Investigating Christianity – Page 2

Easter Sunday and new life for Bronwyn

Easter Sunday. Resurrection Sunday. The day Jesus Christ rose from the grave and first appeared to his disciples. The first day of the week. The first day of a new life, a glorious future, for all eternity, with the God of all grace. What a day! Then and now.

For you, Bronwyn, a day of glorious change. Like a butterfly, transformed from a caterpillar, only far more beautiful. All that was damaged and dying has been resurrected in wonder and joy. Weakness has been raised in power. The perishable has clothed itself with the imperishable. The earthly has been replaced with the heavenly. The mortal with immortality. Death has been swallowed up in victory. The sting of death has been taken away.

You now dwell with your God and Father. You are his precious child. Your tears have been wiped away. Your cancer has gone. You are suffering no longer.

Nothing could separate you from the love of Christ. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, could separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are now with Christ, which is better by far.

You are loved. You are missed. Your husband, your children, your family, your friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ.

You inspired so many with your kindness and love. Your joy in the midst of sorrow. Your fighting spirit. Your love for your family. Your patient endurance in the face of suffering. Your concern for others. Your testimony to Jesus. Your passion for God’s glory. Your strong hope of life in God.

Bronwyn, you have shown us faith and hope and love in the face of death. We thank you. We miss you.

Fact or fantasy

You head to the local library looking for a book to read over the long weekend. Something with drama, mystery, intrigue, torture, murder. You want to read about some allegations of grave robbery, insider plots, religious corruption, political power plays. And you’re keen to spice it up with some angels and demons, astrology, ghostly appearances, the spiritual underworld, ancient signs, the dead coming to life, and claims to divinity. “Where will I find something?” you ask.

The librarian brings you a book. It’s a little bit dusty. Doesn”t get borrowed too often. You look at the cover and it says Holy Bible. She opens it for you and points to The Gospel of Matthew. Where did she get it from? Is this Fact or Fantasy? Is it found in Fiction or Non-fiction? Is it History or Legend? Biography or Novel? Was it next to Harry Potter and The Twilight series, or was it down with The Works of Josephus and Suetonius?

What do you think?

Reading these requirements sounds like we’re dealing with fiction and fantasy, not history and reality. This is the kind of stuff you find in airport novels, B grade movies, low rating TV dramas. It’s not the kind of book you take seriously. Or is it?

I can tell you most people don’t. Even in many churches. The last 100 years or more has seen embarrassed churchy people talking these things down. Bishops denying that Jesus was born to a virgin. Theologians writing books claiming that Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead. It’s just his idea that lives on and that’s what we mean by resurrection. Many will say, it doesn’t matter one way or the other. The ideas are nice, they’re moral, they’re a good story, they’re nice for children. And hey, we get a few public holidays, so don’t worry about it!

Let me be open with you. Unless this is non-fiction, historical, factual, and continues to have relevance, then I’ve backed a complete loser. I’ve invested all my hopes, plans, priorities, aspirations, on this being truth. When I discovered that I had a terminal illness, the weight of these issues became enormous. I experienced doubts, fears, and confusion. I had big questions. Real questions, not just theoretical or ideological questions. They were intense, existential, of utmost significance. I engaged in investigation and reinvestigation. I had bet my life on this. Is it true?

I hadn’t just staked my future on this being real. I’d been living my life on the basis that it is. I’d been teaching that this book explains life. I’d been calling others to take it seriously. I’d been an advocate, an ambassador, a preacher of these things. Was I a fraud? Inadvertently even? Am I mistaken? Some say it doesn’t matter. I say it does!

In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, one of the first Christian preachers had this to say about the substance of the events described in the gospels:

¹⁴And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.

This is not just the idea of Christ living on, keeping his memory alive, but his physical bodily resurrection. Real death followed by real coming back to life. If it didn’t happen then there’s no point me trusting that it did or trying to persuade people that it still matters.

¹⁵More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead.

If these things are simply one big misunderstanding then the early Christians were guilty of perjuring themselves. They were liars, perpetuating myths about Jesus, brainwashing people with ridiculous notions. And therefore I’m guilty of doing much the same thing. Gullible, deluded, or just plain deceptive.

¹⁷And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

When it comes to death – and let me tell you this is something that I take very seriously – I believe what happens afterwards really matters. If there is a God, and he takes me seriously, and I’m asked to give an account for how I’ve treated Him, then my only hope is in Christ dealing with my sins in his body on the cross. No point claiming I’ve been good. I haven’t. No point backing my religious behaviour. It’s pathetic. My hope is only in Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection. If this didn’t happen, then I don’t have a leg to stand on before God.

¹⁸Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost.

There’s no hope for countless people who’ve already gone to their grave believing in Jesus. And what about those who’ve done so at gun point, who’ve been burned alive, crucified upside down, or thrown to lions? When all they had to do was change their minds! Recant! All they had to say was “No, I don’t really believe it!” They could have lived.

¹⁹If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

What a waste! Why would you spend your life living for a fiction, trying to persuade others. It’s really pretty sad! In fact, we may as well take these words seriously…

³²If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

That’s right. No point wasting my life on God, Jesus, hoping for resurrection, and a life beyond the grave. May as well simply focus on and enjoy what I’ve got now, because that’s all there is, and it’s not going to last that long.

What do I believe? I believe in the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. I believe in the ongoing significance of these events. I believe that my sin against God has been dealt with and that I have real hope for all eternity. As it says in 1 Corinthians 15:

³For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. ⁶After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, ⁸and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

I believe the evidence needs to be considered carefully. Weighed up seriously. These events make sense of promises written centuries before. They tie in so well with the words of the Bible that predicted them happening. When these words were first written, it was less that a generation after the events described. There were people alive who claimed to be eye-witnesses to the resurrected Jesus. You could question and cross examine them.

Cephas (Peter) had spent so long with Jesus, he was hardly likely to be mistaken. The twelve weren’t expecting him to appear. They were cowering in a room, in fear of their lives, after Jesus was killed. Five hundred people claimed to have seen Jesus on one occasion. You can’t explain this as mass hallucinations. And you could have asked some of them about who and what they saw. James, the brother of Jesus, would have been hard to convince. Not to mention Thomas, who wouldn’t believe without physical evidence. And Paul (or Saul as he used to be known) was so persuaded of the resurrection that he went from imprisoning Christians to joining them in prison. I understand a few lawyers would love this quality of evidence.

And then there’s the circumstantial evidence. How do you explain the missing body? The empty tomb? The wrong tomb? Surely, they’d just go to the next one. The authorities stole the body? All they had to do to stop the early Christians was produce it. The disciples stole the body and pulled off a conspiracy? Likely! A pathetic bunch of eleven cowards overthrowing imperial guards and then perpetuating lies that they go on to die for? Surely, at least one would have cracked to save himself!

There are many more pieces to the puzzle. Lot’s more circumstances to consider carefully. They keep pointing me to the conclusion that the accounts of Jesus are non-fiction, factual, historical records of real events. And these events are worth staking your life on.

This Easter, please consider.

Hey barista

This post is for my two baristas this morning…

Thank you for your coffee, and the second one! I’d contemplated making myself a coffee this morning, but my machine was off, I only had a few beans, and I didn’t have time. So discovering you guys as I walked to work was a bonus!

Sorry I didn’t have any money. I’d left my wallet in the jeans I was wearing yesterday. It was nice of you to offer to barter, but I didn’t really have anything I could part with. And then you were so generous – offering me lunch! Bananas, plums, rolls! I couldn’t take anything because I’d already picked up the lunch my wife left on the bench.

You seemed surprised when I told you I was a pastor. Maybe you don’t meet too many! And then suggesting I could offer you a blessing in exchange for a coffee! But your next suggestion was a cracker…

How about free entry to heaven?!!

Not sure how powerful you think I am or what influence I have, but as I said, I can’t give you that. BUT it is available! Truly! There are free tickets on offer. Paid for already. It’s what Easter is all about. Good Friday, the day Jesus died, is the day the entry fee to heaven was paid. For you. For me. For all who will trust Jesus. So if you’re serious about getting in, then I’d recommend you take a good look at Jesus. Best place to look is in the Bible. I’d suggest reading the Gospel of Mark.

I know you were surprised when I came back with the money. You probably get lots of people pretending to be pastors who have left their wallets at home, asking for free coffees! And you were probably even more surprised when I told you that I wanted to give you a blessing too. Those two books called A Fresh Start that I gave you were written by a good mate of mine. It’s a pretty clear explanation of what being a Christian is all about. The book explains how entry to heaven is possible and why it’s free. Please check it out. And I hope you like the Chuppa Chups too. I’m not allowed to eat sugar any more.

Not sure if you’ll get to read this, but I hope you will.

Great coffee too, by the way. I’ll be back for another! Have a great day.

Good Friday and the curse of cancer

Cancer has been front and centre this last week. Relay for Life on the weekend, with cancer survivors and carers, and the memory of loved ones now gone. Surgery today for our niece to remove any traces of melanoma. A funeral this morning for my friend’s mum, who lost her brief battle with lung cancer. Not long before there was Tony Grieg, and then Peter Harvey, and there have been so many others. Mums and dads, grandparents, cousins, uncles, children, bosses, neighbours, colleagues, passing acquaintances. Cancer is a cancer on our world. It invades our lives. It breaks our hearts.

Next Friday is Good Friday. A strange day, when we remember a man dying. In fact, I remember two men dying on this day. On Good Friday 2007 – it was the 6th April – I lost a good friend. He was only 29 years of age. He’d only been married for two years. We’d go to the gym together. He was my neighbour. He stood in the rain and helped us bury our family pet. He’d encourage me with stories – all true. He was my brother in Christ. Cancer took hold of my friend and it didn’t let go. I’d conducted his wedding and, soon after, I conducted his funeral.

It’s not right that a parent should have to view the death of their child.
It’s not right that a wife should lose a husband after only 2 years of marriage.
It’s not right that a man shouldn’t live to see his 30^th birthday.

It’s not right. God knows it’s not right. I wondered, after my friend’s passing, if we’d be able to look on Good Friday as good ever again. How could it be good when every Easter we’d be reminded of the death of our friend, or husband, or son?

We need to reflect on the death of the other man. He’s the reason we call it Good Friday. Jesus, who wasn’t much older than my friend. Jesus, who never married. Jesus, whose mother looked on in anguish at his death. Not a good Friday for Jesus. Nailed on a wooden cross. Between two criminals. Publicly ridiculed. Despised and rejected. Forsaken by his followers. Crying out, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

The worst of Fridays. The brutal execution of an innocent man. A genuinely good man. A just and merciful, compassionate and courageous man. But even more, this man Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Lord, and the Saviour. He was Immanuel, God with us. The death of Jesus was no accident. God wasn’t ambushed by the might of the Jews or Romans. There was a plan, a costly plan, a purpose to the death of Jesus. Something that would turn the worst of Fridays into the best day ever.

God had promised this day, centuries before, through the prophet Isaiah:

The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
on him, on him. (Isaiah 53:2-6 The Message)

On that first Good Friday, Jesus took our sin upon himself and he bore the punishment. He paid the price. He won our forgiveness, our freedom, our life with God. As Jesus hung on that cross, it should’ve been me… and you. Jesus, the Righteous One, took the judgment we deserve. He endured it, himself, so that we don’t have to.

It’s because of that first Good Friday, that we can look on the day my friend died as a very good day. My friend knew the forgiveness of sins that comes through Jesus. He trusted Jesus, not only in his life, but unto death. He knew the significance of Good Friday and the sure hope of Resurrection Sunday. As I saw the lifeless body of my friend in the hospital on Good Friday, I recognised that he was no longer there. He’d already departed. He was now with his Saviour. Death no longer had hold on him. Cancer did not have the final word. That word belonged to Jesus.

Mixed up macarisms

Looking back over the months, this blog has fulfilled a number of different purposes. I’ve been able to share what’s been going on with my cancer and treatment, and my physical, emotional, relational and spiritual responses to these things. I’ve reviewed a range of books – mainly Christian ministry and leadership material. I’ve shared my life as a Christian and invited others to seriously consider trusting in Jesus. I’ve written a few posts on leadership and I’ve even dabbled in a bit of poetry. It’s been pretty eclectic and nobody knows what I’ll write about next – not even me!

This has led to thoughts of starting another blog. Macarisms could remain the blog where I post on cancer and personal matters, and I could start another for leadership and ministry resources. In fact, these thoughts turned into action and I began a separate blog and started dividing the materials, creating new links, and so forth. But, I didn’t go live with the changes and I’ve since begun to think differently. I intend keeping the diversity on the one blog and I have, what I believe are, important reasons for doing so.

The internet is crowded with resources. Christian materials, blogs on leadership, people reviewing books, many selling their wares. We can view the resources, and maybe know the name of the author, but mostly we know absolutely nothing about the life of the people behind the words and ideas. Just lifeless, faceless men and women sprouting their wisdom via computers and phones.

I’m keen for macarisms to be different. I will write academic posts from time to time, but they will be placed alongside testimony and experience. I want people to understand how I do life as well as how I do theology. I hope to encourage, equip and inspire people from the Bible as I seek to live it out myself. In other words, I want to be someone who walks the talk.

The Bible teaches and models how important this is for Christian leaders…

Watch your life and doctrine closely. (1 Timothy 4:16)

¹You know, brothers and sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. ²We had previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong opposition. ³For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. ⁴On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. ⁵You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. ⁶We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority. ⁷Instead, we were like young children among you. Just as a nursing mother cares for her children, ⁸so we cared for you. Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well. ⁹Surely you remember, brothers and sisters, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyonewhile we preached the gospel of God to you.
¹⁰You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. ¹¹For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, ¹²encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory. (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12)

Integrity is priceless and absolutely essential for teachers. My aim is to live with integrity and so to speak and write with integrity also. For this reason I will offer a window or two into my life as I comment, teach and explore a range of different topics. I hope this works for you!

The wind and the waves

As many throughout Australia battle fires and soaring temperatures, I’m privileged to be staying on Sydney Harbour. The sea breeze is soothing, the harbour waters are cooling, and the views are amazing. Yesterday I went for a paddle on a surf ski, joined by a little dog called Maliki. She’s one of three dogs here at the moment (including our Bonnie) and the only one who managed to clamber onto the slippery ski without falling off.

We headed out against the breeze towards Middle Harbour Yacht Club. After a while the winds built up, gusting around 30-40 kph. I figured we should turn back. We made the turn and, while side on to the waves, Maliki slipped off and started swimming away. I reached for her and promptly fell off also. Dog one way, ski the other way, and the current was strong. I let go of the paddle, reached Maliki and then had to swim to the ski and recover the paddle. Not that easy in high winds. Eventually, I got hold of all three, put Maliki back on the ski, and hung on gasping for breath. The lungs aren’t what they used to be.

Meanwhile, the ski kept floating away in the wind and the waves, with me in the water clinging on, until it bumped into a luxury boat anchored in the harbour. A man poked his head over the side and asked if I was okay. I replied that I was, but I wouldn’t mind a rest! So we tethered the ski and climbed on board. Maliki and I shared a drink with the three couples on board! These people were very hospitable, doted on Maliki, and wanted to know all about where we’d come from. They could see I was pretty breathless and encouraged me to stay a while, until all was well. I explained that I had lung cancer and that I was struggling a bit. They probably thought I was stupid to be paddling on the harbour in these winds, because they mentioned more than once that it would be better to go out in the mornings before the winds got up. Yes, I know! I know!

After the winds had died down somewhat, we made our way back to shore. Interesting afternoon! It didn’t seem that big a deal, but it’s a reminder not to take the sea or my abilities for granted. Sometimes little things can quickly grow into big things. I’d proven the day before how easily I could fall off a stand-up paddle board, especially when two or three dogs try to get in on the action. Next time I’ll take a son, or daughter, or wife to rescue me!

I’ve been involved in rescuing people from the ocean before. And I’ve also enjoyed the help from others when caught in a rip and strong seas. It can be pretty scary. The important thing is to recognise when you’re in trouble and not to be too proud to seek help. Better to look stupid and be rescued, than to drown trying to do it all yourself.

It’s like this when it comes to relating to God. We need to be rescued and God is offering help. We need to drop our pride, our self righteousness, our hostility, and our apathy toward God. He’s reaching out his hand. He’s asking if we need help. He’s offering to take us on board his boat. He’s promising to get us safely to shore. He simply calls us to turn and put our faith in Jesus.

My experience yesterday brings to mind an extraordinary event in the life of Jesus – an incident that shows Jesus’ power to rescue.

³⁵That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. ³⁷A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. ³⁸Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

³⁹He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

⁴⁰He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

⁴¹They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” (Mark 4:35-41)

To be honest, I didn’t think to cry out to God yesterday. But some years ago I did cry out, and he heard my cry, and he rescued me from something far more serious than the wind and the waves. He rescued me from the consequences of my sin and his judgement. God delights in rescuing people and I’m eternally grateful.

Learning from the Mayan mistake

December 21 came and went without so much as a ripple. 21/12/12 had been forecasted as cataclysmic end to the world, based on a particular understanding of the Mayan Calendar. A handful of people escaped to various ‘safe zones’ throughout the world – though I’m not sure how that helps if the earth gets destroyed. Others were stockpiling food and wine – but I don’t know if they planned a feast before or after the world’s end! There was a bit of noise, some media hype, a few fanatics, and then disappointment – or should that be relief? December 21 was followed by 22, then 23, then 24, then Christmas… and now we’re well into 2013. What do we make of this? Ignore it? Joke about it?

I recommend learning from it. But what’s there to learn? Don’t listen to doomsday prophecies? Filter all media beat-ups? Be skeptical of all mystical explanations of the cosmos? Maybe, but I suggest something more concrete and personal:

It may not be possible to predict the end of the world,
but you can certainly predict the end of your world.

You probably won’t know the day or the month or even the year, but you can be absolutely certain that it will happen. Death is one of life’s certainties. We are finite beings. We grow old, get sick, and die. Sometimes this comes quickly, sometimes it’s delayed, but it always happens. Moses got right to the point when he wrote long ago:

Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away. (Psalm 90:10)

The Bible also teaches that this world will come to an end. It’s tied up with Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus entered this world once to bring salvation, so he will come again to judge the living and the dead. Jesus promises that this day will mean judgement for all who reject him, and life for all who submit to him and trust him. It’s common to ridicule and caricature the Bible’s teaching on the end of the world, but we’d do well to take Jesus at his word. He will come again.

So whether it’s the return of Jesus that marks the end, or whether it’s our mortality that guarantees our end, it makes sense to be prepared. There’s no point stockpiling things because they won’t help you and you can’t take them with you. There’s no ‘safe zone’ in this world you can flee to. But there is a way to prepare. Flee to Jesus and find refuge in him. He died and rose again to rescue you from the judgement to come. He’s offering you fulness of life now and forever. Do it now so that you don’t get caught out. Do it now so that you don’t miss out on the joy of relationship with Jesus in all the time you have left. Do it now because the more you practise putting things off, the better you’ll get at doing it. Do it now because the God who gave you this life wants you to enjoy life with him forever.

Merry Christmas

Here’s the Times Square Christmas message from the American Atheists. And I agree! The only problem is they put the captions with the wrong pictures.

The crucifixion of Jesus is no myth. It’s well attested in biblical and non-biblical historical sources. The baby born at Christmas grew up and gave his life to bring us good news of great joy – that bad people can receive God’s amazing gift of forgiveness. That’s the truly merry news of Christmas.

On the other hand, the Santa story grows more powerful every year. Maybe once upon a time there was a Saint Nick. I don’t know? But I do know that today there are millions. No shopping mall can be without one. And they all perpetuate the same myth – be good and you get presents. Trouble is we’re not. But why spoil a good myth for the sake of truth and real joy at Christmas?

Christmas uncut

A friend was telling me recently how much she enjoyed Christmas Uncut by Carl Laferton. I must have sounded interested because two copies arrived in the mail a few days later. It’s a good time to release a book like this, with Christmas only weeks (or is that days) away. I glanced through it, decided I liked what I saw, and promptly gave my two copies away! Anyway, I’ve since got hold of more copies and have now read it through carefully.

It doesn’t take long to finish this book, as there’s less than 60 pages with words on them. The pages are small and there’s even a few cartoons to keep you interested. Truth is, we don’t need pictures to hook us in. It’s well written, humorous, intriguing, matter of fact, and logical. Laferton shows how Christmas has become something of a children’s fiction. We all know that we’re not going to find Santa, or reindeer, or elves, or Christmas trees in the Bible. But what we don’t readily appreciate is how far from the truth many ‘Christian’ presentations of Christmas can be. Far from being a cute nativity story for kids, the real Christmas is filled with scandal, controversy, massacres and mystery. Maybe Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick should have teamed up to produce The Nativity – Director’s Cut!

This little book gets us beyond the commercialism and hype, the fiction and the fantasy, to the true message of the historical Christmas. Each chapter is divided into two parts: (1) what really happened, (2) why it really matters. Laferton uses real quotes from the Bible, accompanied by explanations and commentary of his own, to reveal exactly what took place. Then he explores some of the mind-blowing, earth-changing implications of these events. If you check out this video clip you can listen to the author tell you about his book, Christmas Uncut.

There are seven chapters, or ‘scenes’, in this book. Each one focuses on one character from the Christmas story and gives us a window into the significance of what took place for us today. Unlike many events in human history, that can be ignored without affecting anyone, the events concerning Jesus have major ongoing repercussions. Appropriately for Christmas, the bulk of the book deals with the accounts of Jesus’ birth and early years. However, these events cannot be fully understood without moving to the end of his life and examining the Easter accounts. The last two chapters tie all these pieces together.

Following the seven scenes are four brief chapters that point a way forward and begin to answer some common questions. The chapters are:

What next?
Yes but… isn’t this all made up?
Yes but… was Jesus really the Christ?
Yes but… surely Jesus didn’t really rise?

I enjoyed reading this book as it reminded me of what Christmas is really all about. It’s fun to read and it doesn’t take much time at all. This book makes for a cheap, worthwhile Christmas present. For less than $4 you can buy heaps of these, and if you speak to the publisher about bulk purchases they’ll probably do a deal (but don’t quote me!). I’m planning to get hold of more copies because I can think of many uses for this book…

As Brumbies chaplain, I’ve decided to give one to each of the players, coaches, team staff and admin at the annual Christmas party.
Your church could buy a whole bunch to give away to guests at your Christmas services or carols events.
You could get one for each of your work colleagues.
Your kids could give one to each of their teachers.
You could stick one in your Operation Christmas Child shoe box next year.
Get them to give away at your Gingerbread House, or equivalent, events.

If you’re a pastor, and you haven’t written your Christmas message, and you’re fishing for ideas, then this book will come to your rescue. There are at least seven Christmas sermons in this book. But don’t be so lazy!

The man in black is now wearing white

I confess to being a huge fan of Johnny Cash. I’ve got many of his albums, but I never got to see him perform live. A couple of years back, Tex Perkins’ The Man in Black: The Johnny Cash Story came to the Canberra Theatre. It was so good! It was fitting that someone would do a cover version of his story and songs, because Cash had recorded some of of the most amazing covers ever performed. This afternoon, the same friend who got me those tickets, sent me this clip of Cash performing on the Jools Holland Show in 1994. I loved it – the music, the man, and his message!

Cash had a blemished life, to say the least. He knew how to make a mess of himself and the people around him. He understood drugs and depression and divorce. He understood and was open about his sin. He knew that the one he’d hurt most of all was God himself. On this clip he speaks of his sin, but he also speaks of redemption. He says without redemption he wouldn’t be here. Cash spoke of redemption as more than a fresh start. It wasn’t simply getting his life back on track. He knew a hope beyond this life through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Cash knew these truths from Scripture:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.
(Ephesians 1:7)

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the tree [cross], so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness.” (1 Peter 2:24)

Jesus said: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. (Revelation 22:14)

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb [Jesus].” (Revelation 7:9-10)

Cash’s song is dripping with images of redemption. He focuses on Jesus, the one who hung upon the tree, paying the price for his sin with his own blood, redeeming him from captivity to sin, and grafting him into his vine. Johnny Cash looked to Jesus for help and hope and life forever. What Cash longed for and sang about, he now experiences in all its fulness. The man in black is now wearing the white robe of redemption.

Redemption is an extraordinary gift from God. No matter what we’ve done, no matter what we’ve become, God wants to buy us back. He wants us to know the freedom that comes from relationship with him. It wasn’t easy for God. It cost Jesus his life. The events of that first Easter are testimony to the amazing long-suffering generous forgiveness of God. I love listening to Cash sing the songs of redemption – and he sings many – but even more, I love enjoying the privilege of being redeemed. One day I hope to thank Jesus for what he did. And one day I hope to thank Johnny Cash for singing about it.

Redemption by Johnny Cash

From the hands it came down
From the side it came down
From the feet it came down
And ran to the ground

Between heaven and hell
A teardrop fell
In the deep crimson dew
The tree of life grew

And the blood gave life
To the branches of the tree
And the blood was the price
That set the captives free

And the numbers that came
Through the fire and the flood
Clung to the tree
And we’re redeemed by the blood

From the tree streamed a light
That started the fight’
Round the tree grew a vine
On whose fruit I could dine

My old friend Lucifer came
Fought to keep me in chains
But I saw through the tricks
Of six-sixty-six

And a small inner voice
Said, “You do have a choice”
The vine engrafted me
And I clung to the tree

And the blood gave life
To the branches of the tree
And the blood was the price
That set the captives free

And the numbers that came
Through the fire and the flood
Clung to the tree
And we’re redeemed by the blood

Johnny Cash Redemption

A Fresh Start by Chappo

On Saturday afternoon we joined with hundreds of others in St Andrews Cathedral, to give thanks for John Chapman. His passing had affected people in a manner that I hadn’t seen since the death of Princess Diana in 1997. No doubt the death of Princess Diana impacted millions more than Chappo, but as I watched the flood of facebook tributes in the hours following his death, I was deeply moved. Chappo shaped the lives of thousands of people in ways that he would never have known. It was a joy to celebrate his life, to be reminded of his Saviour, to sing the songs he loved, to pray for the legacy of his life and ministry to continue, and to thank God that we were able to share in his life.

My relationship with this man grew over many years, from first hearing him speak as a uni student, to being trained by him as a preacher, to being mentored and encouraged by him as a pastor. He became a very good friend who was not afraid to tell me the honest truth. I sought his wisdom on many occasions, especially when faced with big decisions, and his advice was always controlled by a desire to honour Jesus Christ. He’d often give advice, even when it wasn’t asked for – but it was always good! Chappo loved nothing more that to explain the message of Jesus clearly, so that people would hear God’s wonderful message of life, forgiveness, relationship with God, and hope for eternity.

A Fresh Start by John Chapman is one of the clearest books explaining the guts of the Christian message that I’ve read. It’s written with charm and wit. If you’ve heard him speak a few times, you can almost hear the tone of voice in his writing. It’s full of stories and illustrations, but it doesn’t waffle or meander off track. I looked for a copy of this book on my shelf, following Chappo’s death, and I couldn’t find one. The reason is that as quickly as I buy them, I seem to give them away to others. So I’ve just ordered another 20 copies.

I remember some years back speaking at an annual Christian conference, and reviewing A Fresh Start to the gathering. I asked the question, ‘Who has been influenced to become a Christian through their reading of this book?’ A number of hands went up! One time I was with Chappo after he’d received a letter from someone in prison who’d been deeply affected by reading it. We talked about it, and Chappo humbly revealed to me that hardly a week went by when he didn’t receive a letter of thanks for this book.

I’m not going to summarise the contents of the book, other than to say it explains very clearly what a Christian is, and how you can become one. It focuses explicitly on Jesus Christ, revealing who he is, what he has done, and why he should be followed. Many of the questions that people ask about Christianity are well answered in this little book. It’s worth buying to read, and to pass onto others who are interested in finding out more.

On the 8th December last year, Chappo was very unwell in hospital in Sydney. As was I in Canberra. It was only days after I’d been diagnosed with cancer. My 13 year old, Marcus, had just finished reading A Fresh Start, and Fiona suggested that he write a note to Chappo thanking him. He did and I understand that Chappo was very moved by the letter. He mentioned it often, not only to us, but also to others. In fact, a friend approached me after the thanksgiving service and shared how he’d been with Chappo shortly after he received the letter. With tears in his eyes, he suggested that my friend would be encouraged as he read it too. And he was.

Marcus has agreed to me reproducing a slightly edited version of his personal letter to Chappo and we hope it’ll encourage others to read A Fresh Start.

Letter to Chappo 8/12/11

Dear John Chapman

My name is Marcus McDonald, son of David McDonald. I asked my dad for your book, a fresh start because one of my youth group leaders said it was a good book to read, and it was a great book to read. I became a Christian a few months ago at my youth group camp. I heard an amazing talk by Steve Prior and that’s when I decided to live for Christ. Since then I’ve been having a bit of trouble being a Christian at school. I’ve been too focused on what other people think of me and not what God thinks of me.

Your book has really led me back onto track with Jesus. I’m reading God’s word a lot more now. I’m reading through the New Testament and I’m up to Philippians. I finished your book the night I found out my father had cancer. It was a very hard night I felt very sad. I read the last chapter that night and it told me to just pray and let God decide what he wants to do. Your book has helped me with a lot of things and I want to thank you for writing this book and I hope to read more of your books.

When I found out my dad was in hospital I thought it would be nothing and that we would still go to Darwin and start a new church, but it doesn’t look like we will move after all. Which is disappointing because I was really looking forward to moving. I was looking forward to going to a Christian school and making more Christian friends, because at the moment I don’t have many Christian friends. I just have to trust God that he helps me live for him at school. I also wanted to go fishing a lot in Darwin.

I’ve heard you are in hospital and I hope that you will get better very soon. It’s sad to have a lot of sick people close to you. My grandad also has cancer in the throat and that’s been hard on him and my dad. I enjoy going to church and youth group and spending time with God and some friends. I went to one night of NTE and I loved the great Christian atmosphere and the singing was amazing fun, it was so loud.

So thank you so much.

Marcus

Religious crap!

Some of you might be upset that I’ve used an offensive word in the title. To which I’m tempted to apologise for using the word ‘religious’! But seriously, I needed to use an offensive word, and I can think of more offensive words, but ‘crap’ seemed a good compromise. Why use it? Let me explain.

I think the average Aussie believes that Christians are religious people who are trying hard to get into God’s good books. They think a Christian is one who keeps various rules, regulations, and rituals in order to get right with God. If it was a comparison between a drug dealer and a nun, then the nun would be seen as closer to God. The more you do for God, the more likely you are to be in his good books. The better your religious resume, the more confident you can be of going to heaven. I know not everyone thinks this way, but enough do to make it an issue. What worries me, is that people think this is what Christianity is all about. And it’s scary.

If this were true, then I reckon I’d shape up pretty well…

Born while my dad was at theological college.
Grandfather a minister.
Dad a minister.
Uncle who’s a minister.
Another who was a missionary.
Pretty good pedigree!

Been to church nearly every Sunday I’ve been alive.
Still remember feeling guilty the first time we skipped to go on a train ride.
Went to Sunday School, Christian Endeavour, and church holiday camps.
Involved in youth group and Christian Fellowship at high school.
Even paid my own way to a National Christian Youth Convention.
On track and doing well!

At university I joined a campus Bible study.
More Christian camps and conferences.
Did a lay preaching course.
Began occasional preaching.
Organised and ran Bible studies and camps.
Better than average!

After uni I did a ministry apprenticeship.
Working for a church.
Off to Moore Theological College.
Bachelor of Theology with Honours.
Trained as a preacher by Chappo.
Master of Arts in Theology.
A-Grade training!

Ministry in Canberra.
Building Christian groups on the campuses.
Founding a new church.
Growing church, growing staff team, growing budget.
Planting another church.
Training ministry apprentices.
Sending out missionaries.
A ‘successful’ ministry, surely!

Preaching everywhere.
Baptist, Presbyterian, Uniting, Anglican, Independent.
Australia, South Africa, Kenya.
Canberra, Perth, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane.
Only Darwin missing.
Not a bad resume!

If religious pedigree, training, and experience counts with God, then surely I’ve got what it takes. If I miss out, then only an elite few will ever get in. Surely, I can be confident that I’ve done enough? Can’t I?

NO!

In fact all that stuff is nothing more than crap, if I think God will be impressed by it. It’s worse than useless as a means of getting right with God. Let me prove this by giving you a case study.

If anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised the eighth day; of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; regarding the law, a Pharisee; ⁶regarding zeal, persecuting the church; regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless.

⁷But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ. ⁸More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them filth, so that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ—the righteousness from God based on faith. (Philippians 3:4-9 HCSB)

The Apostle Paul had it all – pedigree, training and experience. What Sonny Bill Williams is to rugby league, union, boxing and ticket sales, so was the apostle to religion! He was the superstar. He came from the right stock, he’d worked hard, and he was perched at the top of the religious tree. Surely he could be confident of his standing with God, couldn’t he?

NO!

What he thought was to his profit, was actually loss. In fact, he says all his religious credentials are ‘filth’. The word is literally dung or excrement. The Message translates it as ‘dog dung’ and the Common English Bible as ‘sewer trash’. It’s fit for the toilet. It’s crap! Everything he was, everything he’d worked for, everything he’d achieved – all filthy. And remember it’s his religious credentials he’s describing. What would make him say this?

His knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Paul came to understand that to be a Christian was to be a follower of Jesus Christ. It meant putting his trust in Jesus rather than himself. It meant recognising that even though Jesus once hung upon a cross, God had now raised him to life and placed him in the position of supreme authority. It meant recognising that Jesus hadn’t died for his own sins (he was sinless), he’d died for Paul’s, and mine, and yours.

Paul came to recognise that being a Christian had nothing whatsoever to do with being religious. It’s not about rules and regulations. It’s not about religious rites and rituals.

It’s about having a real RELATIONSHIP with Jesus.

His religious resume was excellent, unsurpassed even. If you had to be good and do all the right things for God to accept you, then Paul would have passed with high distinctions. But once he recognised who Jesus was, and what he had done, everything changed. He recognised that it’s not about our religious performance.

Christianity is not about what we DO for God.
It’s about what Jesus has DONE for us.

So if you’re tempted to put your confidence in your religious achievements, please don’t. It’s a dead end, literally. It’s filth. It’s to your loss, not your gain. What would you prefer – to stand before God depending on your self-achieved righteousness? Or to trust in the God-given righteousness that comes by trusting in Jesus alone? Those who suggest that being a Christian is about religious performance are peddling dangerous and deceptive lies. To suggest that being Christian is about anything other than following Jesus is absolute crap! Don’t be deceived!

Making the most of the Bible

My youngest son received a wonderful parcel in the mail this morning – four copies of Making the most of the Bible sent by its author, John Chapman. One for him, another for his sister, one for Fiona and I, and another to give away. Thanks so much Chappo!

This is a great little primer for getting the most out of reading the Scriptures. It’s warm and engaging without wasting words. It’s more about attitude to the Bible than any special approach to reading. It’s only 66 pages short, I read it between breakfast and morning tea, and it’s the first book I’ve been able to read all year without glasses (nice large print)!

Chappo begins with the importance of faith. Reading the Bible should be more than an academic pursuit. We read it to discover the joy of trusting God with our lives. The Gospels reveal Jesus to be someone who can be completely trusted. He is reliable and always keeps his promises. As we read the Bible we have two choices: (1) either we approach it with hard hearts, only accepting what fits with our own desires and dismissing what doesn’t, or (2) we open our minds to discovering who God is, what he’s like, with a willingness grow in trusting him. Our attitude will make all the difference.

Making the most of the Bible focuses upon Jesus understanding and use of the Scriptures. This is an excellent approach, because anyone claiming to follow Jesus will surely want to see how Jesus treated the Bible. If we’re going to follow him with our lives, then we’ll also want to follow his lead with the Bible.

What was Jesus’ attitude to the Old Testament, what do we make of Jesus’ own words, and what was Jesus’ view of the New Testament?

The first thing we discover is that Jesus treated the Old Testament as having authority because he believed it to be God’s own words. He submitted to these words and called others to do the same. Jesus resisted the ancient temptation to doubt God’s truth and goodness, instead placing his full confidence in God’s promises. Jesus also claimed a special relationship to these words. He declared that the whole Old Testament points to him, and finds its fulfilment in him. These are bold claims, and they offer us the key to understanding the whole message of the Bible. After his resurrection, Jesus explained his life and ministry to his followers in these words:

⁴⁴He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)

It’s common for people to grab hold of some of Jesus’ teaching, without any intention of following him personally. Chappo reminds us that Jesus’ person, works and words are all tied together. Jesus’ life and teaching reveal who he is and his words calls us to follow him. Jesus claims to reveal God to us and backs this up with all he says and does. We might not appreciate this today, but at the time the religious authorities recognised the magnitude of his claim and they killed him for it. As Jesus reminded one of his followers at the last supper:

⁹Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. (John 14:9-10)

Jesus also explained why the New Testament should be accepted as God’s word. The apostles are the key. Jesus had spent time teaching them before and after his resurrection. It was his plan that they would pass on his message, and do it with an inspired accuracy. He promised the apostles that God’s Spirit would oversee this happening:

¹²“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. ¹⁴He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. ¹⁵All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 16:12-15)

Chappo takes us to the heart of the Bible’s message, drawing us to God’s awesome offer of forgiveness and life with him for eternity. These promises are rooted in the Old Testament and find their full expression in Jesus. My heart was warmed as I was reminded of some of the wonderful promises contained in the Bible:

¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his love for those who fear him;
¹²as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; (Psalm 103:11-13)

³⁴No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes.There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
(Revelation 21:3-4)

What an awesome God! What wonderful promises he makes! What a beautiful hope he offers all who will take him at his word and put their trust in the Lord Jesus.

The final sections of this little book, highlight how to respect the Bible as literature and read it with understanding. They address commonly held concerns over the reliability of the Bible, confidence in the transmission of the manuscripts, and evidence for Jesus’ divinity.

Making the most of the Bible is an excellent introduction for people who want to understand what the Bible is about, why it matters and how we should approach it. I recommend it. Read it and think about who you can pass a copy to. Christmas is coming! I’d give this book to my two teenagers… but Chappo has beaten me to it!

The insecurity of my introspection

When I was in my late teens I seem to remember spending a lot of time praying. There were two main reasons for this. The first was that I rode motorcycles and I didn’t want to become a ‘temporary Australian’. As I look back, I’m sure there was something inconsistent about breaking the speed limit and asking God to keep me safe at the same time! The second reason I prayed a lot is that I kept getting myself into trouble. I’d do things I knew I shouldn’t do, and that I didn’t want to do, and I’d just keep on doing them. Many a night I’d be praying through this long list of things I’d done wrong, just in case I died that night and God still held them against me.

I didn’t realise it at the time, but my problem was that I thought it was up to me to make myself a Christian and to keep myself a Christian. If only I could be good enough for God. I’d try and turn over a new leaf each time I failed – which was pretty often, daily even. Surely, if I confessed the things I’d done to God, and didn’t miss any, then he couldn’t really blame me. To be honest, I now recognise that I was living in fear and insecurity. I was anxious about dying, and deep down I knew I wasn’t at peace with God. Having grown up in a Christian family, always going to church, and having called myself a ‘Christian’, this was a pretty strange place to be.

My problems intensified when I moved away from home. In many ways I longed to escape my past, start afresh, and do everything right from now on. And people wouldn’t label me as a hypocrite because they couldn’t judge me by my past failures. Somehow, I thought a change of environment would make it easier to satisfy God too. The problem was that the environment changed but I didn’t! I failed almost immediately and my new circumstances just provided me new opportunities to stuff up. And so I started to doubt the whole Christian thing. Perhaps, there was no God. Or if there was, then I needed to admit that I didn’t really belong to him. I was a disappointment to myself, to others and to God.

Something happened to change all this. Someone helped me to grasp the difference that Jesus makes. I’d heard the language – Jesus died to save you from your sins – but I hadn’t understood what this meant. It was reading these verses from the Bible that turned my whole life inside out:

⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Romans 5:9-11)

The idea of being justified comes from the world of legal transactions. It means to be declared in good standing – with God in this case. The reason for the good standing is that the penalty has been payed and the debt fully cancelled. And the payment here is nothing less than the death of Jesus Christ. In short, God no longer holds anything against me because Jesus has fully paid the price for all my failures by dying upon the cross. Jesus takes the judgment I deserve. It’s like he swaps places with me and is executed in my place. The implication of this, or the how much more argument, is that because the price is fully paid then I can be fully confident of being in good standing with God – now and on the day when everyone is called to give account. Wow!

This was revolutionary for me. This meant that because Jesus had died for me, then my past failures, my present failures, my forgotten failures, my future failures – they are all paid for in full. No judgment to come. Nothing to fear. It’s not about my performance or my penance or remembering my every shortcoming. It’s all about Jesus and what he’s done to guarantee me a relationship with God. There’s no pride in this either, for it’s all God’s work. Once I’d grasped this, I can honestly say that everything changed. It’s not that I became perfect – far from it – it’s that I knew I could rest my confidence in God.

That was many many years ago and a lot’s happened since then – especially this past year. Recent months have presented quite a few challenges to my beliefs and my confidence in God. Being faced with my own mortality has taken things to a whole new level. It hasn’t always been plane sailing. In fact, there’ve been a few times when I’ve slipped back into the errors of my teenage years. What if I stop believing in God? What if doubt gets the better of me? What if I’ve made all this up? What if I’m really hollow, living a facade, and there is no substance to my faith? These sorts of struggles have bothered me in the dark times, but I know that the answer remains the same. It’s not up to me. It’s not my performance. It’s not my good life or the strength of my faith or the sincerity of my confessions that secure my relationship to God. It is entirely God’s gift through the substitutionary death of his Son, Jesus Christ. As I was reading through 2 Corinthians earlier today, I was encouraged also by these words:

²⁰For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. ²¹Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, ²²set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Corinthians 1:20-22)

This is my prayer:

Thank you God that you offer failures like me a relationship with you. Thank you Jesus for dying in my place and paying the full cost for all my failings. Thank you God for taking hold of me, keeping me in your care, and giving me your Spirit as a guarantee of life with you forever.

Investigating Jesus – An Historian’s Quest

I was never a great fan of history. Stuff done in the past. Dust and cobwebs. Rote learning names, dates, events and details. It all seemed so boring and irrelevant. I had to study some history at school, but from the moment I could choose my subjects I left it behind. History was history as far as I was concerned!

Of course, this attitude is pretty naive. History helps explain who we are, where we’ve come from, what’s influenced us, what things matter and what don’t. Every time we watch the news or read the paper we’re studying history. When we flick through our family albums or read over our diaries we’re reflecting on our own history. What I didn’t appreciate for sometime was that whenever I opened my Bible I was engaging with history. I was reading of people and events in the past that were shaping my life in the present. How reliable was that history? Could it be trusted? Was it something I could stake my life on? These are important questions for those of us who want to consider, or reconsider, the basis of our beliefs.

I’ve just finished reading Investigating Jesus – An Historian’s Quest by John Dickson. Firstly, let me say it’s a beautiful book! Hardback, stitch bound, colour photos of archeological sites and ancient papyri, laced with wonderful paintings and works of art, helpful diagrams, pithy quotes … and it’s well written!

More significantly, this book is entirely about history. It’s about how historians do their job. It’s not a theological book. It’s not religious propaganda aiming to persuade people to become Christians. Investigating Jesus offers a good introduction to anyone wanting to learn the tools and strategies available to historians, and it demonstrates how they’ve been applied in examining the evidence regarding Jesus.

John focuses the bulk of this book on examining the various sources that provide historical data about Jesus. He considers the Gnostic Gospels, that came to fame in Dan Brown’s The DaVinci Code, and shows both their value and limitations in gaining information on Jesus. He examines various non-Christian sources, from the first and second centuries, that make reference to Jesus and he argues that it’s important not to exaggerate or underestimate the value of these sources. In fact, without any reference to the Bible, the evidence from these sources leads all reputable historians to agree that a Jewish teacher named Jesus really did live and die in the first part of the first century AD. (p84)

The New Testament provides the bulk of the information we have about Jesus. It’s common for people to dismiss this evidence as one source that’s biased and therefore unreliable. However, the New Testament is a collection of many sources, not just one. And the biases of the authors doesn’t mean that they’re therefore fabricating evidence. Historians are used to handling documents with obvious biases and they’ve developed a number of tests to evaluate the reliability of their evidence. These include:

The criterion of dissimilarity

The criterion of date

The criterion of multiple attestation

The criterion of embarrassment

The criterion of coherence

The criterion of historical plausibility

The criterion of archaic language

The criterion of memorability

These criterion are explained and illustrated in this book to show how they can be applied to the various accounts of Jesus in the New Testament. We are continually reminded that these are common tools of the trade for historians. These are the normal processes that historians, be they atheist, Christian, Jewish, or otherwise, apply to weighing the evidence before them.

Archeology is also considered alongside these criterion. In recent years there have been some very important archeological discoveries that have given insight into the world of the New Testament. Some incidental details in the Gospels have been confirmed and some previously held theories about Jesus have been overturned.

The concluding chapter of this book considers the difference between probability and proof. The discipline of history deals in degrees of probability rather than repeatable scientific proofs. This doesn’t mean that history only offers second class knowledge. In fact, there are strong similarities with our legal system that gains knowledge by weighing up the evidence. Historical (and legal) proof is really probability beyond reasonable doubt.

Examining all the sources that refer to Jesus, both outside and inside the New Testament, and applying the aforementioned criterion for testing these sources, leads historians of all persuasions to agree on the following:

… while many doubts remain over the details, the core elements of Jesus’ life are in fact known … there is an overwhelming scholarly consensus today that a Galilean teacher and (reputed) healer named Jesus proclaimed the arrival of God’s kingdom, wined and dined with ‘sinners’, appointed a circle of twelve apostles, clashed with religious authorities, denounced the Jerusalem Temple and wound up dead on a Roman cross; shortly after which his first followers declared that they had seen him alive again, announced he was the long-awaited Messiah and sought to preserve and promote (first in oral form, then in writing) all that they could of their memorable master’s life. The sources and methods contemporary scholars use allow certainty on at least these elements of the ancient Gospel story. (p155)

If, like me, you’ve never been much into history, then Investigating Jesus is a great introduction. If you’ve never considered the reliability of the evidence for Jesus, then here’s a place to start. If you’re after an easy to read, well illustrated, clearly argued book on the historical bedrock of Christianity, then I recommend this one. In writing this, John Dickson set out to bridge the gap between popular perception and scholarly judgment about the figure of Jesus and in my humble opinion he does this well.

At the end of the day, this is a ‘second order’ book. It’s like an instruction manual that shows how something works and helps you to use it. Investigating Jesus is aimed at helping the reader to investigate Jesus. It’s not an alternative to investigating Jesus for yourself. Having read this book you’ll be better equipped to go back to the primary sources, read them over and over, and weigh up their implications. If you’ve never done this before, let me encourage you to get hold of a New Testament (and any of the other primary documents mentioned in this book) and discover all you can about Jesus.

An open letter to Sam Harris

Dear Mr Harris

I was encouraged by a friend to watch your lecture on Death and the Present Moment at the recent Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne. Your topic is very close to home for me, as I’ve been battling a stage 4 adenocarcinoma of the lung for the past 6 months. I understand it was also especially pertinent for you, and many in your audience, following the death of your good friend, Christopher Hitchens. Your lecture has provoked me to consider a number of issues and to write a few words in response.

For me, the most provocative words in your talk were the following:

Atheism appears to be a death cult, because we are the only people who admit that death is real.

When I heard these words, I had to stop and hit replay. You didn’t really say that, did you? Surely, this is hyperbole for the sake of impact! I’m a theist, not an atheist, and I firmly believe in the reality of death. I’ve visited morgues, been on the scene at fatal accidents, attended funerals, and sat beside lifeless bodies in the hospital. Strangers, friends, and family. No breath, no movement, no heartbeat, no consciousness, no life. I’m not an atheist and yet I affirm that death is very very real. It seems bizarre to claim otherwise.

I suspect it’s what you call the ‘gospel of atheism’ – that nothing happens after death – that’s really at issue here. You admit that atheism doesn’t offer real consolation in the face of death and you claim that religion creates a fictional hope, that’s really no hope at all. Thus, while people might feel better that their deceased daughter is ‘now with Jesus’, you don’t believe they have any reason to believe. I think this is a question worth putting on the table and exploring:

Is there, or is there not, any reasonable evidence for life after death?

There may be a number of ways to answer this question, but it would appear to me that a fruitful starting place is the Christian claim that Jesus, the first century carpenter, died and subsequently rose from the dead. I’d start here because Christians base everything on this being true. The claims that Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb and that he had been seen alive are foundational to Christian beliefs. Scrutinise them, consider the explanations, explore the alternatives, look at the impact on people at the time. Evaluate the counter claims, conspiracy theories, tampering of documents, and challenge the evidence. Public scrutiny and debate are a good thing if they’ll help us get to the truth of the matter.

You also seem to assume that religion is all about faith, whereas atheism is all about reason. This assumption needs to be challenged. They’re not opposing pairs. Faith can be based on reason. I’d say that good faith must be based on good reasons. Let me illustrate. I have faith that my wife loves me. Why? Because there is good evidence that this is so. I sit on a chair, showing my faith in the chair to hold my weight, only because it is reasonable. I take a step of faith (trust, dependence, practical belief) because there are good reasons to exercise that faith. Dare I say it, atheism is a step of faith – faith that there is no God and no life after death – based on reasons. What is needed is a non-bigoted, open-mindedness to examine and evaluate the reasons for the faith(s).

There is something else that bothered me about your lecture. You seem to divide the world into two belief systems: atheism and religion. This seems reductionist, disingenuous, and deceptive. It is not meaningful to lump together Muslims and Hindus as being the same. They’re both ‘religious’ and they’re both ‘not atheists’, but one believes in only one God and the other believes in many Gods. In fact, you could group Buddhism and Atheism together as ‘non-theism’ and contrast them with Judaism and Islam as ‘theism’. My point is that speaking of ‘religion in contrast to atheism’ simply muddies the waters. It would be much more productive to evaluate the particular claims of different religions alongside the particular claims of atheism.

I’d like to finish with an observation that you made about people. You intended it as a critique of atheists, and I’d like to claim it as a critique for many Christians also. These are your words:

We spend much of life tacitly presuming we’ll live for ever.

Death is the clearest evidence that life is finite and yet we live as though it isn’t so. You remind us that we waste a lot of time on trivia when things are ‘normal’. Why else would we watch that hopeless movie for the fourth time?! We care about the wrong things. We regret the things we’ve spent time caring about. You call us to live in the moment. You invite us to explore what’s really worth having and doing. I’m persuaded that the answers to these questions are to be found in knowing God and enjoying the life that God gives us, not by dismissing God and reconstructing a world without him.

The death and resurrection of Jesus is evidence to me of what lies ahead. These events in history provide the reasons for my faith. They explain why I’m not religious. That is, I’m someone who has discovered good reasons to put my faith in Jesus, rather than trying to earn my place in heaven (in contrast to many other religions). However, my assurance of a real life beyond death, doesn’t lead me to complacency, but to a renewed urgency and purpose in life here and now. Sometimes I can drift along as though this is not the case, as can we all, so thank you for bringing me to attention once again!

Sincerely,

Dave McDonald

If I were God I’d make myself clearer

If I were God I’d make myself clearer. That’s a big call! Way too big for me. But I can understand the sentiment. Why doesn’t God simply prove beyond all reasonable doubt that he exists? Once and for all. No questions. No ambiguities. No contradictory evidence. Just clear, obvious, proof.

I guess the obvious question is, what would such clarity look like? What would I consider persuasive? What would it take for you to be convinced of the existence of God? And then, which God are we talking about? There are so many religions, so many claims about God, how can we possibly know which is the right one, if any of them are?

In this little book, John Dickson takes us on a pathway through the maze of ideas about God. It’s been popular for years to argue that all beliefs are really different paths to the same end. This could be for a couple of reasons. Firstly, so much blood has been spilled through religious conflict, that there seems nothing to be gained by highlighting differences that could cause more conflict. Secondly, sorting out the differences takes research, time and effort, and not many people are prepared to do this. It’s easier to stay preoccupied with trivia.

John demonstrates that religious pluralism has obvious and fatal flaws. How can Hinduism and Buddhism possibly both be true expressions of reality. Hinduism has many gods, while classical Buddhism rejects the notion of any god. Christianity believes that people are saved by the mercy and grace of God, whereas Islam argues that people are saved through ethical and ritual obedience. Christianity claims that Jesus is the Messiah who fulfils the promises made to Israel, and yet Israel still awaits a Messiah. The Koran claims that Jesus was neither crucified or resurrected, while Christianity hangs everything on these events. A quick assessment of these claims highlights the bankruptcy of pluralism. It could be that none of these religions are true, but there is no way they can each be true.

This is a scary prospect in a world committed to tolerance. However, John offers us a better understanding of tolerance.

True tolerance, then, is not my willingness to accept the position of another, it is the more admirable ability to treat with respect a person with whom I deeply disagree. A tolerant Muslim, for instance, is not one who accepts as valid the Buddhist doctrine of ‘birth and rebirth’, it is one who, while rejecting such a teaching, is able to remain respectful and compassionate toward Buddhists themselves. Again, the tolerant Christian is not one who accepts as valid the Hindu claim that there are many gods, it is the one who, while denying polytheism, is able to treat Hindus with the honour due to them as fellow members of the human race. In each case there is an informed awareness of the contrary position of the other and a generous commitment to respect and value the person who holds that position. (p38-39)

Such an understanding of tolerance opens the way through the maze of ideas. We can be intellectually rigorous and culturally sensitive in a way that overcomes bigotry and discrimination. We don’t have to paint over differences but can be freed to respectfully discuss, and argue, and explore and persuade one another.

This book argues that Christianity is to a large extent a ‘verifiable’ religion. This is not to say that it’s true, but that it’s founded upon public, historical, evidence. It makes claims that can be tested through historical, archeological, literary, and critical scrutiny. The implications of this are important. If none of the places, dates, names or events pertinent to Christianity could be attested anywhere else, there would be good grounds for being suspicious as to it’s truth claims. If it could be demonstrated that Jesus never lived, was not crucified, or did not rise from the dead, then Christianity could hardly be trusted as the way to God. As it is, Christianity makes some dangerously verifiable claims and invites people to check them out. No tricks or mirrors – just open investigation. This is a book that invites such scrutiny.

The heart of the evidence for Christianity lies in the documents of the New Testament, much of which were written shortly after the events they describe. Consider, for example, the following incident recorded in the Book of Acts. In AD 50 the city of Athens in ancient Greece was a melting pot of ideas. All kinds of claims were made about religion, and there were many ‘gods’ being promoted. Into this confusion, the Apostle Paul sought to bring some clarity by directing people to the evidence concerning Jesus. You can read what he said and the reaction it evoked…

²²Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. ²³For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.

²⁴“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. ²⁵And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else.²⁶From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.²⁷God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ²⁸‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

²⁹“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man’s design and skill. ³⁰In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. ³¹For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”

³²When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some of them sneered, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this subject.” ³³At that, Paul left the Council. ³⁴A few men became followers of Paul and believed. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others. (Acts 17:22-34)

Some sneered, some followed, and others were keen to find out more. If you’d like to find out more, this little book by John Dickson will help point you in the right direction.

If I were God I’d end all the pain

If I were God I’d end all the pain. That sounds pretty right. I’m not much of a fan of pain, especially my own! Currently, I’m sitting on my bed wearing ugg boots and a hoodie, bemoaning the cold weather, wondering if I’m well enough to venture out to watch the Brumbies play the Reds at Canberra Stadium tonight. Today’s temperature is supposed to range between 0 and 10 degrees. Subtract the wind chill and it will probably feel like minus a zillion at the ground. I must be sick or something, because until this year, I don’t think I’d missed a home game in a decade. Maybe I should ring up someone and see if I can sneak into a corporate box!

Yesterday it felt like sickness was getting the better of me. I ached all over and spent the afternoon and evening drifting in and out of sleep. I’ve probably just got another cold and a weakened immune system. But it’s not fun and it’s another reminder that things aren’t what they should be. For some dumb reason I checked the weather app on the phone at 10pm last night to discover it felt like -1.6 degrees in Canberra, while it was a balmy 25 degrees in Darwin. My heart sighed, I wished we were there, and once again wondered what on earth God was doing.

John Dickson’s little book, If I were God I’d end all the pain, is a helpful read for those who are looking for answers to the questions raised by suffering and pain. It’s not a detached philosophical book that fills the head and ignores the heart. John has experienced pain, first hand and from a young age, having lost his dad in plane crash when he was nine years old. He writes as one who understands the questions and who has explored many of the answers being offered.

Issues of faith and doubt loom large in the presence of suffering. Sometimes people attempt to use suffering as proof for the non-existence of God. It’s often expressed something like this:

Assumption 1: An all-powerful God would be able to end suffering.
Assumption 2: All all-loving God would desire to end suffering.
Fact: Suffering exists.
Conclusion: An all-powerful, all-loving God, therefore, does not exist. (p15)

John offers an alternative proposition that he explores in this book:

Assumption 1:  An all-powerful God exists.
Assumption 2: All all-loving God exists.
Fact:  Suffering exists.
Conclusion:  God must have loving reasons (which he is able to achieve) for permitting suffering. (p16)

This is not offered as a proof for God. Nor does it solve the problem of suffering. It still leaves deep and emotional difficulties for the one who believes in God. Such as, Why does God allow this suffering? and What has he done about it?

Before John gives a Christian explanation for the problem of suffering, he explores a number of other perspectives. He demonstrates how Islam understands suffering in a very different manner to Buddhism, and how Hinduism and Atheism are very different again. I won’t attempt to summarise these views because I don’t want to caricature them by reducing each to a few sentences. But it’s important to understand how different these world views are, against the popular claim that all religions are simply windows into the same truth. This suggestion shows serious ignorance and disrespect for each of these religions and world views.

The Bible’s perspective on suffering is that it’s okay to ask questions and raise doubts. In fact many of the biblical authors, especially the Psalm writers, do exactly that. Psalm 22 is offered as an important example:

¹My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
²O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, and am not silent.

John writes in response to the words of this Psalm:

If I were a Buddhist, this sort of questioning would indicate my unenlightenment; if I were a Muslim, it would border on blasphemy; if I were an atheist, or course, it would be meaningless. Actually, I suspect some church folk of today would feel uncomfortable repeating the sentiments of this psalm. Sometimes we in the church feel we must declare “The Lord is my shepherd” even if the Shepherd seems to have gone walk-about. But faith isn’t like that, at least biblical faith isn’t like that. Faith is not denial of reality, nor does it involve repeating a mantra to dispel the doubts. The presence of Psalm 22, in the Bible, right before Psalm 23, reminds us that we have God’s permission to express our disappointment. (p34-35)

The Bible gives an explanation for the cause of human suffering and it lies in our decision to reject our Creator. From that moment onwards (somewhere near the beginning of human history) everything has been out of whack. Things have grown worse and worse with every assertion of our independence from God. I’m preaching on Genesis 4-9 tomorrow and I’ve been struck again at how quickly everything deteriorated. John writes of Genesis 3:6, So began the long and torturous story of the human will: men and women, made in God’s image, defying their Maker for an imagined personal gain. (p42)

Of course, many have asked why God doesn’t simply step in, over-rule our selfish decisions, and stop the pain we cause. If he has the power to do this, then what’s stopping him? The answer lies in God’s respect for human dignity. He has made us as real beings with real choice. We’re not puppets like Truman, in the movie, The Truman Show. God doesn’t play ‘dolls house’ with the world. We are real independent beings who can choose either to relate to God, or to reject God. God allows us to choose, and to live with our choices, but he won’t allow evil and suffering to continue forever. He’s set a time when he will call all injustice to account. It’s a testimony to God’s patience that he hasn’t done this yet. God is giving people time to turn back to him.

This book also highlights the biblical perspective that God hasn’t given up on this world. He promises an eternal future for all who put their confidence in Jesus Christ. Contrary to the popular notion of heaven, where people are seen as disembodied souls separated from physical existence, the Bible speaks of a new physical creation. We can look forward to an end to pain and suffering and the restoration of our bodies. This is a place where we continue to enjoy real physical sensory experience. We can look forward to a future that holds real hope for those currently suffering in pain.

John finishes his book with a profound perspective on suffering that’s unique to Christianity. In contrast to Islam, which sees God as the ‘Unmoved-Mover’, the Bible portrays God as sharing in our suffering as the ‘Deeply-Moved-Mover’. Jesus, God-in-the-flesh, shares in this painful world, suffers deeply, and dies a torturous death by crucifixion. But the deeper significance in Jesus’ suffering is found in these words of Psalm 22, that Jesus makes his own:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

Why would Jesus cry out such a thing? This is God’s Son, in whom God is well pleased, so what’s happening? Jesus does far more than experience my physical or emotional suffering and pain. He takes my guilt and shame, enduring the judgment of God against all my selfishness and sin, so that I can receive God’s mercy. Totally undeserved, but generously offered. Here is real hope for all who suffer… if we will put our trust in Jesus.

Making the most of the cross

The second sermon I ever gave was a cracker. People told me! It was logical, engaging and humorous. I succeeded in explaining, illustrating and applying the Bible in a way that captivated the listeners. My girlfriend (now wife) even started to believe that I might have some hope of becoming a preacher! But, it’s time for public confession. I basically pinched the whole talk, idea for idea, point for point, from John Chapman.

I don’t think I was the first to do this, and I’m certain that I wasn’t the last. You see, I’d looked over the Bible passage again and again, and I couldn’t see any way to make it clearer than Chappo. So why not simply copy his talk?

Chappo’s passionate desire for people to understand the truth, and his confidence in the Bible to reveal it, came through so clearly in his preaching. He still has this same passion and confidence, and it comes across in his recent book, Making the most of the Cross. How many people are still writing books after their 80th birthdays, and dedicating them to their friends in the retirement home? Well, at least one! And I thank him for it!

This book takes us to the very core of the Christian message – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Everything stands or falls on these events. Without them, there is no Christianity. If Jesus didn’t die, or if he died and remains dead, then there is no real hope for humanity, either in life or in death. This is no take it or leave it topic. It’s worth investigating seriously, whether we’re a child or an octogenarian. But don’t leave it until you’re 80 if you’re not already there!

There are two main sections in Making the most of the Cross. The first explores the significance of the death of the Lord Jesus. The second considers the facts and meaning of the resurrection. You could tackle the book in two parts, but the real benefits will come from going even more slowly and considering the many different aspects and implications of these events.

The death of Jesus has been described as a jewel with many facets. Each facet gives us a different window into the significance of the cross and its profound implications for us. All facets need to be seen so that we don’t underestimate or skew the meaning of the cross. For example, Chappo helps us to see that…

Jesus’ death brings salvation

Jesus’ death is a substitute

Jesus’ death is a ransom

Jesus’ death turns away God’s anger

Jesus’ death brings the defeat of Satan

In Jesus’ death, the just God justifies sinners freely

Jesus’ death is the unifying force in the Christian community

Jesus’ death brings forgiveness and cleansing

John Chapman grounds every chapter of his book in the text of the Bible. The Gospel accounts are the primary evidence for what happened to Jesus, and how Jesus understood what was happening. The rest of the New Testament supports this, giving additional insight into their meaning. Sometimes the Old Testament is quoted to assist us in understanding a particular background to Jesus’ death or resurrection. In fact, reading this book helps us to see more of how the whole Bible is focused on Jesus and only makes sense in the light of what he has done.

Given the brevity of this book, there is much more that could be said about the significance of the cross. But, this book provides a very good primer. If you are keen to take things deeper then let me recommend The Cross of Christ by John Stott, The Atonement by Leon Morris, and Where Wrath and Mercy Meet edited by David Peterson, among others.

To claim that Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive today, 2000 years later, is nothing short of extraordinary. What is more, Christianity stands or falls on the truth of this claim. It’s not an optional accessory. It’s the heart and soul of it all! Chappo outlines briefly the evidence for the resurrection, including the empty tomb, the eyewitnesses, the amazing transformation of the disciples, and their lasting impact on others (even to this day). But he doesn’t stop here. He goes on to highlight the significance of Jesus being raised, how the resurrection vindicates Jesus in his death, reveals him to be God’s appointed eternal ruler, the judge of all people, the pioneer of life beyond the grave, the pattern of resurrection to come, and the very real hope for you and me that death is not the end.

One thing that impressed and encouraged me about Making the most of the Cross is the suggested prayer, usually just a sentence or two, printed at the end of each chapter. This gives the book a personal edge that encouraged me to relate to God and not simply fill my head with ideas and information. The death and resurrection of Jesus is life-transforming. It has changed my life forever. But the truth is, I need to keep being reminded of these things. Perhaps you do too! I found these words ringing true…

Sometimes the circumstances of life may cause us to wonder if God has forgotten us. Everything seems to be going wrong. But the death of Jesus is above our circumstances. Nothing can take away the fact that Christ died for us. No matter what happens to you or to me, the death of the Lord Jesus says, “I love you”. Nothing can change that. Be in no doubt that God loves you. Jesus’ death remains as a beacon of God’s eternal love for us. (p14)

Making the most of the rest of your life

John Chapman, or Chappo as we like to call him, is one of my heroes. Back in 1989 I had the privilege of being trained by Chappo to become a preacher. He’s a master communicator, one of the best preachers I’ve heard, and he also knows how to share his craft with others. He’d give his young apprentices, including yours truly, what we affectionately called ‘the blow torch to the belly’. If he didn’t like your talk, he’d tell you! And then he’d deconstruct and reconstruct the talk, and eventually it would morph into a much better one. It wasn’t always pleasant, but he worked hard with us, and on us, because he was passionate about what we were doing. Our job was to communicate, clearly and truthfully, the importance of Jesus Christ. Chappo’s job was to make sure we did it well.

John is now well into his 80s and he remains just as committed to communicating the good news about Jesus. He doesn’t do as much preaching these days, but he still makes the most of his opportunities. Making the most of the rest of your life is Chappo practising what he preaches. This is a book about Chappo’s favourite topic – Jesus!

It’s taken me a while to pull this book off my shelf and read it. I shouldn’t have waited so long, because it’s a great book and it took me less than an hour to read the whole thing. I’d assumed it was only for old people, and that wasn’t me! But the key thing about being ‘old’ is not your age. It’s being forced to accept your mortality. Getting older means you don’t have as long to live anymore. I’m not that old (I haven’t hit 50 yet), but God has certainly confronted me with my mortality recently. Chappo writes:

Life in a retirement village has been a new experience for me. The paper man comes every morning at 4.30am and the ambulance at 9.15am. Sometimes it brings people home, but not always. Your mortality presses in. (p9)

There’s nothing morbid about this book. Chappo has a cheeky sense of humour and it comes through in his writing. He writes with clarity and energy, and this is a book brimming with life and hope. Greater hope than you could ever imagine. A hope that motivates Chappo to write and share with others… while he still can, and while we can still read it (and it is printed in large type)!

You may think it is strange that I’m writing about making the most of the rest of our lives. Humanly speaking, I don’t have all that much left. The average male in Australia lives for 79 years. That doesn’t leave me much time.

On the other hand, if there is life after death, if eternity is really eternity and I have the greater bulk of my life to look forward to, then it makes all the difference. (p9)

For Chappo, life beyond the grave is far more than wishful thinking. It’s the promise of God. He bases his confidence in the words of the Bible, and the historical person of Jesus. It’s the death and the resurrection of Jesus that provides the hope of resurrection beyond death for others. This is not the cartoon-like picture of someone in a white dress hanging out in the clouds playing a harp. Nor is it the idea of a disembodied soul floating around in heaven. It’s the hope of having a resurrected body, living in a new creation, made by God. Perhaps this still sounds a little weird, but I reckon it’s worth an hour of your time reading Making the most of the rest of your life to begin an investigation. If it’s not true then I guarantee you’ve still spent a better hour than anyone watching Biggest Loser. If it is true, then you’d be the biggest loser if you didn’t bother to check it out.

The guts of the book are spent describing who Jesus is, and what he said and did. Chappo takes us through Mark’s Gospel, explaining, illustrating, and applying as he goes. He has the knack of showing how Jesus makes sense of everything in the Bible and how he impacts life here and now. I’d recommend reading the book first, and then getting hold of a Bible and reading over Mark’s Gospel for yourself. Perhaps you could read the relevant section in Mark’s Gospel and then compare it with what Chappo writes in the book.

Chappo’s aim with this book is to persuade people to put their trust in Jesus, and to do this before it’s too late. He addresses some of the reasons and excuses we might have that prevent us from taking such a step. And he offers a prayer – some words we might want to borrow – to let God know if we decide to put our lives in his hands. Finally, he shares a few tips for people who’ve made the decision to go with Jesus.

So who’s this book for? It’s for you, if you want to get to the heart of the Christian message. Read it for yourself. Discuss it with friends. Buy one for your grandparents. Share it with friends in the retirement village or nursing home. Get a copy for your kids – that’s right – it’s only 50 or so pages, it’s large easy-to-read type, and it explains Christianity so clearly. It’s a great book for anyone really!

I’d like to recommend it to another group of people as well. If you’re a novice preacher, if you want to communicate the Bible well to others, if you need help becoming less boring, clearer, and more relevant in your ministry… then read this book! Making the most of the rest of your life is a great example of how to connect the ancient text of the Bible with real life and real people today. Grab a copy and read it!

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