The great debate!

This isn't so much a review - more just a bit of a response, I think.
A couple of weeks back, I saw the movie God's Not Dead.

If you're not familiar with the movie, the basic idea is that this Christian (Josh) going to university is taking this Philosophy class. The first thing the lecturer, Professor Raddigan does, is to tell all of the students to write the words "God is dead" on a piece of paper, sign it, and hand it to him; this way, they can skip all of the religious debate - which he believes is wasted, because the conclusion is already obvious. Josh, however, won't do it; so Raddigan says he's going to have to argue the antithesis - that is, argue that God's not dead. Josh manages to convince him that the class should be the deciding vote as to what is true; and the rest of the film centres around the debate between Josh and Raddigan, who is an atheist.

Now, there are some things that are done quite well in the film; I love the way that there are lots of different stories being told, and they all weave together towards the end. (Strangely enough, at a Newsboys concert, where the big song is also the title of the movie.) I also quite like that it shows the pastor as not being all-knowing, and not always getting it right - but in a more realistic light, as being human too. Which is good, because they are! I also liked some of the different arguments that were presented in the debate, which were often the more well-known ones, so it does give answers to those if you're not familiar with them.

What I didn't like, though, was how the film portrayed Professor Raddigan. For almost all of the film, he's basically made out to be the big bad guy. He's set in his ways, he's mean, and imposing - and there's really only two times we see this not being the case, maybe three. The first is when we see him with his girlfriend - who, interestingly, is a Christian. And he's quite nice to her; but the deal is, they don't talk about religion, and Christianity. Or rather, she can't. Not too long afterwards, we get a scene where he is quite putting-down of Christians in front of her to a group of his friends, and she leaves.
The second time is when he starts quoting some Scripture in response to something that Josh says - and then Josh asks him, "what happened to you?"

The moment here is probably one of the best in the film. Raddigan turns around and says, "When a twelve-year-old watches his mother dying of cancer, it's only natural to beg God for her life. And he'll promise anything to his make-believe Grandfather in the sky - including to love and worship him forever - if only he will spare her." There's a great exchange, and you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ozBJgRCJgc

Here, for once, we can see past Raddigan's exterior, and see his inner pain. And this could have been an opportunity for Josh to talk to him, to speak into that - but instead, what do we see happening? In the last argument, Raddigan has decided to go up against Josh in a proper debate, rather than just pitching in at the end. And Josh isn't going easy here - he absolutely slams Raddigan; in the end, coming up to him and asking, "Why do you hate God?" This, repeatedly, insistently, increasingly louder. Until Raddigan finally answers - "Because he took everything away from me! Yes! I hate God! All I have for him is hate!" Josh replies - "How can you hate someone that doesn't exist?"
The class all say that God's not dead (yay, title!), and Raddigan walks out.

In the end, Raddigan is trying to get on to his girlfriend (now ex, because she dumped him); he figures out she's at the Newsboys concert, and starts to walk there. He gets hit by a car running a red light, that speeds away. At the same light happens to be the pastor, who gets out and talks to him - and in his last moments, he accepts Jesus into his life, and the pastor prays for him.

At the beginning of the film, I was following along with Josh; but by the end of it, I was feeling sorry for Raddigan. He was vulnerable with Josh, and then got slammed by him and ridiculed in front of his entire class (about sixty people or so). He's been on a ridiculous emotional journey, and all he gets in the movie to end up with is a deathbed conversion.

I can't say I'm particularly happy with that, to be honest. I think he deserved more of a look, and I think that his character was one of the deeper ones in the film. I think that Christians going to watch this will be encouraged - but atheists going to watch this could well feel quite discouraged, or angry at how they've been portrayed (incidentally, if there are any atheists who have seen the film who are reading this, I would love to hear what you did think about it - I could be wrong!). And I think, given the nature of what the movie is supposed to be, that that's really not helpful.

But anyway - that's what I thought. I think it's a good movie for Christians, or maybe agnostics - but not so much atheists. But what did you think? I'd love to hear your comments about this movie if you've seen it :)

My Flat Cap.

So. I have a few hats that I have accumulated over the years. But the one that I probably use the most - particularly in the last year or so - has been my flat cap. Picture below!

And my flat cap has a bit of a history, so I thought I might share that.

A few years back, when I was in my second year of uni, I got a job doing catalogue distribution. It had it's high points and low points. High - when it was a nice day, and you didn't have too much to deliver, it could actually be quite nice. Also, since my family was helping me collate it all, that was our unofficial 'family time' together each week. :P Low points: ...most of the rest of it. Low pay, took a long time to do (particularly for someone slow like me), and was not fun on days with bad weather. (Particularly rain, wind, or a combination of the two. Wind in particular would grab your catalogues out of your hands if it could, while rain would absolutely ruin them. Not fun.)
So, I had some weeks I really didn't like it. The other annoying thing was that sometimes we had quite thick bundles.

This was one such week. We had a sample that was included in the bundle, and because of that, it really didn't fit in letterbox slots for the most part. Circles were okay, slots were not. I was tired. And so I had started dropping them on the ground.

Someone noticed, and came up to me. Asked who I worked for. Said he'd be giving them a call, and I should clean up the mess I made. I was a bit startled, but I started to do that. I remember there was a kid playing in the streets there, and he asked me why I was doing it. "Because people don't like it like that," I said. "Oh," he said. I think he found it confusing why people would worry about something like that.
Shortly thereafter, I got a call from my boss. "Someone said you've been throwing catalogues." "Dropping them, not throwing them. They won't really fit in the letterbox slots." "Well...do what you can to fit them in. You can't just have them lying around in the streets." "Yep." "Bye." "Bye."

Not long after that, I got the peak cap. And I wore it on every delivery run I did afterwards. To remind me that, even if I don't like the work I do, I should still do it professionally. I still take it to work with me now, though I don't wear it. But it's a good reminder of that for me. And I'm also told it suits me quite nicely :)

So that's the story of my peak cap! Hope you enjoyed that.

Learning On The Job + Faith.

Life lessons are called that for a reason. You learn them by living. Through experience - often bad, unfortunately. It seems that those who have had the hardest and most difficult lives can often teach you the most about life.

As such, it feels like a lot of the time I don't have a lot to say. I'm a middle-class white guy, who has always had a roof over his head and food to eat, at the very least. I got to go to school, and university. (And TAFE and Bible college.) I've been able to work, and earn money. I've had incredible friends and family. I have had hard times and things that I've struggled with - things like emotions, and not having money, and people, and my own spiritual journey.

But I haven't had to deal with death. I haven't had to deal with starving, or being homeless. I haven't had to worry about what I say, in fear of the police or the government. I haven't even had to worry too much about peer pressure to do things like alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, or get piercings or tattoos.

And in some ways, I'm really grateful. Because it means that I can focus on helping people that do. But it also means that it's tricky for me to help those people - because I've never gone through it myself! Which is an interesting conundrum.

But one thing I got to talk about recently, which I think I have had some experience in, is faith. And I looked at the example of Abram, or Abraham. Looking at his life, I came up with three main things.

God tested, and Abraham worshipped. 

God promised, and Abraham believed.

God called, and Abraham listened.

And I think that those are the real markers of faith. Worshipping when you're tested, not just when things go well; believing when God makes promises (and showing that through what you do); and listening when God calls you (not listening to others, or to your fear, or to the world).

Think that's it for now. 'Til next time :)

Jehovah-Jireh.

So, I was struggling for a fair while, economically. I was proper broke for a little bit there, which was not fun. But during that time, I was getting help all over the place from different people that I didn't expect, which was really great and really helpful.

But now, God has come through :D Which is muchly awesome. And in more ways than I expected. And better ways than I expected. And all this sort of thing.

So, Centrelink payments just started to come through, I got my first one yesterday. Thought they would still be a couple of weeks away, so that's pretty cool :)

I also got some work from last week - which isn't great work, it's doing cold calls from a call centre (not as bad as I thought, but still not great) - so that's giving me some money as well.

But, more interestingly/importantly, I got some more work just this week, with a charity - someone had posted up about it on a page that I was following, and they were looking for creatives. So I thought, sure, why not. I met the guy this week, and he's pretty enthusiastic, and he wants me on board :D At present, it's not paid - though he's given me a little money to start off - but we're working towards a musical (yes, you read that right, a full-blown musical) in July (yes, this July), and after that I'll start to get paid. But it's pretty much awesome. It's using basically all of what I know and have learned, and lots of my different skills and passions, which is awesome. And I'm working from home - at least at the moment - so it's really flexible. And it's all going towards something that really matters. So it's a bit of a dream job, you could say. :)

It's made me realise that when you're in a fix and you cry out to God, he doesn't want to just get you out of that place. He wants to bless you, and put you in an awesome place. And yeah, he's really done that for me right now. So I'm pretty happy, as you might be able to tell :)

Yet Another Level.

A little while back, in the middle of last year, I did a post on my analogy of the well. If you didn't see it, you can find it here. Essentially, the deal is that when you're telling someone about struggles in your life, I was saying that there are three levels you can go to.

The first I like to call the lookout; it's from a distance, you can see that there are wells out there, you might have an idea of how many there are. This is where you tell people that you're struggling with things.

The second I call the tour; you take people around through the wells, and they can see down them. This is where you tell people how much you've been struggling with things.

The third I call the descent; you get out the ropes, carabiners and harnesses, and take someone down right to the bottom. I don't think that needs too much explanation.

Since then, though, I've realised that there's actually a fourth level, beyond that. It's what I call deconstruction.

Here, you need to imagine that the well is made of bricks. And in this one, you're not just taking someone down to the bottom and shining a light down there - you're taking out each individual brick and showing it to them. There's nothing they don't see. Absolutely nothing.

This is the sort of thing that you won't see happening too often; and it's also something that can really take a lot of time. Obviously, depending on how deep the well goes. I'd say that this is usually something between husband and wife, or that you might do with your mentor.

But for me, it's just challenged me again in how radically honest and open I am with people, particularly people that I trust and care about.

At The End Of The Rope.

I've heard lots of stories before from friends, who have been through really tight situations financially, and God has come through for them - often in unexpected ways, and when they didn't anticipate it.
Now, it's me who's hoping that God will come through.

I have a lot to be thankful for. I don't have many expenses, and I still live with my parents, so I have food and a place to call home. Which is really nice. And people is nice too. People are good.

But yes, money is very tight. It's not a position I've ever been in before. I've been close, but I've always had money coming in soon. This time, there's no guarantee; nothing that I know is happening. I've applied to heaps of things, thrown my CV around a fair few places, but nothing has really come good for me yet. It's not a fun feeling.

There's a bit in the Bible that says you're blessed when you're at the end of your rope. I can certainly see a lot of ways in which I've been blessed - and keep being blessed. Unfortunately, not too many involving finances. I've had some bits here and there that have been really great, but nothing that's really going to pull me out just yet.

Funnily enough, I just spoke on courage the other week. And I'm about to speak on faith in just over a week. They do say that before you teach something, you have to learn it. Looks like I'm learning it, all right. Hopefully, the lesson finishes in time so that I've got the other half of the story to share....

That's all from me for now. Hopefully there will be more before too long - maybe detailing a new job, for all I know!

Feeling The Summer.

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately, folks. I've been quite busy! And that's actually a bit of what this post is about, in a way.

Last year, I got the opportunity to hear my then-mentor do a sermon on the Seasons of Life. It was about how we have different seasons in our life, and looking at how we can work with that rather than trying to fight it or not being aware of it. The seasons can be grand-scale, and over all of your life, but they can also be over particular parts as well, like in work, ministry, family, relationships, etc. And they always go in order as well, though not always for the same length of time.

In essence, the seasons are:
Spring - a time of new beginnings, of learning and trying new things. Starting afresh.
Summer - a time of work, of growth and making things happen.
Autumn - a time of harvest; of reaping what has been grown in the Summer. The peak period.
Winter - a time of cutting back, of letting go of some things. A fallow period, as such, to get ready for Spring.

To hear them in a bit more detail, you can listen to the sermons on each different one here.

Last year for me, I had a lot of different seasons operating at different levels. But overall, I think it was Spring; it was the start of something new, something fresh, something different. It was a time of learning and new growth.

This year, though, is coming in to a time of Summer. And that means work.

And I'm not just saying it's Summer because Summer is after Spring, so that must be next. I'm saying that because based on what I'm seeing and what's happening, I know that this is a Summer season. Historically, I have not been fantastic when it comes to Summer seasons. I'm not a fan of summer in general. It's very hot, and I don't like hot. I like warm, but not hot. Thankfully, this summer (actual summer, not what I'm talking about above) has been quite moderate - and even a bit wet and cool, so that's been nice.
But come Summer, I've often just rested on my laurels and sailed through fairly easily. Didn't need to do much to get by; and it only started catching up with me (as it inevitably does) at the end of high school.

And this Summer season, I know, is going to be quite important. I don't know exactly what it has in store; but I know it's going to be busy. I know there's going to be effort, and work involved. And I know that if I don't put in that effort and work, come Autumn, there won't be anything to show for it. And I'll have only myself to thank for that.

For those worrying that I'm going to overwork myself - I don't think that's possible. I'm a little too good with giving myself breaks. Which is good in some senses (means I don't get overworked), but not good in others (means I can get a bit pressured with deadlines).

So yeah, that's what this next season is looking like for me. Thought that you folks might find that interesting.

I Still Call It Home.

So, today is Australia Day. For those who aren't aware, I'm Australian. Living in Australia, Sydney(ish). Go back a fair way on both sides as Australian - I think nearly to the First Fleet on one side, with a convict who stole a watch. Think we had another who stole several lengths of rope.

I'm not particularly patriotic. For myself, I don't see the point - I didn't have any control over the country that I was born into. I'm quite glad that this is the country that I've been born into - there's a lot of great things about it - but it's not something I've really been able to do anything about, even if I wanted to. I still can't really move to another country (thanks, lack of job!) or anything like that. So for me, patriotism doesn't make a lot of sense. I think it's a pretty good country that I live in, in a lot of ways - it's got some beautiful wildlife and places, and we're a lot cleaner than some places out there. And a lot less crowded. We just have so much - space. It's kind of ridiculous. I mean, a lot of it is nearly uninhabitable desert, but you know.

But I think there are people who can be proud to call this their home. And that's people who have had the choice. People who have come here from other countries - particularly people who have come seeking refuge, seeking a place more peaceful than from where they came. When they come here, they have chosen to come to this place, because they believe it is better. Greater. And so, they are proud to call this place their home. And I think that's pretty awesome.

I also think that trying to keep people out of this country is just not Aussie. "For those who've come across the seas, we've boundless plains to share." This beautiful, massive space was made to share, not to try and keep to ourselves. Don't be so paranoid. People are people. Practice that good old fair go and mateship this Aussie Day, whaddya say?

Love Does - and it keeps on doing!

The book Love Does by Bob Goff is actually just a collection of short stories. Almost like Aesop's Fables, in a way (except real), they each have a bit of a lesson to them - to do with God, or love, or living. Particularly things that you can actually do, rather than just think about.

And there are some fantastic stories in there. Everything from the story of taking his kids to meet leaders around the world, to sneaking on to the set of National Treasure 2, to romancing his now wife, to flipping over his old Jeep and flying out the top. You'll be pulled in to each story, and taken by the reality of it. There's no airy-fairy here - it's all about things that you can do, because, as the title of the book says, love does.

Because of the short nature of the stories, it's great for those who aren't avid readers, who just want to read a bit at a time. That's actually a fantastic way to read this book. And if you want a little point to get out of each chapter - he summarises it very nicely in a short little sentence at the beginning of each story. One of my favourites is, 

I used to think being loved was the greatest thing to think about,but now I know love is never satisfied just thinking about it.

But then, I'm a little biased. ;)

This is an incredible book, and one that I've really enjoyed. I'm definitely planning on passing it on to other people that I know will enjoy it, and if any of what I've said here gets your attention, I think you'd enjoy it too. :)


As an aside, sorry I haven't been posting much lately. There hasn't been much to post about! Always a bit of a lull at the beginning of the year. But I think the last couple of years I've done a bit of a miniseries at this point in time, so I'm thinking I might do that again. Any ideas on what to do? I'm open.

On The Secularisation Of Religion.

I watched an episode of QI recently where one of the guests said that (he was speaking particularly in regards to America, but I think it can be applied to other places too) there had been a secularisation of religion - it focussed more on this life than the next, and it had become more of a self-help program than anything else. Just wanted to reflect a bit on that statement, and flesh it out a bit.

In Christianity, I'd say there are two major processes that happen. Salvation, and transformation.
Salvation is where you are saved from your sins. It's something that has already happened, because of Jesus' death on the cross; but individuals need to accept it as true in their life, and give their lives to God for them to be saved. At this point - you're going to heaven, and there really isn't anything that's going to change that. God's pretty awesome like that :) But Jesus also calls us to follow him - that's what giving your life to God is part of. And that's where the second one comes in.
Transformation is about your life becoming all that God meant it to be. Because this life is still important! It might be short, but it still matters, and you can still do great things with it. And God wants that for your life - and so you start on the process of transformation. And this is something that goes on throughout your life.

Now, Christians can have some different attitudes towards these two ideas. Some focus so much on the first that the second gets neglected; others focus so much on the second that the first gets neglected. But both are important, and both need to be present.

This 'secularisation of religion' that I mentioned before seems to me to be like an over-emphasis on the latter. It's a bit like - you're saved! Yay! Okay, now let's make your life awesome, and not worry about that being saved stuff any more, because it's all good now.
The problem is, of course, that's there are still lots of other people out there who aren't. And so it very much becomes more like a club pandering to its members, rather than inviting in new people.

I get the thought, though - it's very much a reaction to the Bible-bashers and turn-and-burn preachers a while back (though they're still around here and there), that focus so much on salvation, and barely touched on transformation. They were out there trying to convert people by the masses, sometimes scaring people into salvation, and then just leaving them there, because they were saved now, so it's all good.

Neither approach works. The former will leave everyone on the outside not wanting to come in, because they've been excluded; the latter will have everyone on the outside wanting to leave, because there's nothing to keep them there.

There needs to be a balance. And, by nature, people will probably be better at one or the other of these. I'm more on the transformation side of things, and I know people on both sides. But I think we need to do more work on figuring out how these two can work together and feed into each other, rather than being two separate processes happening in different places. Because I don't think that's healthy.