Humility

"Little do my enemies think what service they do me.
If they did, one would think, out of spite
they would desist from opposing me."
George Whitefield

In his book Forgotten Founding Father: The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield, Stephen Mansfield documented many of the great evangelist's character traits. He wrote that "George Whitefield was the most famous man of his day . . . and among the most hated. In a crude and spiteful age, the barrage against him was particularly venomous. He was accused of all the usual misdeeds with money, women and fame. But there was so much more. The strange squinting of the eyes that childhood measles left him caused the hostile press to call him "Dr Squintum." There was even a play by that name, written to expose him to a jeering public. If he gained weight, he was a glutton. If he bought property for an orphanage, he was selfishly building an estate for himself." Attacks came from Christians as well as opponents of the gospel. Mansfield wrote that "For some believers, a man cannot simply be wrong about a few things; he must be evil, possibly even controlled by a spirit."

The criticism was extraordinary, but so was Whitefield's response. He "had acquired that condition of soul for which critism becomes an ennobling force. He had learned that criticism is like pain in the human body, giving needed information for a healthy change. One can receive it as a blow and angrily nurse the wound. Or, one can regard the words as an eagle does a gust of wind - as a force upon which to fly still higher." Whitefield wrote to one critic: "I thank you heartily. May God reward you for watching over my soul; and as to what my enemies say against me, I know worse things of myself than they can say concerning me!" Due to this attitude, the criticsm Whitefield received served him. He did not become crushed or bitter. He courageously faced his faults.

I was inspired to post these facts about Whitefield's life after reading Kimi Harris' post Avoiding the way of a fool: inviting correction. Kimi wrote: "I need to recognize that others are going to see sinful tendencies that I am unaware of. If I want to grow in grace, God will use those around to help me, if I encourage and cultivate feedback from them. It is only pride that makes me feel that I can see all of my sin and defeat it without the help of others." This is a challenge to me, and to most Christians. I cringe from hearing others address my faults. I need to keep asking God to help me to be open to receiving correction.

I was also impressed with what Kimi said about a church she visited: "they have created a culture of speaking into each other’s lives. They thank each other for every service rendered, and they speak up when they notice something amiss in each other. Their church culture made correction and feedback more of a daily occurrence, like it should be. This also seemed to help with the tendency to overact to another’s input." This is the opposite of many churches, where to question the church leaders is seen as a terrible thing to do. I was once a part of a pro-life organisation where questioning the leader (a Catholic priest) was seen as highly offensive. Questioning anything the organisation did, or advocating new activities, was seen as an attack on him. The lack of freedom to question and explore options was stifling the effectiveness of the organisation. Christians should never disrespect their leaders. However, as Mansfield notes in relation to Whitefield's attitude to marriage, those who seek to honour leaders do them no disservice by acknowledging their mistakes.

To avoid the stifling effects of avoiding correction, the best we can do is to follow Whitefield's example of humility. He often prayed for humility, and God answered his prayers. When he was on a dangerous sea voyage, the ship seemed about to sink. Some aboard questioned "What Jonah have we here on board?" A voice rang out saying "I am he". All turned toward the voice and saw George Whitefield, the preacher who had led thousands into God's Kingdom. Mansfield wrote that this "was no act . . . The reality is that Goerge Whitefield truly saw himself as small in his own eyes and this is perhaps the best explanation for the astonishing spiritual power that distinguished his life." Such an accurate perpective on ourselves can lead to humility before others, a desire to receive from what God is showing others, and even an ability to accept their correction with courage and thankfulness.


All quotes on Whitefield are taken from Mansfield's book, pages 143 - 145, 191 - 193, and 212. Forgotten Founding Father: The Heroic Legacy of George Whitefield is published by Highland Books as part of the Leaders in Action series.

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Answered Prayer

Yesterday I received an email from Open Doors saying that our prayers for Dorothy have been answered! It is wonderful to hear of a positive outcome. When I consider the persecuted, I think of how small my faith is and how I sometimes doubt God in the midst of my relatively minor trials. Then I think of the much greater testing my brethren overseas are enduring, and how hard it must be to keep on trusting God. This is why it is so important to pray for them.

Here is the email from Open Doors:

Dear friends

I have some wonderful news Dorothy is back home.

The police were able trace the kidnappers and brought her back in the early hours of this morning. She has not been harmed, and is doing well.

Thank you so much for your prayers.

As my colleague said, "Thanks be to our merciful Lord for this good news and it encourages us to continue upholding our brothers and sisters before the Lord."

Please pray for Dorothy's healing from the trauma of being kidnapped.

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Evandale

I was blessed to be able to visit one of Tasmania's historic towns, Evandale, on April 1. Tasmania has many quaint historical towns that are fun to explore, and I often think that I must do more sight-seeing in my own state. For some reason, travelling overseas and enjoying it heaps made me determined to make the most of what my own state and country offers. I am now more eager to take opportunities to visit historic places, museums, parks, or Art Galleries. I only had about half an hour in Evandale, but it is amazing what I saw in that time :).

I thought of Deb when I saw these cute buildings with lavender growing in front. I remembered that Deb enjoyed the picture of a cottage with lavender in front of it that I posted in "Enjoying the North".


































I loved the old churches, one on each side of the road and both "St Andrews". The Uniting church used to be Prebyterian. They must have loved the preacher they had from the 1830s - 1870s, because the prominent monument out the front is dedicated to him. I would like to know more about him! I am encouraged when I see the old churches that dot the landscape. They show that in the midst of the hardship of settling a new land, our forebears made church a priority. This is a heritage I can be thankful for. The other church pictured is Anglican (called Episcopal in the USA).










































It was also fun to see the leaves turning.

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Praying for the Persecuted

Today I received this Open Doors email prayer alert. For many years God has impressed upon me the importance of remembering the persecuted. I don't always do this well, but God keeps reminding me! The abduction of Christian young women, which this email alert speaks of, is not an uncommon threat in some countries. Tonight one of my Bible readings was Psalm 31, and I prayed that verse 20 would be real for Dorothy and Pastor Reggie:

"You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the secret plots of man"

Daughter of Indian pastor abducted

Dorothy, the 25-year-old daughter of Pastor Reggie Howell from Ferozepur, Punjab, was kidnapped at 7:30am on Wednesday 19 April. She had gone for a morning walk and did not return home. The abductors called Pastor Reggie at 11:30am to tell him she was with them. There has been no news since then.

An OD staff member spoke to Pastor Reggie on the phone and said he was weeping so much, he could hardly talk. The same staff member met Dorothy last year and said "she is really anointed and gifted by the Lord, and has been in ministry for several years, helping her dad."

Pastor Reggie is the pastor of the Good Shepherd Community Church. He and his team of pastors are reaching out to some 840 villages Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The terrain in these areas is difficult and there are many spiritual strongholds. Pastor Reggie also runs the School of Evangelism to train more workers.

Please pray for Dorothy to be released unharmed and for the family to know the Lord's comfort at this time.

Thank you for your faithful support

John

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Memories of Friends

“Those we hold dear never truly leave us. They live on in the kindnesses they showed, the comfort they shared, and the love they brought into our lives” - Isabel Norton. When I first came across this quote I thought of my dear Grandad. A sincere Christian, former missionary to New Guinea, carpenter, and ardent creationist, Grandad was a big part of our lives for many years. He would often come to our house to work in our large garden, or on renovations. In his last years he lived on our property in a caravan. When he died during 2002 he left memories everywhere, in the things he had made. The extensions to rooms in our house, the ornate three storey dolls house, the bulbs planted near his caravan, the hope chest with a star on it made out of different woods, and the coffee table in our living room.

Later on I thought of those who have left for other reasons, even deliberately. I took out a watercolour picture that had been stored away for years. A dear friend gave it to me. We were both homeschooled, and spent time together for many years. We loved to stay over at one another’s homes, and shared interests like old novels and crafts. A few months before my eighteenth birthday, she was the driver in a car accident where I sustained a crush fracture to my spine. The constant pain from this, even close to seven years later, has changed my life dramatically. My friend struggled to cope with her role in the accident. Her response was to withdraw. She wrongly thought we would not want her in our lives anymore. Shortly after the accident, I was converted to Christ. My friend continued to rebel. We grew even further apart. I had not only lost a measure of my body’s freedom. I had lost a dear friend. The injury was an accident. The loss of friendship was a choice, and it seemed harder to forgive. Tears still come to my eyes as I write about that time.

When friends fail, there is a choice. Become bitter, or learn to remember love, comfort and kindness. A choice for bitterness leads to jaded memories. Twenty years after hurts occurred, many people still pour out the slights, harsh words, and broken promises. Memories of joy and blessings have faded away. With God’s help to forgive and heal, the opposite can be true. Gratitude for what the person gave for a season can be focused upon. The sharing of hearts and lives was precious. The relationship was not pointless. Focusing on the good imparts the courage to continue to invest in friendships and trust people. If hurt results, and even the end of the friendship, there will be good memories left as well. So I keep on my bookshelf a small watercolour picture of a woman running across green grass beside a pond. She is wearing a long blue dress, with a straw hat falling off behind her. I look at it and remember the many people who were once my friends. This, I hope, is not mere sentimentality. It is gratitude for memories of kindness and comfort, for memories of friends.

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Remember the Gospel

For many people now, Easter is more about eggs and bunnies than about Jesus, the cross, and the ressurection. While most people know Easter has something to do with Jesus, most in Australia do not know the gospel message. As Christians, we need to be able to explain the gospel. Sadly, some Christians are more sure about their convictions in other areas than they are about explaining the gospel. Some are more sure about their views on dating or courtship than on whether or not it is essential to believe salvation is only "by grace, through faith" (Eph. 2:8). Others feel better able to explain their denominational or group distinctives than the gospel.

This lack of ability to explain the gospel is understandable, since Christians are often relating to other Christians. They end up assuming the gospel in these relationships, while other issues which are different between them are discussed and debated. While it is understandable, it is also dangerous. When I was first converted and baptized, I hardly undestood the cross. I knew God loved me, and that I wanted to follow him, but key gospel doctrines were hazy. Thankfully, God has blessed me with a godly mother who can exlain these truths. As well, over the years I have been blessed to attend a university ministry and a church where the gospel is emphasized. C. J. Mahaney has written a good post on the gospel. His daughter Nicole Whitacre has written about how the result of focusing on the gospel is A Happy Soul. Susan Garrison has posted a beautiful William Cowper hymn, There is a Fountain, which is a wonderful choice for Easter!

The gospel and the Bible do apply to all of life, as I wrote in Apply the Bible, and there is nothing wrong with studying and forming convictions on all kinds of issues. Too often, Christians dismiss thinking about how scripture applies, or good works they could do, because those things are "not the gospel". However, we must never loose sight of what is most important. C. J. Mahaney quotes J. C. Ryle on this: "You may spoil the gospel by disproportion. You have only to attach an exaggerated importance to the secondary things of Christianity, and a diminished importance to the first things, and the mischief is done."

A gospel focused life should result in humility. Some Christians who study the Bible and come to opinions about a wide variety of matters also become prideful toward others, and look down upon those who do not think the same way. They withdraw themselves from fellowship and cannot tolerate those who hold different views. However, if we keep our focus on Jesus and what God has sovereignly done for us this should never happen. If we do understand aspects of Scripture better than some of our brothers and sisters, this is only due to the grace of God. How twisted it is to feel superior for something that is a gift, and could never have come from ourselves. Kimi Harris has written a great post on humility, and looking for the signs of what God is doing in other believers. This Easter, and every day, think of what we would all be without God's grace. Then rejoice in him, and all that he has done.

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Frugality: Shop Second Hand

Since last year I have rediscovered the joys of second hand shopping! When I first visited the school where I now work, it was exciting to discover that there is a second hand store in the same building as the school. I have been impressed with the good quality clothes available at second hand stores. I like many of them better than those I bought new! People often comment that they like my skirt or shirt, and I respond that "Second hand stores are great places!". Someone also told me that one lady in her street only buys second hand clothes, yet she is the best dressed person in the street!

I have a small clothing budget. If I stay within the budget it takes at least a month or two to save up for a new item of clothing. With second hand shopping, I can buy many more clothes and stay within the budget. This leaves more money to buy items I don't want to buy second hand (underwear comes to mind!). Another benefit is that if you are at all into "comfort buying", at least it won't put you out of pocket too much. You can satisfy the impulse to buy something to make yourself feel better, without feeling too guilty! I am much less into comfort buying than I once was, but there is still the occasional splurge.

Do you have any second hand shopping tips/experiences you can share?




In this picture, Esther is wearing a second hand dress, and I am wearing my "new" second hand skirt which I purchased last week.

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Apple Crumble

We have a lot of apple trees on our property, thanks to my parents' hard work, so we are blessed with abundant apples from late summer until winter. Our primary use for these apples is apple crumble.

















Here is our crumble topping recipe:

1 cup quick cooking oats
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped almonds
3 table spoons melted butter.

Combine the dry ingredients, add the butter, mix, place on top of apples (already steamed) in a dish, place in the oven until the topping is browned (20 mins or so).

















Peeling, coring, and slicing all those apples takes a lot of work, standing up in the kitchen. A lot of standing increases my back pain, but I still want to help out with all those buckets of apples sitting around! I have done a lot of standing in the kitchen doing this already this year. Last week, I was excited to purchase a machine which should help complete the work faster. An apple peeling, coring, and slicing machine!

Here I am with the results of the machine's efforts:


We also often include some berries in our crumble, as pictured above. Thanks to the ladies at Montain Musings for inspiring me to post pictures along with recipes. They posted a picture of the results of the Orange Muffin Delight recipe.

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Apply the Bible

Answering the Call is an excellent small book. The author, John Ensor, is a Baptist pastor. He does a fantastic job of demonstrating why Christians need to actively oppose abortion. John shows how the gospel can, and should, be central to their efforts. At one point, he addresses the argument that “if the Bible does not explicitly condemn something it must be fine.”

Virginia Ramey Mollenkott, professor emeritus at William Patterson University in New Jersey, calls herself an “evangelical feminist.” She claims that “nowhere does the Bible prohibit abortion.” In one sense she is right. The word abortion does not appear in the Bible. Of course, the Bible does not prohibit “driving to endanger” or “domestic violence” or “killing five-year-olds” either, if you demand an explicit listing for something to be forbidden. The Bible teaches that abortion is wrong by teaching that God views the preborn child as a person, and then by calling us to protect the life of all people from homicide.

Christians commonly argue that if the Bible does not explicitly address an issue, that issue is not important or is a matter of individual preference. At one conference I attended, the preacher argued that if the Bible had no explicit prohibitions or commands about a matter "then a Christian's opinion is a matter of cultural preference only." He went on to list 50 things ranging from smoking marijuana to nose rings. He argued that Christians should forsake all "cultural preference" to evangelise. In this version of Biblical application, the Bible is not only irrelevant to huge chunks of life, but Christians have a moral duty to ditch whatever hang ups they have and jump into whatever is happening around them.

The excerpt from John Ensor should demonstrate that such an approach to understanding how the Bible applies to our lives is problematic. Human beings are not only adept at inventing ways of doing evil. They are also good at inventing names for it. To expect an explicit command about a matter, in today’s language and terminology, is unrealistic. Cannibalism is not a word that appears in the Bible, but it does not take a degree in Biblical studies to notice that eating other human beings is not consistent with treating them as God's image bearers. When John G. Paton went to minister in Vanuatu, cannibal tribes lived all around him. When his wife and child died of natural causes, the cannibal tribes wanted to eat them. These tribes frequently ate deceased family members. He had to guard the grave night and day to prevent this. If the preacher at the conference I attended was right, John Paton should have instead joined in the feast.

Arguing that something “must be explicitly listed to be prohibited” not only becomes obviously ridiculous when applied to an action like cannibalism, it also encourages a minimalist approach to applying the Bible. Some of my sisters in Christ would require a Bible verse that stated "Bikinis are immodest" before they would stop wearing them. Other Christians would need a verse saying “watching explicit sex scenes on TV is unholy” before they would stop watching them. Rather than asking "what action would be most consistent with what God has revealed in Scripture", "what would promote holy living", or "what Biblical principles apply to this issue" some Christians are practical atheists. They act in many areas as though God does not exist, or does not care.

Christians should search the Scriptures for guidance in every area of their lives. They should expect that the Scriptures do address the matters that concern them. If there are not explicit commands, there are often principles that can be applied. Any principles or perspectives the Bible does offer should be much more valuable to Christians than what Joe Smith down the street is doing. The alternative to applying the Bible to all of life is to be swayed into all kinds of ungodliness and foolishness, under the guise of Christian liberty.

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The heart knows its own bitterness

The heart knows its own bitterness,

And a stranger does not share its joy.

Proverbs 14:10

The last week has been a tough one for me. My back pain, while constant, does vary a lot from tolerable right through to agonizing. Last week I had severe leg pain as well, which resulted in severe sleep deprivation, and had to have a day off work. I turned up for work, but was so sleep deprived and in pain that I couldn't do much except cry. I have comforted my little girls so often when they cry, and now it was their turn! I got myself together enough to do some sound blending with them before the relief teacher came in, and they gave me some hugs and kisses as I left.

It tends to be assumed in Christian circles, that if you go through a lot of suffering this makes you more sympathetic toward others who suffer. However, I do not think this is necessarily true. When I have massive back pain, and someone tells me a litany of their much less serious troubles I feel annoyed not sympathetic. (Others with greater troubles than my own may feel the same way toward me!). For example, someone recently told me that she felt "Job like" because one of her plants had died, her back had started being sore again after being good for a long time, she made a dent in her car, and her toilet needed fixing. I almost found this funny, it seemed so silly. I also thought it showed a great lack of perspective, considering the struggles of Job. Another day she told me she couldn't get through a day without having a disaster, and today the kettle had begun to leak. I couldn't help but point out that such an event was hardly a disaster.

When people make the assumption that people who suffer are more helpful, I also think of a pastor at a pentecostal church I once attended. This lady had a severe back problem, worse than my own. This seemed to make her less helpful, not more so. At the time (six years ago) I was doing a job, waitressing, that was completely inappropriate for the problems I have. When I expressed how I was struggling, she told me I did not want to get an "invalid spirit" and that I must keep on going. I continued the job until I totally collapsed.

Having said all this, I can see numerous ways suffering has helped me to be more sympathetic toward others. For example, I realise that when a dramatic life style change happens for any reason (death, divorce, disability, etc) people have to go through stages to recover. They often experience denial, then acceptance, grief, and anger. I more deeply appreciate this because I have been through it myself. I may not be able to identify much with huger griefs than my own, but I can at least realise some of the emotions people involved may be going through.

I also realise that whatever pain someone is experiencing, that is their pain, and it is therefore automatically so much worse to them than that of someone else. As the wise writer of Proverbs said "The heart knows its own bitterness." They cannot feel another's pain. They can sympathise, they can greive, but it is never going to be as immediately pressing, as real, as life changing. This is why the much trotted out advice to "think of those worse than yourself" is only of limited help. I do honestly feel grateful for how good my life is in comparison to those of others. However, I must still deal with what God has brought me in the way of trials. So must those who have lesser trials than my own. This is why when someone tells me, as I sit in agony in the evening at a meeting, about their bad back that sometimes hurts them in the mornings (and assumedly at no other time of the day!), I can to some extent sympathise. Their pain is real to them.

There is no such thing as a pain thermometer. How can the pain of one person, so different to the pain of another, ever be rated against one another? This is why when I hear of others' troubles, I pray I will not rate them against my own and look down on another for complaining about so slight a thing. To do so is not love for them, where they are at. I pray that somehow my pain will result in more sympathy, not less, for those who have physical problems that seem slight to me. I pray that when I am old, I will look like the old woman described in the novel Lorna Doone:

"She looked as if she had been visited by many troubles, and had felt them one by one; yet held enough of a kindly nature still to grieve for others."

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