Thinx 72: I believed, therefore I spoke

But since we have the same spirit of faith as that shown in what has been written, “ I believed; therefore I spoke ,” we also believe, therefore we also speak.

— http://bible.com/107/2co.4.13.net

Actions naturally follow faith. Faith without a physical manifestation is a contradiction. The truth must be lived out, not merely assented to intellectually. Christians in the rest of the world understand this and suffer accordingly. The Western church has so far avoided suffering but only by holding its tongue.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2015

Thinx 71: Lusts

"... and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." Romans 13.14b It's interesting how our immediate response is to think purely in terms of sexual lusts. But there's more to lust than that:  But those who are determined to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful lusts, such as drown men in ruin and destruction. 1 Timothy 6:9 We cannot put on Christ, make no provision for our sexual lusts and yet blithely go on making provision for the others. All lusts, all foolish and harmful desires, need to be named for what they are and no provision whatsoever made for their fulfillment.

Thinx 70: Do no harm

The world says, "do no harm" which in the main means "do nothing, good or otherwise." It can even be taken as far as "live and let die", which may be what people are thinking when they stand idly by and watch others get mugged, raped or murdered. Far better is the commandment in Romans 13:10: Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.  There is something that is better than inactivity: selfless love, seeking the best for the neighbour; non-random, deliberately planned and executed actions of beauty, kindness and compassion.

Thinx 69: Final chapter

Final instalment from “Suffering and Evil”, from the series “Little Black Books” produced by Matthias Media.


Well, six months into the year. Famines still ravage parts of the world, fighting in Syria goes from bad to worse and in our own cities binge drinking, crime and corruption abound. To quote our "Little Black Book", suffering and evil are alive and kicking (Ch2, p24). So where is God in all of this?

Chapter three deals with this question. Scott Petty begins with the assertation that people are bored with God, possibly because we don't know Him very well. But in thinking through the issues of suffering and evil we come to learn more about God. One thing we learn is that God is unpredictable. This is seen in creation (Scott points us to the zoo and the assortment of shapes and features of the animals there!). God was also unpredictable in the risk he took with staking his reputation on Job and the response Job would take to suffering and loss. And, Scott points out, God has taken a risk in entrusting the spread of his gospel to us. We want God to be predictable, especially in the areas of justice but he is unpredictable. We also learn that God is a God who takes delight in his people and all the details of their lives. He is bigger and better than we think. Just like Job, we want to know all the answers, to know the why of suffering. But in the end Job came to the place of wanting God rather than the answers to his questions. The same should be for us: we cannot know all the answers or all the whys, but we can know the God who does (p51).

After 54 pages Scott finishes with the challenge: Job has come to see how big God is, he has a relationship with God and that is enough for Job; is it enough for us?

On re-reading the book several times I thoroughly recommend this as a good read, concluding that the author has dealt with the topic “with precision and compassion” (p5), looking especially at what the Bible character Job teaches about God, faith, evil and suffering (p7). His focus in each chapter on God and the Biblical perspective on suffering and evil is refreshing and encouraging. The absolute importance of a relationship with the God who created and sustains the universe is where the author ends the book and is the most crucial thing for us, where ever we find ourselves.

For more information on a relationship with this awesome God visit Two Ways To Live.

Thinx 68: Carolyn's book review continues

Continuing reading “Suffering and Evil, from the series “Little Black Books” produced by Matthias Media

Chapter 1 … well it was my intention to read Chapter 1 but it was the end of Chapter 2 when put the book down to attend other things in life! The conversational style of writing makes it very easy to read while in no way detracting from the enormity or complexity of the subject. The analogies are very modern and well crafted into the text to enhance the points being made. No wonder I was at the end of Chapter 2 before I knew it!

Chapter 1 deals with the question of suffering, visiting the age-old questions of the link between suffering and sin, and why we suffer. No simplistic, pat answers are given. Instead the author draws from the life and experiences of Job, supported by references from the New Testament, to show that suffering is real and may be (in fact, often is) unjust. How I respond to it is the concern: will it make me 'a bitter Christian or a better Christian”? ( p21). The chapter concludes by focusing on God and the unjust suffering He suffered on the cross, suffering “more that you or I” (p22).

Chapter 2 deals with the question of evil and the other age-old question of how there can be a loving God who allows evil to exist. The question is dealt with in real terms: evil does exist, it is caused by sin and Satan in the world. However, the chapter resonates with hope: again drawing from the story of Job, the author shows that God restrains and controls evil while never being stained by evil. The chapter concludes with the point that in “our puny ability to understand his (God's) ways” (p32) we need to trust in the goodness and justice of God when things go awry, rather than charging him with wrongdoing.

Some may accuse the author of skimming over such deep and complex subjects … in the space of 23 small pages to be exact! However, I liked the precise way in which the issues are handled. There are no easy-peezy answers given, no shying away from the topic. Instead there is depth and good Biblical content, crafted in a manner that sufficiently answers my questions on suffering and evil … in 23 small pages and one cup of coffee!

Next … chapter 3 … I'm looking forward to it!

© Copyright Carolyn Axtens, 2011.

Thinx 67: Carolyn's book review

And so another Christmas has come, bringing with it the countless images of people having fun, receiving gifts and eating too much. These images are countered by an almost equal number of images of homeless people, those alone or sick, with the inferred question of what Christmas will be like for them. Some of these people are in their desperate situations because of poor choices they made; others because life is just unfair, even cruel. 

Annually, at Christmas time, this raises the question in my mind of why God allows suffering and evil. This year I decided to read up on this a little more deeply. Being the holiday season I went looking for something short and to the point, easy to read, not a long, complicated theological discourse. That's when I came across the “Little Black Book” series by Matthias Media, and in particular “Suffering and Evil” by Scott Petty. Small, only 54 pages, touted as 'books that get to the point', I opened to the introduction. I immediately liked the everyday, casual style of the language, but what got me in was the aim to to deal with the topic “with precision and compassion” (p5), looking especially at what the Bible character Job teaches about God, faith, evil and suffering (p7).

So … a cup of coffee, a comfortable lounge … chapter 1 …

© Copyright Carolyn Axtens, 2011.

Thinx 66: Notes on 1 Corinthians 14

Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy. 1 Corinthians 14:1 NLT

 v3 ... but one who prophesies speaks to men for edification, exhortation and consolation ... or as the NLT puts it, "strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them." Apparently the other gifts can't do this.

v4 'tongue' edifies the self whereas prophecy edifies the church. Paul's focus is on the church, not the self.

v5 prophecy is greater than tongues because the church benefits.

v12 seek to abound in spiritual gifts for the edification of the church

v17 giving thanks should edify. If the hearer doesn't know what you're saying, he is not edified.

v19 edification of the church is far more important in Paul's mind that tongues.

v24,25 prophecy calls people to account, convicts people, convinces. The secrets of the heart are disclosed, and not necessarily because the prophet tells everyone what the person is thinking at that moment. Rather, the word of God clearly declares the nature of the human heart regarding its sickness, and its deceitfulness. Prophecy expresses the truth in speech and action.

v26 all things are to be done for edification.

v31-32 prophesy for learning and exhortation, in a self-controlled and orderly fashion.

(c) Bruce M. Axtens, 2011.

Thinx 65: Encouragement

No one has an easy life. Pastors especially. Pastors need encouragement. For the most part they get everything but. Yet, it is often within our power to encourage them. For all that may be achieved through random acts of kindness, the fact is nothing beats deliberate, well thought out acts of kindness.

Do not withhold good from those who need it, when you have the ability to help.
-- Proverbs 3:27 NET Bible

This parallels what Paul has to say in Galatians:

So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith.
-- Galatians 6:10 NET

With our words we can destroy. With our words we can strengthen and empower. Use your words for the good of all who hear them. Encourage your pastor / minister / priest today (and anyone else you encounter on the way.)

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2011.

Thinx 64: Meekness

Last year our church was working through the Beatitudes. I keep finding material in the Old Testament that hearkens back to Jesus' sermon. In this case, meekness. 

But the meek will inherit the land and enjoy great peace.
-- Psalm 37:11 NIV

This is almost word for word quoted by Jesus 

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
-- Matthew 5:5 NIV

The rest of Psalm 37 reads like a commentary on the whole concept of godly meekness. Well worth reading and thinking about.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2011

Thinx 63: A Devotional

(These are the notes of the devotional given at the monthly meeting of a para-church organisation. More words than these were said, but these are the only ones that were recorded.)

When I determined to load up on wisdom and examine everything taking place on earth, I realized that if you keep your eyes open day and night without even blinking, you'll still never figure out the meaning of what God is doing on this earth. Search as hard as you like, you're not going to make sense of it. No matter how smart you are, you won't get to the bottom of it.
--- Ecclesiastes 8:16-17 (The Message)

We can never see the full picture. Mind you, there's no harm in taking the time to develop an appreciation of even a small part of it. We should try to find out what God has been doing, because

There is comfort and encouragement in being reminded of God’s provision.

We find cause for praise and thanksgiving.

We find reasons to pray and to act, and through those actions become part of what we see him doing.
We see God working, just as Jesus said.

Now because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began persecuting him. So he told them, "My Father is working until now, and I too am working.” For this reason the Jewish leaders were trying even harder to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was also calling God his own Father, thus making himself equal with God.

So Jesus answered them, "I tell you the solemn truth, the Son can do nothing on his own initiative, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he does, and will show him greater deeds than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes. Furthermore, the Father does not judge anyone, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."
--- John 5:16-23

And we have the privilege of working with God. Jesus did the things he saw his father doing; we do the things we see Jesus doing – not acting on our own initiative but as prompted by God through his Holy Spirit. We honour the Father by honouring the Son. We honour him through our faithfulness toward him in all aspect of our lives – including through prayer and good works.

I tell you the solemn truth, the person who believes in me will perform the miraculous deeds that I am doing, and will perform greater deeds than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.
--- John 14:12-14

So we must not grow weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up.
--- Galatians 6:9

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2008

Thinx 62: More Grace Bridges stuff

Visit Grace Bridges - Science Fiction Author

Thinx 61: Faith Awakened Review

'Faith Awakened', by Grace Bridges, describes a virtual utopia inside a post-pandemic dystopia. It's "Second Life" and "Earth 2" on steroids, where you are your own avatar, wired directly to the network (thanks to a cable punched through your forehead.) As for the dystopia, while your body whiles away the years in solar-powered cryosleep, the rest of the world perishes, thanks to a genetically-modified air-borne ebola.

There are two interwoven narratives. The first describes life in dystopia and the events leading to the pandemic. Then there is the discovery of utopia, and a hurried escape into it. Finally, there is an emergence into a world reborn: safe, clean … and massively depopulated.

The second narrative describes an idiosyncratic utopia, modelled by a computer in response to programming performed by its inhabitants before their entry into it. The virtual reality software takes care of the details -- when it works.

There is spirituality here too: both narratives refer to an Awakener, a semi-personal figure who brings them out of darkness into light, who meets them in both the real and the virtual world, and who is somehow involved in their physical and spiritual salvation. Who is he? That remains to be revealed, it seems.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2007

Thinx 60: Faith Awakened

Yes, I've read it and I'm writing a review. Stay tuned.

Thinx 59: Something I said at Communion

This piece of bread is food. It reminds us of the Passover. The food was preparation for a journey -- the Exodus. For us it is also a preparation -- for the journey of Faith.

Eating this is an act of worship, part of the worship that began at conversion and that will continue through this service and out into the week.

Every thought, word, and action which reflects the glory of God is an act of worship, even the eating of something as simple as a piece of bread.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2007

Thinx 58: Revenge

What is it about human beings: we get hurt and then say to ourselves, "Okay, you hurt me, I'm going to hurt you back." And escalation seems strangely inevitable -- there's no way of measuring our pain against some external standard, so we never give back exactly what we have received. In any case, everyone's perception of pain is not the same. So we set out to make them really hurt, often hurting ourselves -- doing some kind of violence to our souls -- in the process.

As God says to us, through Paul, in 1 Corinthians 6:7, "Why not be wronged? Why not be defrauded?" We defraud God often, making promises which we do not keep. We do that which wounds God. We hurt him with out disobedience. We break the first commandment, listening to and obeying the voices of the flesh, the world and the devil. Does God turn around and give us as we have given him?

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2007

Thinx 57: Catalyst #2

Another reason why I'm part of Riverton Baptist Church's Catalyst group:

What do you do when carers don't care? What do you do when government agencies no longer work out of love and respect, but instead treat people as an inconvenience, a burden to which the barest minimum of care is to be given, so that a box can be ticked and a pay-packet collected? How do you seek, and actually get, justice for the poor, the widow, the orphan and the immigrant? What do you do when people suffer injustice, not just at the global level, but also at the national, and community levels? How can issues of unfair treatment be addressed in a way that is appropriate but also effective?

I went to the Catalyst training because I was interested in the global issues. But I also went because I wanted to find out if Catalyst's methods could also be used to make a difference at the community level. I have found that the methods work across the board.

Do you want to make a difference now, and for eternity? Consider Catalyst.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2007

Thinx 56: Catalyst

One reason why I'm part of Riverton Baptist Church's Catalyst group:

Seven years ago last Sunday, my father died. His passing was noted in a number of places, including the front page of The Sydney Morning Herald, in Column 8, and Wesley Mission's Sharkwatch.

My father was a dangerous man -- dangerous because he acted on his beliefs. He believed in Jesus (and that's often enough danger for most.) However, he also believed that the government, though in its place by the behest of God, is nevertheless a human organisation. Government, at all levels, is staffed by men and women, all subject to the foibles, fears and failings that are part and parcel of being sons and daughters of Adam.

Dad also knew, better than most it seems, that the government is neither all powerful, all present nor all knowing. In fact, quite the opposite: it needs the help and efforts of others in order to get anything done; it often can't see past the end of its own nose; and it is totally incapable of reading people's minds.

So my father set about improving things for the government of his day: he wrote letters -- sometimes 10 or more per week. He sent them to the government, and to the media, by mail, by documents exchange, and later, by email. He wrote on a wide range of subjects: from Starr-Bowkett Societies through to pointed debunkings of whatever the government's "spin of the day" may have been. He wrote tight, dense prose, fortified with legalese, squeezing into a sentence what others often take a paragraph to achieve.

And he did this consistently from the mid 1950s through to the end of the 1990s.

I am the eldest of his children. I am the son of a catalyst. My methods are not his, but his passion is in my blood.

I am also a son of God, and his love compels me to confess his gospel, and also to act upon it.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2007

Thinx 55: Gifts ... without Repentance

Gifts ... without Repentance, an amazingly insightful posting, from Paul F. Mitchell who wrote it for his "ninetyandnine" site back in May 2003.

Please pardon the jargon, but the article 'resonates' with me, especially in this excerpt:

God gave the gifts because He desired them to be used. Man created the obstacles. God never forbade sports, or dance, or music. God simply said, “Sin not.” Centuries later, man decided he had to help God out and define all the “modern” ways we sin. God said, “Be holy.” Man decided that holiness should go beyond the scriptural parameters, and began trying to define holiness by setting boundaries. God said, “I’ve come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly,” and man said, “Here’s your abundant life—you can’t do this, this, this, this, or this…and, oh yeah, you can’t do this or that, either. Now aren’t you blessed!”

Thinx 54: Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength: The Annual Anti-Easter Pageant: 2007 Edition

More brilliance from Weekend Fisher.

Thinx 53: Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength: Christianity in Tolkien: What Is Wisdom?

Every so often I stumble over a gem. This is certainly one.

Heart, Mind, Soul, and Strength: Christianity in Tolkien: What Is Wisdom?