York I spent 3 wonderful weeks with her. It was when I returned to Nashville that she did something unforgettable.

My flight from Nashville was late in the evening. I was expecting only my sister to meet me. I was walking through the airport with my fellow passengers when I became aware of a commotion around me. It was only when my sister pointed it out I realised it was Abby. She was circling me like an Indian in an old western movie, and she would not stop! Eventually, she ran into my arms. But she wasn’t finished yet! As I held her and walked to baggage claim she excitedly and repeatedly yelled, ‘yyyyyyyyyesssss!’  I can’t tell you how good it made me feel.

A few days later it dawned on me. Abby is only 3½; her knowledge is limited. She couldn’t tell you my personality type or favourite authors or pet peeves. Even though there are many things she doesn’t know, there is one thing she does. She knows that I know her.

Some people resist going to a club, church, social group, etc. because, ‘I don’t know anyone there’. The real issue, I suggest, is not that they don’t know others, but that others don’t know them. To know that you are known is the most meaningful knowledge a human can possess. It was this knowledge that made Abby run into my arms. She knew I would accept and receive her. To know that we are known is what our heart pines for, delights in.

Perhaps it seems rather crude to describe glory as the fact of being “noticed” by God. But this is almost the language of the New Testament. St. Paul promises to those who love God not, as we should expect, that they will know Him, but that they will be known by Him (1 Corinthians 8:3). — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory (essay)

To be known by people is a meaningful, even an exciting thing. But to know that we are known by God is a glory. To be known by and received into Love Himself, the source of all that is good, true and beautiful is surely the reason for our existence and the satisfaction of our heart’s greatest longing.

Homecoming is not so much about a place, it is about relationship. And the greatest relationship is to know that one is known and loved by God in Christ. – Charles R. Ringma, The Seeking Heart, (p. 151)*

* Paraclete Press, Brewster, Massachusetts

Sexual lust is proactive and quickly becomes a preoccupation. Other sins, lying for example, require a situation where lying is an option. After lying or exaggerating I’ve never heard someone say, ‘I want to lie again so bad!’ or ‘When will I get the chance to exaggerate again?’ Not so with sexual lust. It will create the situation where it can express and feed itself. Time will be put aside, schedules will be changed, risks will be taken, and money will be spent. Lust will get its meal. Its appetite can never be satisfied.

God’s Word, the Bible, is not ignorant of lust’s power. James 4:7 says to ‘Resist the devil, and he will flee…’ but when it comes to sexual lust, 1 Corinthians 6 implores us to do the opposite. Verse 18 commands us to ‘flee’. Scripture seems to suggest that it’s better to go head to head with the devil than to tempt yourself with sexual lust.

Lust may be powerful and proactive, but so is fleeing. Fleeing is the most effective counter-attack for sexual lust. The effectiveness of fleeing is well demonstrated in Genesis 39:11-12. When Joseph was faced with the temptation to have an affair with Potiphar’s wife he ‘fled and got out of the house’. To stay and resist was not an option for this wise man who became the Prime Minister of Egypt.

We need to be like Joseph and practise the ancient technique of fleeing from lust. Some of us need to see our private computers and mobile devices as ‘Potiphar’s wife’ and leave them. Don’t believe the lie that running from lust at any cost is cowardly. Fleeing takes guts; just ask anyone who has been tempted in front of a computer screen how hard it is to leave.

Fleeing will cost us. Joseph lost his coat, job, and for a time his freedom (see verses 13-20). But he kept his character and conscience, which are infinitely more important than temporary pleasures. The price Joseph paid makes the inconvenience of having no computer in the privacy of our room or installing a strict internet filter hardly worth mentioning.

There is a cost. And by paying it we can rest assured there is reward. Verse 23 tells us that even while Joseph was in prison before he was PM ‘the LORD was with him. And whatever he did, the LORD made it succeed’.

It’s time to take 1 Corinthians 6 seriously. Verse 18 is more than good advice, it’s a command. ‘Flee from sexual immorality.’

What happens when disappointment becomes life’s prevailing experience? The following is from an email I received: ‘I’d love to see you tackle “disappointment”. I’ve been speaking to so many of my 30-something friends lately and a lot of them say that one of the main issues they deal with is feeling that they’ve somehow missed their God/life appointment, they’re jaded and depressed or really angry at God/ life/etc.’

To ‘tackle’ this issue I checked my resources. But it wasn’t the words of all the great authors and speakers but a handicapped child who spoke to me the most profoundly. Chloe is my 2-year-old niece. She is deaf, visually impaired and suffers from numerous health problems. Are you wondering how a child like Chloe speaks?

There was no-one else in the room. I was gently stroking Chloe’s head. It gradually dawned on me that Chloe speaks with the one thing her disabilities will never diminish – her being. There is no denying it. Her presence drew me to sit next to her. My thoughts and actions were a direct response to her being. Chloe seems to stir a mysterious wonder about existence every time I see her.

The first thing she spoke to me about was value. If ‘life is about doing stuff’, then Chloe has no value. If that is true, how do I explain my mysterious urge to protect her? No-one freely protects things they don’t value. Just because she is unable to do anything our utilitarian society considers ‘useful’, does that mean she is useless? Could I look Chloe or her devoted parents in the face and think such a thought?

If Chloe has no value, than neither do we. We may be able to ‘do stuff’ now, but the ageing process or accidents will take that away. What does it matter being ‘useful’ for a time if in the end we’re worthless? No wonder we are disappointed with life and existence. The message is clear: our value as human beings cannot be found in what we do. So what is our value based on? Chloe shows us. Her little body may be broken, but the image of God is totally intact. Being made in the image of God is not about ability, it’s about identity. Identity gives us a name, a place, an origin, a reason for existence.

The more we experience the wonder of being made in the image of God (see Genesis 1:27) the more content we will become with simply being. Our God/life appointment is ultimately met in our existence. The realisation that we are creatures who carry the image of the glorious omnipotent God is a life-changing truth that is almost too wonderful to comprehend! (‘Theology of the Body’ has much to teach us about this glorious topic)

Another factor that adds to our disappointment with life is this: we have lost our appreciation for the ordinary. Motivational speakers and prosperity preachers have deceived us into expecting life to be one extraordinary event after another. They have forgotten that King David’s epic battle with Goliath was a ‘once off’. He did not kill a bear for breakfast and a lion for lunch every day. Ordinary days were very much a part of his life.

We encounter God in the ordinariness of life: not in the search for spiritual highs and extraordinary, mystical experiences but in our simple presence in life. — Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child (p. 51-52)

Our modern expectations tell us more about our attitude and arrogance than anything else. We think ordinary days are beneath us. We deserve to be buzzed, thrilled, and excited. Interest in big conferences and ‘worship experiences’ are up, but prayer and faithful living are down. Quiet prayer and faithful living are too ordinary for our hyped-up ‘entertain me’ generation. But here lies the twist: because the ordinary things are so hard, it takes extraordinary people to do them consistently.

It takes extraordinary people to live ordinary lives. The ordinary is where God’s grace is most at work. Listen to Oswald Chambers from his must-read devotional My utmost for His highest (October 21) : ‘… it does require a supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God – but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among the ordinary people…’

Our attitude to the ordinary exposes our true character and conviction. Anyone can participate while there‘s action and excitement. But only the faithful continue when the crowds and feelings are gone. Again, Oswald Chambers speaks directly to us: ‘All the ordinary things in our lives reveal what we are made of more quickly than any thing else. It takes God Almighty Incarnate in us to do the most menial duty as it ought to be done.’ (September 11)

While our expectations are unrealistic and selfish, and our identity is in what we do, feel, and accomplish, disappointment will continue to be the prevailing experience, both in the church and without. The cure for disappointment is found in two things: one – realising what it means to be made in the image of God. Two – gaining an appreciation for ordinary things, like quiet prayer and faithful day-to-day living.

Chloe, being herself and teaching us how to avoid disappointment.

Depravity seems unstoppable. Base instincts run wild, freed under the banner of ‘progress’. Appeal for moral restraint evokes phrases like ‘Stop being so Victorian, this is the 21st Century!’ The sad truth is crime really does pay (ask the mafia) and selfishness rules the world (watch the news).

So where is the truth in our bold confession ‘Jesus is Lord’? Our hearts will grow sick and tired if hope keeps getting deferred (Proverbs 13:12) by the ‘progress’ of our hedonistic society. Believe it or not, it was the book of Ecclesiastes that opened my eyes to the encouraging truth: Jesus is in complete control, right now. The ‘prosperity doctrine’ has done much damage, and Ecclesiastes is a casualty. It is not a ‘negative’ book. Ecclesiastes is a reality-check. If something really is vain, it is right to call it such.

Ecclesiastes 8:8 (ESV) says, ‘No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it’. The GNV says it this way, ‘No one can keep from dying or put off the day of death. That is a battle we cannot escape; we cannot cheat our way out’.

‘Nothing is certain but death and taxes’ it is said. Many people cheat on taxes, but absolutely no one will cheat on death. Refusing to be ‘negative’ by not considering death or treating it as something science will save us from will not change the facts. Death is inescapable, unstoppable, non-negotiable. It only is a pinch of time that separates us from all those who have felt its sting.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and forever they have no more share in all that is done under the sun. — Ecclesiastes 9:5-6 (ESV)

All power and ability will be completely stripped from us at our last breath. Death is the great leveller and the true indication of how much control and influence we actually have. Think of the most powerful dictators of the past like Hitler, Stalin or Nero. Their lives are over. They are nothing now. You can dance on their graves and they are powerless to do a thing about it. Death is God’s trump card.

… I saw the wicked buried, and they came and went from the holy place. And they were forgotten in the city, these things that they had done… — Ecclesiastes 8:10 (MKJV)

If everybody on the planet raised their fist at God and defied all His ways, it would not diminish His power or glory one degree. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought if we believe we mere humans can suppress God’s eternal glory. We have forgotten that we are made from dust and our life is but a breath or shadow (see Psalm 39:5-6, 144:4). How threatening is a shadow! No wonder God sits in the heavens and laughs at the rage of nations (see Psalm 2:1-4).

A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word ‘darkness’ on the wall of his cell. — C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, Chap. 3 (p. 46)

It is wise to fear God. Remember, Christ is Lord of death, not Satan. Don’t despair if the evil doer lives long or a good man’s life is cut short. All meet God in death. Facing God is the destination for all created beings (Satan included). Only those who feared Him can endure Him. The fear of God is not just about surviving that moment. It’s an appreciation of who God is as Creator, Redeemer, Judge, and Friend. It’s the beginning of wisdom.

Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days be made longer, yet surely I know that it shall be well with those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it shall not be well with the wicked… — Ecclesiastes 8:12-13 (MKJV)

According to Ecclesiastes the only thing not ‘vanity and striving after the wind’ is the fear of God. Does that mean we should become pacifists? Not at all! We must fight evil and stand for what is right. But our chief motivation must be the fear of God. Things may or may not change in our lifetime, they may even get worse. God’s eternal glory is not threatened. We may go down fighting – many of the righteous have done before us – if we fear the Lord it will not be in vain.

Every generation and every individual gets their opportunity to fear God and keep His commandments. In the Old Testament time and time again a God-fearing king or judge restores and builds the nation and then the next generation destroys it and returns to idolatry. This is the cycle of history. Wilberforce and his supporters abolish slavery in 1833, and our generation legalises the torture/murder of babies in the womb. Ultimately, we haven’t progressed. ‘There is nothing new under the sun.’ (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

The last two verses of Ecclesiastes sum it up well. ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep His commandments. For this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether evil.’ (MKJV)

Is God in control? Factor in the reality of death and judgement and there is no question about it. Jesus really is Lord. God is in complete control and His Kingdom is glorious. The real question is, will you be a part of it?

Life is littered with things we consider not to be good. Facing up to this reality can cause some mental anguish. I can identify with King David in the Psalms. I have cried out, ‘Where are You? Why won’t You speak to me?’ Many times I have thought, ‘God, I’m sure if You had tried You could have protected me. Why did You allow that pain and suffering? How can that be good?’

It would be foolish and ignorant to attempt a philosophical explanation for all the bad stuff that happens. A comprehensive answer (and only God could give that) would extend past our human understanding. So, trapped in humanity, all I can do (with God’s help) is adjust our perspective so we can understand a little better some of those seemingly ‘bad’ things life brings along.

When attempting to merge our knowledge of God being good with the ‘bad’ He allows to happen, the first thing we must understand and accept is this – God has a different perspective from us. He views everything from a redemptive position where everything serves a purpose and nothing is wasted or lost. We see this perspective emerge in scriptures like Romans 8:28-29, ‘… in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose’.

My concern with this scripture is that it gets over-used as a quick-fix answer, to the point it becomes a cop-out. It has been carelessly quoted to people going through a deep crisis. It doesn’t provide a complete answer but it is comforting to know God is the master salvage engineer. He can redeem anything. I like what the late Richard Wurmbrand from ‘Voice of the Martyrs’ said about the bad or ‘evil’ things that happen in life: ‘Evil for the Christian is only unfinished good’. What makes his statement worth considering is he suffered more pain and persecution for his faith than most of us would in ten life times.

As we appreciate God’s sovereignty we must understand that His perspective will affect the definition of good and bad. They will be redefined from His position as an omnipotent eternal God. God’s definition of ‘good’ is different from ours. It extends past the parameters of time and space.

Mark 10:17-18, ‘… a man ran up to him (Jesus) and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good – except God alone”‘. How could Jesus not be good? If anyone deserves the title of good, He does. Look at the things He did, the miracles, the mercy, the compassion. On our scale of goodness Jesus was the ultimate.

Jesus responded the way He did because the man who called Him ‘good teacher’ was reacting to what he saw at the time; the miracles, the good deeds, the compassion… He was assessing what was good through human eyes. He was using our definition of ‘good’, not God’s, and Jesus knew this. Jesus wasn’t saying He was bad by rejecting his comment. He was making the point that only God can know what is truly good because He views it through the eyes of eternity, from where you can see the big picture.

True good can only be assessed through both time and eternity. Locked in time and space we can’t have an eternal perspective. Jesus wasn’t the first to point out the eternal perspective of what is ‘good’. This is Joseph talking to his brothers years later when they could all see the big picture, ‘You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives’ (Genesis 50:20).

I went through a painful relationship break-up. It affected me deeply. At the time it was the worst thing that had happened. The heartache was heavy. I remember questioning God: Why didn’t You protect me? Why did You let me walk through it? It wasn’t good. But when I look at it with time as my vantage point, it has been one of the best things for me. I’m a different person now. I have changed for the good. I’m at a place in God, faith and life where I would never have been without it. Only God could have known that, because He sees through the eyes of eternity – the best vantage point you can get. What was bad at the time had a purpose of good; only time could reveal it.

The best example of ‘bad’ being ‘good’ is the Cross. At the time it was the most horrible thing that could have happened. But now as we stand back it’s plain to see what was bad was really good and the best thing that ever happened to humanity. Peter was determined to stop it from happening when Jesus first spoke of it. From where he stood in time it looked like a bad thing. (Can you imagine how he must have felt when his attempt to be loyal and protect Jesus was met with the response, ‘Get behind me Satan’?) Or what the incident in the garden when Simon Peter cut off the servant’s ear to protect Jesus from arrest? He thought a bad thing was happening, and it was, from the point in time he was observing it.

Your vantage point makes all the difference in defining what is good. Eternity is as high as it gets. God sits in eternity and saw what no human eye saw at the time. What was most bitter at the time is now the sweetest. Doesn’t it amaze you how the scene of a murder, a bloody crucifixion, is now the most precious thing to each one of us?

When ‘bad’ things happen in life, try Richard Wurmbrand’s perspective and pray for the grace to view it as ‘unfinished good’. But ultimately, take comfort in the fact you are in the hands of a God whose specialty is redemption.

(All Bible quotes from the NIV)