It's been a long . . . June

The wait is almost over

We are so there.

Come, Drink

I opened my email this morning to find this quote from the new Narnia movie. It was forwarded on by Frank Retief. It is definately worth sharing.

”Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I’m dying of thirst”, said Jill.

“Then drink”, said the Lion.

“May I – could I – would you mind going away while I do?”, said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realised that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to – do anything to me, if I do come?”, said Jill.

“I make no promise”, said the Lion.

Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step nearer.

“Do you eat girls?”, she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms”, said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink”, said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst”, said the Lion.

“Oh dear!”, said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream”, said the Lion.”

Seven

Yesterday Hayley and I were married for 7 years. Not a classic milestone, but every day is a celebration I reckon. We went out for a meal last night . . .

And left Ben home with Uncle Leights and Aunty Kitty.

Good times.

Evangelical Students Conference

On the weekend I gave 6 talks on the Sermon on the Mt at the Evangelical Student Conference. It covers 3 university campus and their student ministries. It was a great time which really opened my mind to some of the amazing work the staff workers are doing. It was also a real eye opener for me in terms of the people that I met. Culturally very diverse and as it was interdenominational that also gave it a really exciting edge!

The campsite was nestled in the hills out the back of Stellenbosch. It was pretty stunning.

Meet Paul. He is from the DRC. He has only been in SA about a year and was really encouraging about the talks. He made himself part of our 'classic memories' package because when he heard that Hayley had arrived on camp he went to find her. When he did he ran up whistling & shouting, 'Mrs Scott! Mrs Scott!' Then after his curiosity was satisfied he ran back to me, slapped me on the back and said, "your wife is VERY beautiful!!"

Good man that.

On the left is Fritz - Campus director at UCT. On my right is Kurd, a new apprentice working with Fritz. They are both lengends and both still undersupported. If you are looking to give - let me know and we can hook you up with them.

Just a little taste of the winelands that surrounded the campsite. It's a pretty nice time of the year out there.

Bread

Yup, we're baking our own bread!

Nice eh?

I'm also eating fruit for b'fast.

Wow. Crazy times.

Conclusion

This is the conclusion to the sermon that has been occupying the last few posts.

Easter has become a victim of the calendar.

It gets locked into the end of term school holidays and gets camouflaged by chocolate eggs and special church services. We know it’s important, but we resign ourselves to the fact that life moves on, and so Easter becomes a quiet suburban cul-de-sac rather than an on ramp to the freeway. In other words it becomes an annual ‘dead end’ rather than the starting point for an exciting journey.

Think about it this way:

When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon in ’69 many thought that the space race was all wrapped up.

But even though that was without a doubt the defining event in space exploration, it turned out to only be the end of the beginning.

The space race took its queue from 1969 and has expanded in ways that people could only imagine.

· There were 6 other manned moon landings by the USA

· In the 80’s the Star Wars program introduced missile shooting satellite and space station as the new strategy in warfare.

· In 2005 we had a successful probe landing on Titan, one of the moons of Saturn.

· And now we are racing into Space tourism with Richard Brandson’s ‘Virgin Galactic’ claiming that they will take passengers up for zero gravity pleasure cruises by 2010.

Jesus wants us to see Easter in the same way.
Easter is to Christians what the moon landing was to the space race.
Only the end of the beginning.
And so we are to take our queue from Easter and think of it not as an end in itself, but as the invitation to pick up where Jesus left off.

He is Risen, but not gone

This was part of a sermon from Matt 28. To catch up, read the last few posts.

And lastly, Easter will outlive the holidays because even though Jesus has risen, he is not gone.

When Jesus says, ‘Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age’ He is saying: Risen does not mean absent.

When the angel’s message to the women was that Jesus is not present in the tomb, but present in Galilee!

But these words of Jesus have even more bite to them if we read them together with the rest of the great commission.

Ever had a non Christian friend say to you, ‘If you can SHOW me Jesus, then I’ll think about taking him seriously.’ It’s something we find hard isn’t it?

But in what way is Jesus ‘here’ even though he is risen?

Or, in what sense do people ‘meet’ Jesus as we go to all the nations?
In Ch 28: There are 3 ways;

· They will meet Jesus’ authority as the Easter story is retold. ALL authority has been given to me. My death and resurrection testify to that.

· Matthew also says that they WILL meet Jesus’ flesh and blood here on earth. People like you and me whom have already responded to Jesus’ call to follow him. Is it true to say that when people meet you, they get to meet Jesus? It can be if we decide to let Easter prepare us for life after the holidays.

· And it’s also fair to say that people will meet Jesus through his words as we teach them and commend others to obey.

The way that Easter out lives the holidays is through the fact that even though Jesus is physically in heaven right now, he is still active in this world as we seek to make disciples.

Get Working

This is part of a Easter Sermon. First, read the passage and the last 2 posts below.



Jesus also reveals in Matt 28, that for Easter to outlive the holidays we must see that while His work is finished, Easter means that our work has just begun.

It might sound a bit funny to put it this way but after 33 years on earth, Jesus left a lot of loose ends. A lot of unfinished business.

He secured salvation for the whole world but he never left his backyard.
He left that responsibility for you and for me.

There is an emphasis in how Matthew wrote these words. The main verb, is ‘make disciples’. The other verbs in the sentence, the words ‘go’, ‘baptize’ and ‘teach’ are all servants to the imperative ‘make disciples’.



Let’s start with baptize.

On one level I think it is ok to take this at face value, to be baptized is a great and biblical symbol of new birth.
However, it is quite likely that Jesus is using the word ‘baptism’ as shorthand here to say that making disciples is about bringing people to repentance.

Do you remember John the Baptist at the start of the gospel account?


We are told that John came with a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. John was not concerned so much with the water, he wanted people to turn from their sin so they could turn to follow Jesus. Baptism was the symbol of repentance, of doing a complete 180 so that you would stop worshipping yourself and start worshipping God.

Our work is not finished until we call all nations to repentance.

Another element Jesus mentions in ‘disciple making’ is to teach them to obey everything Jesus had taught his first disciples.


Making disciples is not just about conversion. It’s about growing them in obedience to the words of Christ. Jesus it seems, is not as worried about quantity as he is about quality. If we want to be serious about making disciples of all nations, and making disciples of ourselves, then we will feed off the words of Jesus, not just for knowledge, but primarily for obedience.

Our work is not finished until we teach all nations to live in obedience to Jesus.

And then of course is that little word ‘go’.


Because the scope of Jesus command is so wide – all nations – it’s not surprising that we will have to go if we are to apply Easter as Jesus commands us to. So whether you go to China or go to your university, going is unavoidable is you want to make disciples for Christ. It won’t happen by osmosis – we as individuals and we as a church will have to get off our backsides and ‘go’ for it.

Our work is not finished until we go.



Last point to come

Jesus is for everyone

This Read the passage and the intro below.

The first way that Easter outlives the holidays, is becuase Easter makes Jesus avalible for everyone.

It’s hard for us to imagine, but before the first Easter, Jesus and his gospel were not accessible to many people at all. Not because they didn’t have email and cell phones to spread the message, but because Jesus and his gospel was really only for Jewish people. If you were a gentile (a non Jew) then Jesus and what he had to offer was more or less out of reach. The coming of the kingdom of God was an announcement and invitation, first and foremost for Israel.

And yet the most famous words Jesus spoke after His Easter work had been completed were:

‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, so go and make disciples of all nations.’ ALL NATIONS

It is Easter that makes Christianity an international, multiracial and multicultural religion.
Easter is the reason you don’t have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian.

Easter bursts the bubble of the Jewish priority during Jesus' 33 earthly years.

More to come

Scott

Easter is over

Here is the first of a few post from a sermon I gave last Sunday.

To get started, read Matthew Ch 28:16-20

16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17When they saw him, they worshipped him; but some doubted. 18And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

Easter is all over.

And after you have recovered from the chocolate high, and after the public holidays have faded, if you are anything like me, you sit back and you ask yourself, is that it? Easter all done for another year?

Well, as far as Matthew is concerned, the Easter story doesn’t end with the resurrection. The conclusion, or as I’m going to suggestion, the application of Easter is what we read in Matt 28:16-20.

Ponder this moment from WWII:

By 1942 General

Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps had the run of Egypt. But by October, Montgomery with an army double the size of Rommel’s, were ready to take it back. Thus began the famed Battle of El Alamein. After 2 weeks of fighting Montgomery had won the battle, 30,000 German troops had surrendered, and the awesome Rommel was made to look mortal. It was the first major victory by British Commonwealth forces over the German Army. Along with Hitler’s defeat at Stalingrad, the battle of Alamein was a turning point in WWII.

Here is what Winston Churchill had to say:

"The Germans have received back again that measure of fire and steel which they have so often meted out to others. Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."

Matthew wants us to see that Easter is not the beginning of the end,

but just the end of the beginning.

And so I want us to read Ch 28:16-20 as:

‘How Easter will outlive the holidays’

More to come.

Scott

PS: Thanks Richardt for the quote!

12

I have just seen a great movie, a movie that got to me.

But you'll be surprised what it was.

'Cheaper by the dozen'

Yup, the Steve Martin flick where he and his wife have 12 kids. (And it's got a great character which Ashton Kutcher does to perfection). It's a comedy, heart warming great movie. I was surprised. (I love Steve Martin, but I was expecting a Disney puke fest)

Here is why you should watch this movie and what it did for me.

1. It torpedoed the myth that if I work harder (longer hours, more stress) to provide more for my family, they will be better off. I find it hard to beleive that people still buy into this, but I have recently discovered that they do, big time. This was a refreshingly Christian message to get from a mainstream movie.

2. It encouraged me to not feel intimated by others when it comes to family. If you're on a good wicket, thank God for it and live it to the max. Don't listen to the detractors who try to lure you back to their highway of mediocrity.

But perhaps most importantly . . .

3. It reminded me of the joy of selflessness. Of giving up yourself for others. In a family of 12, that was the road they had chosen. And I know it is just a silly movie, but man, it had me at 'hello'. I was sold again on the message I first recieved from the scriptures (and my own parents) that to give yourself fully to others is the only way to get true freedom from self. As Jesus says, if you want it all, you gotta give it all away.

Make no mistake, it is a risk to do this. It is completely counter intuative. To others it will make no sense. Maybe not even to yourself, but it is truly a beautiful thing.

After the movie ended, Hayley and I re committed ourselves to selfless living. We had to do that becuase we are not very good at it. But we are learning, and we are now a little more hungry for it, and 'Cheaper by the Dozen' was a great inspiration.

Not bad for a Steve Martin flick eh?
Make sure you watch it soon.

Scott

Resurection Sunday

Here is gist of the sermon I gave last night - Resurrection Sunday

First, read Matthew Ch 28:1-10

Harry Houdini made a pact with his wife that the first one of them to die would try and communicate to the other from beyond the grave. They even had a secret 10 word code to make sure it was the real deal. Houdini died first and for 10 years his wife, Bess, tried in vain to contact him. She eentually put out the candle she had left burning by his photo since he had died and said, 'Ten years is long enough to wait for any man'.

The fact that death is a one way street is a biter pill to swallow.

Butin Matth 28, the resurrection story is also given an interpretation for us so that death' suden end, doesn't have to be the end.

*** Matthew wants us to see that the power of death is snatched away as God exercises his power to bring life. ***

The earthquake is the give away.

In the bible, earthquakes are the sign that God has arrived with his powerful presense. Check Mt Sinai (Ex 9) or Paul and Silas in prison (Acts). It's the same in Matt 28.

But in case you missed the sign, God sends his messenger (the angel) to interpret he sign for us.
He announces that God's power has been put to work to raise Jesus from the dead.

So far so good. But so what?

Well, the two groups at the tomb that morning give us a choice. You can be like the guards or like the women.

The guards came face to face with life, an they trembeled like dead men.

The women came to mourn a dead man, and they left rejoicing with life.

For the guards it was lose lose. The had to one day face death - like all of us - but also were mere spectators when life came to town.

For the women it was win win. Not only did they recieve Jeuss back in the flesh, but also recieved the hope of eternal life themselves.

Furthermore, their response should be ours.
They worshipped Jesus
And they went and told others.

Your homework:
Read Colossians Ch 3:1-10 and answer this question:
What is the resurrection application for us in our Christian lives this week?

(This was the homework I gave the congregation last night. They had to email me their thoughts)

Let me know!

Scott

Rant

Today was meant to be the day that I began some thoughts on 1 Cor 12-14.

But you may have to wait a day or two extra I'm afraid.

Because I have to rant.

Hayley and I got a dvd the other night.

Unfortunately, I can't boast an epiphany like my brother with 'Once'.

We got out the third in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. We had seen the first 2 and we thought nothing could suck as much as the second one. We were wrong.

Now I know, it's not the sort of flick known for it's depth etc etc etc - but I thought it would be at least watchable!

My Rant is as follows:

• The plot was so muddled I think it may have technically made sense if you plotted the think on a flow chart, but to the average watcher - it was just bizzare (And I'm not one of those guys who doesn't get movies)




• Some characters where used as the premise for whole sub plots and then they die or just disappear and . . .that's it?!




• Weird things never got explained and so continued to make no sense once the movie ended.

I know I may be expecting too much, but all I ask for is for a writer (or writers) to earn their millions of bucks. Just make the damn thing make SENSE for crying out aloud! It's not that hard!

AAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Well, rant is over. I learnt my lesson though - more art house for me. Sure, they are in french and you see peoples bottoms, but at least you get the feeling that the guy who wrote it actually cares that you are spending your bucks to go see it.

Scott

(as it turns out, the skull and crossbones are there for a reason)

Forgiveness

A static blog page is a sin.

Not like 'international terrorism' is a sin, but kind of in the way that 'buying 2 burgers for the price of one and then not sharing them with your friend' is a sin.

But fear not!

In the coming week I will start a little series that has been occupying my attention at Senior Youth. I wanted to finish it at SY first before I committed it to blog land.

Till then

Scott

Railway Tracks

I got an email this morning which was apparently excerpts of an interview with Rick Warren (author of the Purpose Driven Life franchise)

I must be honest - I'm not a big fan of the Purpose Driven Life. I am also a little suspicious of these 'interviews' when their source is not clear. I find they often spring up like urban myths. ‘Rick warren said . . . ‘ becomes a bit like ‘I knew this guy who got maggots growing out of his tongue because he licked an infected envelope . . . ‘

But for what it's worth here is a clip from the clip . . .

Rick on His Wife’s Cancer
“This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for.

I add it here because it makes sense to me.

My life is certainly more railway tracks than hills and valleys.

And yours?

Scott

Lost for Words

There are always some parts of the bible that we find tricky.

Perhaps it's because the language is hard, or it's culturally removed, or we just don't want to do what it says.

But how about this scenario.

Imagine you are involved with a church running a ministry for deaf people. Each Sunday morning you sign the service, songs and sermon to those in the congregation who are hearing impaired. It's a great ministry and you have had a great start to the year. Until now.

Because this Sunday you had to sign the bible reading and the sermon - which both revolve around Galatians Ch 5:11-12

11Brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

If the beginning of v11 was tricky, the end of v12 is a shocker!

This happened yesterday to my good friend Lisa Harvey, who is doing what I just described, having launched the ministry for the hearing impaired called 'Talking Hands'.

It would be a great work to pray for as the year continues.
I've got some prayer points for Talking Hands available on request.

But apart from that, you gotta love the story :)

Scott

You will get in that car now or so help me . . . .!

Here is a discussion that is doing the rounds in my backyard at the moment.

Should you force your kids to come to church (a.k.a Sunday school / youth group)?

The unsaid that brings you to this question could be something like:
'We don't want to mess our kids up'
We don't want our kids to hate us'
'It's tough because we don't know how to do it'
'We value Christian things and aren't sure how to help our kids to do the same'

I've heard views expressed across the spectrum.

And I have been quite surprised / upset by some of them as well.

For what it's worth - here are some of my thoughts:

Faith and churching should start in the home.
So if you don't go to church or bible study as a parent, your dead in the water.

It would seem odd to me however, if you do read the bible and pray with your kids to then say, 'This is as far as it has to go. Corporate fellowship outside of this family is optional.'
Communicating to your kids that their faith can be a personal and secret thing seems a strange counterpoint to trying to get them to engage with God in the first place (not to mention the messed up theology of church you would be teaching them)

One objection I heard was that faith is a choice of each individual and we can't make demands on someone else's conscience.
But that misses the point doesn't it?

You are not forcing them to become a Christian, but just insisting that they attend church once or twice a week. Big difference. Unless you think that they are one in the same, in which case may I suggest there are bigger issues here than just the question at the top of the page.

It's also worth noting that little kids and early teens do not yet have fully developed cognitive pathways for processing abstract and complex choice scenarios. Which is why as parents we make decisions for them all the time (You will hold my hand as we cross the road / You will brush your teeth / sharing is caring). It is grossly unfair to expect a kid to reason like an adult - to tease out all possible good and bad consequences from this choice and be mature enough to weigh these up. And on this issue the stakes are too high to not intervene.

Perhaps an unspoken anxiety is that I don't want my kids to hate me for making them do something they don't want to.
At which point I would ask you to consider what is your angle when it comes to drugs, sex and rock and roll (actually, when it comes to RnR, I ope you encourage it! But I digress . . . .)

We are willing to have our kids think we are 'old school' for the sake of their safety and well being in restricting them from dangerous substance and dangerous people. How about being willing to cop a bit of flak for getting them to say yes to something which is much more important. (Do you believe that it is more important?)

Hand in hand with this is that you don't want to turn them off Christian things
I get this one - and it is a good concern to have, obviously.

But will the approval of complete non engagement in Christian things be of any real difference at the end of the day from the worse case scenario of making them attend and having them not enjoy it?

And do we believe in the Spirit of God convicting their hearts? And the power of the Spirit working through his word? And the prayers of believing parents? And the commitment, giftedness and prayer of the sunday school teacher / youth leader?

Now sure, there are situational considerations to keep in mind.
'Is their reluctance to go because they are getting bullied?'
'Are they too young to be able to handle to group'
(EG: an infant overstimulated at a noisy sunday school)
But there are solutions to this - perhaps become a sunday school helper yourself to ensure the environment is a good one!

And rather than making this another classic parent kid tug of war - isn't it an opportunity to teach and train?

To insist that you will discharge your parental responsibilities as best you know how, but to also explain (perhaps at a different time) why church is important, especially for believers. Why your happiness is not the most important thing.
Why turning up and putting a bum on a seat to fill a room can be a great encouragement to the kid who feels he is all alone in this 'Christian thing.'

Anyway, enough from me.

That was part post, part vent.

Did I miss anything?
Am I way off base?
Your thoughts?

Scott

How to make the good, great

A new year, a new look.

I'm not a big fan of new years resultions and the like, but I do like fresh starts.
I like new routines and the 'pause' and 'delete' button of life.

So I'll be using both those things to make the next few weeks groudbreaking.

Part of my excitement comes from the fact that I now have a youth minstry team!
Byron and Steph take a bow (photos to come)

They are both gifted, fresh and ready. They are ex GWC students (not expelled, just finished) who are putting the icing on their ministry cakes by spending the first 2 years out of college with me and the gang at St James. They are no strangers to the place, but I think their presence will blow our youth groups wide open. (In the good sense, not the Hiroshima sense).

I am now a 'boss' / overseerer / manager / trainer . . . of sorts.

So here is my question:

Who was the best person you ever worked under / for / with?

What made that experience so totally excellent?
(Or if you have a horror story, how could it have been different?)

Please comment - Byron and steph beg of you :)

Scott

Three Weeks is, like over, man!

We have waited all year for this three week window when Craig would arrive and ignite our holidays. Well, he came, he saw, and contrary to his recent blog post - he conquered.

He now has the 28 hr flight home.

It was very very good for us to have him here - however it also underlines how profoundly sucky it is that we have to plod on through the next 11 months without a face to face. And the house feels quite empty and incomplete. On the upside - we will save on tomato sauce.

But we prayed together last night that the memories will become fuel to drive us forward with great anticipation, not just till Christmas '08 but also to that great feast that will overshadow al of this.

But for me, tomorrow, it's back to work.

Uncle Craig - music teacher (aka School of rock)

Uncle and Jem

Flying high

Up the back as usual

Wow, it's been a longtime between drinks, so to speak.

Truth is I'm more than just a little bit sleepy, and although I do have some things of noe to post, a quick update will have to do for now.

In the last few weeks I have:

• Been sick
  
• Gotten better
  
• Picked up my brother from the airport
  
• Done some gardening with the boy (Ben that is not Craig)
  
• Finished my book on the Age of Empire 1850-1914
  
• Started one of Craig's books - Living with the Underworld by Peter Bolt
  
• Begun an addiction to Heroes with Hayley and Craig
  
• Had a pretty fine Christmas
• Seen Jemma start solids (for more click here)
  
• Enjoyed some classic Bing Crosby Christmas music
  
• Been for dinner at the beach - sunset style.
  

Come to think of it, holidays have been not too bad so far . . . more to come.

Scott

Ben with Hannah on Chistmas Day

The Fam on Christmas morning (Uncle Craig the photographer)

Uncle Craig and Bubble Boy