samaritan

Canberra, New South Wales, AUSTRALIA


Joined March 14th 2008

Number of Posts:
37

Number of Comments:
111

Karma:
9



About Me
No details about me yet :(

Tags & Posts

Bookmark Tags



Popular Tags

Blogs

samaritan's Blogs

2591 Vote(s)
160 Comment(s)
37 Post(s)

I mentor these bloggers

Learn more about the Orble Mentoring Program.


I do not mentor any bloggers.

Friends

I have no friends :(

Recent Posts

Giving or Getting

August 21st 2008 06:38
Today’s world is very focused on getting. Our media is full of advertisements trying to persuade us to get things. Many of us want to be rich because of all the things we would then be able to get. We judge lives by how much stuff people have gotten. When people say someone has done well for themselves, it’s usually because they have got a high-paying job, a good house and good investments.

But things don’t need to have a dollar symbol attached, to be part of our culture of getting. A look at anyone’s to-do list will reveal a wide range of gets. We want to get fit, get married, get pregnant, get a boyfriend, get more friends, get famous, get a university degree, get a trophy.

And when we are feeling miserable about our lives, what are we usually upset about? What we haven’t got. We haven’t received the love, the friendship, the opportunities, the beauty, the money, the accomplishments, the treatment we deserve. We wanted to have gotten more and we’re annoyed that we didn’t.

Some churches have also jumped on the getting bandwagon. They tell Christians about all the things they can get if they pray. They tell them that God wants them to get that job, get more money, get healed. We pay a lot of attention to “For everyone who asks receives”. Not so much to Act 20, where Paul tells us that Jesus said “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Whatever happened to that? Was is just something that worked well in Jesus’ day, but isn’t really applicable in today’s consumer culture? I don’t know so. I’m pretty sure the idea seemed just as strange then as it does now. But it’s often the things that seem the strangest that have the most to teach us.

It’s a completely different way of measuring things than the one we are used to. We are taught to believe that how much stuff a person has and how much we get is what’s important. To place more value on giving completely turns things around.

It’s kind of hard to get our heads around. We may say it. We may even believe it. But do we live like this? When we go to bed at night, are we thinking of all the ways we gave? Or are we thinking about all the things we failed to get, all the things we did get and all the things we want to get tomorrow? When we write out our goals, are they all about giving? Or do most of them revolve around getting? When we think about accomplishments, do we think of the things we gave or do we think of the ways we got?

So it’s not quite gospel truth – but Acts is pretty close and Paul did say that Jesus said it. So taking it as gospel truth, how does that change the way we think about our lives? Do we think differently about what ourselves and others have achieved? Does it change our goals and priorities at all? Does it make us see that what we thought was important really isn’t that important after all?

And it works. This isn’t just something that looks good in the bible, but fails to work out in real life. It really works. A parent receives much joy from their relationship with their children – even though it is a relationship that involves lots of giving and not much getting. When I feel down, I have found the best way to cheer me up is to go out and help someone – and I’m sure I’m not alone. The happiest people are often those that are in jobs that involve lots of giving. The unhappiest people are generally the most selfish ones.

So why not try it? Cross out a few gets on your goals list and replace them with some gives. Think about your accomplishments only in terms of what you gave. Try to give more love than you receive. And if you’re feeling down, forget about cheering yourself up with a spending spree. Try a giving spree instead.



24
Vote
Shared on
   





If I were a king and wanted to get a whole heap of warriors to fight for me, there are three ways I could do this. I could scare them into fighting. Threaten to kill them or torture them or make their life a living hell if they didn’t fight. That would work – until they started thinking I wasn’t that scary anyway. Until they began to wonder whether I really had the power or the resources to carry through on my threats.

Or I could bribe them into fighting for me. Promise them rewards – good pay, gold, land, whatever. That would work too. Unless they didn’t get those rewards when they expected them. Or unless those rewards weren’t as good as what they thought they would be. Or until someone else promised them better rewards.

Or I could get them committed to the cause. And once they were committed to the cause, I wouldn’t need to persuade them to fight. They would want to. And they would fight longer and harder than any of the other two groups of warriors. In a battle between the three, I’d be backing the ones that are committed to the cause. I’d rather have ten warriors committed to the cause than 50 warriors who are there for the rewards or 100 warriors who are there because of fear.

So too are there different ways of getting people to follow Jesus. For a long time, the church relied mainly on fear. There was the fear of hell. But also there was the fear of the Inquisition or ex-communication if a person failed to believe or failed to do the right things. It worked. Fear does work. But then people started to read the bible for themselves. They started to wonder whether the church was really that scary. They started to doubt if it really had the power to do the things it had threatened.

Fear is not such a big thing nowadays, but we still use it. Become a Christian or you will go to hell, we tell people. And sometimes it works. But it’s kind of lost its power. Many people nowadays don’t even believe in hell. They are not going to be scared of going there. Personally, I think hell is a real place and it’s not somewhere I ever want to go. But it’s a pretty poor reason for getting people to follow Jesus.

The other way churches get new Christian recruits is by promising rewards. If you follow God, he will bless you and make your life better. You’ll get that job, have more money, be healed, live longer, be happier. That works too. But what happens if those “rewards” don’t come when the person expected them to. If a person is in it mainly for the rewards, how long are they going to stick around if they fail to materialise?

By far the best way of getting people to follow Jesus is to get them committed to the cause. Now, in my opinion, the cause of Christ is the greatest cause in the world. I don’t see why everybody doesn’t want to fight for him. But I have to be realistic and recognise that not everybody sees that. I think part of the problem is that they look at the cause of some Christians, and believe that’s the cause of all Christians or of Jesus. One example of this is issues of morality. For many people, the issue of morality is not one worth fighting for.

But the cause of Jesus is so much greater than this, and I believe there is something in it that every single person in the world can care passionately about. Instead of telling new Christians what they should be caring about, we should be helping them find what it is about Jesus that speaks deeply to them. Do they care about letting people know of God’s love and acceptance? Are they passionate about social justice? Is the idea of living a better life with God’s help one that appeals? Is caring for the poor something that speaks deeply to them? Are they amazed by this idea that we don’t need to do good works to get into heaven?

This is not to say that only one issue is important and people can just focus on one issue and forget about all the rest of what Jesus had to say. But when people become committed to those aspects that appeal most strongly to them, they will also see that the rest of what Jesus had to say is also a worthy cause. Commitment to one issue can soon turn into a very strong commitment to Jesus Christ. And I would rather have a church full of ten people that are committed to the cause, than a church of 10,000 people who are not.



34
Vote
Shared on
   


I love to read about history, particularly Christian history. I’m not talking about the white-washed view of Christian history, where Christians are responsible for every good down in the world and never seem to have done anything bad. In fact, I like reading about all the bad stuff that Christians have done in the past. I think it has the most to teach us.

Christian history can give us greater insights into our present and our future. By reading about the past, we can understand why we are the way we are and why we believe the things that we do. When we learn what led to us having certain practices, beliefs and structures, we can better understand what importance they should have. We can also draw parallels between things that the church has done in the past and things that they are doing now. The church has had many problems and made many mistakes along the way. When we understand these better, we can better avoid similar mistakes in the future.

Another good reason to learn about church history – particularly the bad bits – is that many people who aren’t Christians know it quite well. Some people have been put off organised religion or churches because of the things that the church has done in the past. Others refuse to believe in a God whose followers have committed all sorts of atrocities. The tendency can be to dismiss these things as though it were not important. But I believe far more is to be gained by learning about them, admitting that the church acted in the wrong way and explaining why we have faith anyway. Not as a method of evangelising, but as a way to speak to people about their concerns.

The other big reason for finding out about Christianity’s past is that it helps us be less critical of other religions. Whenever a group of religious people that are not Christian do something terrible, the general consensus in the church seems to be that they did it because they are the wrong religion. It’s almost as if they think it offers them proof that Christians are the only ones following the right God, because Christians would never do anything like that. When you learn about Christian history, you are far less likely to make this judgment. Before we judge other religions, we should recognise that Christians have done many of these awful things in our past.

At church once, someone showed a small group of people a gruesome video of someone getting their head cut off. Naturally enough, the talk turned to how people could do this kind of thing. Most people seemed to assume that the only reason these people could do this was because they weren’t Christian. When I said that Christians kill people too, I was told that they have always done it in a humane way. Say what? Being hanged drawn and quartered isn’t just a saying, you know. It’s something that Christians did to other Christians. And it wasn’t humane. Nor, for that matter, was burning people at the stake. Nor was dunking women in water to see if they would drown because we thought they were witches. We have to admit that we are capable of atrocities too. Denying this just makes us look like we have our head in the sand.

Reading Christian history isn’t always pleasant. Sometimes it can make you downright uncomfortable. It may even challenge your ideas about the church. But it’s important nevertheless. By reading about the church’s past, we can better understand its current structure, be better placed to avoid the mistakes of the avoid, be more respectful of those who have something against the church and be less likely to make judgments about other religions.




34
Vote
Shared on
   


Switch off that TV

August 6th 2008 23:27
My friend was on the phone.
“What are you watching on TV at the moment?”
“Nothing


[ Click here to read more ]
37
Vote
Shared on
   


Natural Food

August 4th 2008 01:51

(This photo taken from Free Digital Photos - Free Digital Photos.)

[ Click here to read more ]
40
Vote
Shared on
   


Politicians are pretty good at looking at issues through a certain set of glasses. If they’re members of the ruling party, they see government policy through rosy glasses. They praise the good that they’ve done and the good that they’re going to do. Admittedly, they can admit mistakes that the government has made. But when they do, it is always with the ability to see beyond those mistakes and look to what the government is now doing to fix them.

Politicians on the opposite side see things a bit differently. Using the same facts, they can present a completely different view. When the government does things badly, they are quick to point this out and magnify any wrongdoing. When the government is doing the right thing, they were too slow to address the issues and they are addressing them in the wrong way


[ Click here to read more ]
39
Vote
Shared on
   


Passion and Perseverance

July 24th 2008 00:35
I haven’t written in this blog for awhile. I never made the conscious decision to stop writing. I didn’t wake up one morning and go I don’t think I’ll write in my blog for awhile. I guess I just lost the passion for it.

When I first started, I was full of passion. I was like a young girl who has just fallen in love. All I could think about was my blog. Every television show I watched, newspaper article I read, sermon I listened to, person I talked to seemed to give me ideas for my blog. I would mentally compose blog posts while taking the kids to school, making dinner, doing the housework. I lived for my blog


[ Click here to read more ]
52
Vote
Shared on
   


Faith in Prayer

June 9th 2008 07:56
The other day my youngest son was looking for his stuffed toy. My eldest son told him that he would pray and then God would help him find it. They prayed and continued looking for about five minutes, at which point my youngest son gave up. “God isn’t going to help me find him,” he said. My eldest son said yes he will. God will help you find him. I wish I could properly convey to you the tone in which this was said. There was no doubt, no uncertainty. My son had absolute faith that God would answer his prayer.

Sure enough, about 30 seconds later, my youngest son got up, went to his room and returned with the stuffed toy he was looking for. But he told us that God didn’t help him at all. Instead, he had just gotten this feeling in his heart that he knew where it was and when he went and looked, there it was. I told him that I thought God did help and that feeling in the heart was God’s way of telling him where the stuffed toy was. I also told my eldest son that I believed his prayer – and his absolute faith that God would answer that prayer – no doubt had had some bearing on my youngest son finding his toy again


[ Click here to read more ]
58
Vote
Shared on
   


Should Art be Censored?

May 30th 2008 06:00

In Australia recently, there has been debate about Bill Henson’s photographs. Bill Henson could face charges regarding his photographs of naked adolescents. Many artists and other people have spoken up in support of Bill Henson’s work. But Kevin Rudd said that he finds them revolting.

[ Click here to read more ]
50
Vote
Shared on
   


Questioning Rudd's Christianity

May 23rd 2008 01:30

During the ABC’s program Q and A, Kevin Rudd was asked about his Christian faith. He was the first guest in the new program, answering questions from the general public, through the audience, by email and by SMS. The question asked about his faith was one that I asked myself. I had texted it in, despite believing that they wouldn’t ever ask it. I thought the ABC wouldn’t see it as a question that the general public were interested in.

[ Click here to read more ]
54
Vote
Shared on
   


 

Recent Comments

Comment by samaritan
on LIE: Jesus was ALL about Love and Forgiveness

August 21st 2008 14:56
I just thought of something else I wanted to add. I think you are right and there are some people who say I'm a Christian and just do what they want to do. But I think the problem lies with the heart more than the actions. For example, a person who really struggles with lying, who wants to stop lying, who prays for God to help them in this area, but still ends up lying at least ten times a day is probably following Jesus more than the person who lies five times a day because it doesn't matter as they're forgiven anyway.

But God sees the heart. God not only knows what we do, he knows why we do it. I believe that some people who say they are Christians will be judged for what you have described here. But only God knows what their heart is really like and so only God can judge that.

Comment by samaritan
on Giving or Getting

August 21st 2008 14:47
Thanks SL. You're very right. There's heaps of opportunities for giving. Every church or charity can probably suggest at least one way you can give. And I really like the ideas you gave because it shows it doesn't have to be money. Some people cannot afford to give much money. But most people have something they can give - even if it's only time.

Funny thing was, after I wrote this blog, a friend came around and said he felt he had been giving hiswhole life and hadn't gotten anything back. I felt like telling him that he should give himself a big pat on the back for living his life well.

Comment by samaritan
on LIE: Jesus was ALL about Love and Forgiveness

August 21st 2008 14:43
I do have a theology that focuses more on love and compassion. It may not have been all that Jesus was about, but it was very important in his ministry. He said that the most important things were to love God and love others. He also spend a lot of time telling us to give more, serve more, love more and judge less. I like Matthew 7:21 that tells us to do the will of our father. I also like Matthew 7:1 that says Judge not, lest ye be judged.

I will welcome homosexuals with love and acceptance. I will have compassion on a woman seeking abortion. I don't believe it's our job to judge people. People generally need love and forgiveness more than they need judgement.

You are right in that Jesus did tell the adulterous woman to sin no more. But before that, he said he did not condemn her. And why didn't any of the other people tell her to sin no more? Because Jesus said that he who was without sin could throw the first stone. No-one was without sin. There are still none of us that are without sin. I don't believe any of us can throw any stones.

But my focus on love and forgiveness does not give me permission to go out and do what I want to do. I believe very strongly in follow Jesus - not just with a statement of faith, but with my whole heart, trying in every single aspect of life to do the things he would want me to do. I will not always follow him perfectly. None of us do. But we must each look to ourselves to see if we are following him as best as we can.

Some people may criticise me for my acceptance of "sinners". But even Jesus was criticised for hanging out with sinners. When he walked this earth, he was around a whole world of them.

Comment by samaritan
on Why Christians should study Church history

August 12th 2008 04:06
I agree with you that the atrocities committed by Christians in the past has a lot to do with the culture of the time and was not a problem with the faith. However, I do think there are warning we should take from them. For example, just because a whole heap of Christians believe that they are doing God's will doesn't mean that they necessarily are. Many of the Christians who did bad things in the past were convinced that they were doing what God wanted them to do. I think we should learn from that. We should realise we can make mistakes and do the wrong thing.

Comment by samaritan
on Switch off that TV

August 8th 2008 00:13
One of my jobs involved watching and listening to radio programs. When I quit, I didn't watch TV or listen to radio for about three months. I had no idea what was going on in the world. Now I tend to rely mostly on the radio for current affairs, because I can do other things at the same time. And it can fade into the background when it needs to.

Thanks, SL. That's funny about the politician. I don't think being a politician is something I could ever do. I'd be too likely to try and look at things from the other side's point of view.

Comment by samaritan
on Passion and Perseverance

July 24th 2008 02:09
SL,
Okay. Thanks. I had a friend around the other day who was talking to me about my blog, which made me think I should really get back to it. So hopefully I'll be writing a bit more than I have lately.

Comment by samaritan
on Passion and Perseverance

July 24th 2008 02:00
Hi SL,

Life is more than just spurts of passion and temporary excitement, you know.

That was actually the point of my article. It seems like you have commented on the beginning of my post, without mentioning any of the rest of the article. Talking about losing passion for my blog was just a way to lead up to what I really wanted to say - that being a Christian needs perseverance, not just passion.

Comment by samaritan
on Faith in Prayer

June 9th 2008 23:11
Hi SL. It's funny because I've heard the exact opposite preached. The pastor used the example of a single person praying for a partner. He said they should not just pray for a partner, but pray specifically for the qualities they wanted in a partner.

But I think you're right. When we pray specifically, we may miss other ways that God can give us the same thing - perhaps better ways. For many prayer requests that we make, there is an underlying root need or problem. God may be working to solve that problem or satisfy that need, while seemingly ignoring our prayer requests.

Comment by samaritan
on Young Guns

June 9th 2008 08:08
"You drove a 16 year old boy straight to his grave and the rest of us straight to hell."

I love Young Guns. Actually Blaze of Glory is to be blamed for me becoming a huge Bon Jovi fan. I always liked Bon Jovi. But I grew up watching westerns. I absolutely loved westerns. I loved Young Guns when it came out, so went and saw Young Guns II at the movies and loved that. So I got the soundtrack, Blaze of Glory by Jon Bon Jovi. Within about a month, I had also bought all Bon Jovi CDs and was a confirmed Bon Jovi fan for life.

I'm going to have to dig out the video now and watch it again. I haven't seen it for so long.