Most management writers agree that leadership is primarily about influence.

Hersey, Blanchard and Johnson in Management of Organizational Behavior note that: "leadership is the process of influencing the activities of an individual or a group in efforts toward achievement in a given situation." It relates to the ability of leaders to influence followers and others to work toward agreed goals within a given situation.

Over the years, I have discovered that leadership influence has little to do with the leadership role or position that you hold and everything to do about how you treat people.

Quite often, and importantly, leadership influence will occur outside of the leadership position you hold.

For instance, in one Victorian country parish that I led, we enabled the church to engage effectively with the social needs of our growing community. We provided support and insight for our Shire President and Council to identify and address the growing social needs that were going to affect our community in the years to come. The Council was then able to institute actions and programs that would help it to deal with these needs as they arose.

Some years later, a Shire Councilor and I discussed with the Shire Secretary the lack of action that had occurred concerning a report produced for Council regarding social needs. He told us "Councilors do not have time to read reports, but if Andrew Peters proposes any program to Council, they would adopt it and do it".

I asked him to repeat what he said.

He noted that any program that I proposed to Council they would do — not simply consider but do.

That is influence.

Around the same time, we also had a Clergy Deanery lunch at the local pub in our town. I noticed that all the clergy coming back from ordering their lunch and drinks had a peculiar look on their face.

One clergyperson came in and said that the publican would only charge him for lunch, and not his drinks. All the clergy had experienced the same thing.

At that moment the Shire President and Councilors came into the dining room and greeted me as they went to their table.

Towards the end of the meal, the publican's wife came and offered us sweets on the house.

At that point, the Archdeacon said, "Andrew must own shares in the pub!"

Now none of this had been prearranged. How did it happen then?

It is a matter of influence.

It is a result of how you treat people. Even though I was the parish priest and I do not drink, we had a good relationship with the publican and his family.

Leadership is about influence.

It is not about positions, controlling people or manipulating them to do what you want.

It is about investing in people. The more you invest in people, the better you treat them, the more likely they are to take notice of what you do and think.

Leadership is about influencing people to take action based on the relationship you have with them, how you treat them and the time and resources you have invested in them.

Take a moment to reflect on how you treat people and who you are investing in today.

---

Editor's Note: The key to understanding leadership is understanding influence. But that is only the beginning. Andrew Peter's series on Leadership Dynamics covers a large range of the principles of leadership that assist in engaging, developing and leading those around you. Learn from Andrew's 30 years of experience in leading not-for-profit organizations and churches and increase your leadership effectiveness.
Find out more here

The first Pentecost saw the birth of the Church with the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples as they gathered privately together.

The Holy Spirit's arrival came with a commotion so loud that it attracted thousands of people to see what was going on. Some three thousand people were added to the church that day.

What a beginning!

Within a few days another five thousand men with their families were added to the church through a miracle that Peter and John did as they were going up to the temple to pray.

The disciples learnt through the event at Pentecost that God never follows our agenda. Rather, he calls us to follow His agenda and to be sold out to His cause.

The Holy Spirit energized the early Christians in such a way that they established a church that two millennia later has grown to two billion people plus.

But the same Spirit does not allow today's church to stay complacent with such numbers, but reminds us that of the 6,820,972,832 (US Census Bureau, 14th May 2010), over four billion of them do not attend a Christian Church and follow Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. Some of those people live in Australia, next door to you and me.

Not only does the Holy Spirit not allow today's Christians to be complacent but does not allow a nation such as ours to remain complacent either.

He gives us a name - the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit — then gives a cause — a mission to this world in its troubled time. Then He gives us His power to fulfill His cause.

We need to remember that God calls us afresh to His cause in this day and age and should ask on a daily basis: what is it you are wanting us to do?

The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city. Both the garden (described in Genesis 2) and the heavenly city (described in the end chapters of the Book of Revelation) are seen in idyllic terms. Before the Genesis story of the disobedience of humankind to God, the garden is seen as a place of tranquility, prosperity and unabated relationship and fellowship. The intimacy of those relationships existed because of the lack of guilt and shame. Not only was there an intimate fellowship between humanity and God but also unabashed intimacy between the woman and the man.

By the time we get to the heavenly city in the book of Revelation, once again there is tranquility, prosperity and unabated relationship and fellowship. There again human beings live in unabated adoration of God and in intimate fellowship with Him and with one another.

There is one thing common to both places. There is no temple or church in either the garden or heavenly city. Temples and church buildings are there to assist the present needs of the world in which we live. The world we know is one that does not know tranquility, prosperity or unabated relationship and fellowship. We certainly have glimpses of these conditions when the church is at its best, and yet the very opposite occurs when the church is at its worst. It is a place where innocence has been shattered and guilt and shame hinder our best efforts to live a good and righteous life. Temples and Church buildings are there to remind us of our obligation to love and serve the living God and provide a resource for community togetherness in our adoration and respect for God.

Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble. That goes for all of us, no matter how faithful and committed to God we might be. Trouble began, whether figuratively or not, when Eve took the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and gave it to Adam to eat. That simple disobedience did not occur out of any need that they might have had, after all the garden was a place of tranquility, prosperity and unabated fellowship and relationship. It occurred because of an innate gift that God bestowed upon human beings — the gift of free-will. It also possibly occurred because of another innate gift bestowed upon us — the gift of curiosity. Just as curiosity killed the cat, the grass was not greener on the other side (sorry to mix metaphors). Through that act of disobedience into this world came trouble.

God could remove all the trouble from the world, but to do that he would also need to remove us. He would have to take back the gift of free-will. That is not something that God wants to do and is certainly not the answer to our problems that we want.

That is, not our free-will. Those other malcontents should probably have their rights annulled, but not us. One thing that is common in the garden and the heavenly city is the presence of the tree of life. Once disobedience had occurred both Eve and Adam were excluded from the garden. The reason given was that they might eat of the tree of life and live forever. In the idyllic scene of the garden, as long as they stayed in obedience to God they lived in tranquility, prosperity and unabated relationship and fellowship, a state in which they could live forever. Once disobedience entered, human beings were excluded from the garden and the potential to eternal life. In John 16 Jesus calls us once again to the love of God that is shown in our obedience to God, His will and purpose. This obedience comes with the promise of eternity, to dwell in the heavenly city with God forever.

Jesus however, also left us with another gift that would enable us to confront the trouble we find in the world and overcome it for good. He gave us the gift of peace, a peace that the world itself does not know. When we hit a crisis in our life we often call upon God to act in the situation to change its impact and effect. However, the first thing that God acts upon to change is us. He calls us to draw upon His peace, a peace of mind and heart in the most difficult of situations. It is as we draw upon that peace that we are enabled by God to deal with our troubles and difficulties and to turn them towards good.

Paul writes, "accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don't argue with them about what they think is right or wrong" (Romans 14:1 New Living Translation). He refers to two examples where he believes this principle should be applied. The first related to the type of foods they ate and the second to the days they considered holy. Paul's concern in the passage is that we do what we believe to be right and leave others to their Lord and Saviour to do what they should be doing. He says, "Who are you to condemn someone else's servants? They are responsible to the Lord, so let Him judge whether they are right or wrong. And with the Lord's help, they will do what is right and will receive His approval." (Rom 14:4).

Paul himself does not see anything wrong with eating a variety of foods nor considering one special day or all days holy. His point is that we need to follow our own convictions. He writes, "But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning." (Rom 14:23 )

When we consider what God is asking of us, we encounter our Lord in a new way. He calls us afresh to the purpose He has for us. We see this in the encounters Jesus has with His disciples between His resurrection and Pentecost. In this process he challenges disciples like Thomas who initially doubted the resurrection stories (John 20) and then Peter to whom he makes a threefold call to feed His sheep (John 21). In that process Peter asks Jesus what is His intention for the other disciple (presumably John the author of the Gospel). Jesus tells him that it does not concern him what God's intentions are for other disciples.

What does concern Peter is that he fulfils what God has asked Him to do. Peter takes that instruction to heart and for the rest of his life faithfully serves God and builds His Church. Peter's faithfulness ends in martyrdom, crucified upside-down. When God calls, we need to respond to that call with all our hearts.In fulfilling God's purpose for us there are three principles that help us stay focused upon that call:

• Judge not that we will not be judged (Matthew 7:1; Romans 14);
• Consider others better than ourselves (Philippians 2:1-4);
• Assist others in their endeavours as we seek to fulfil our own purpose (Philippians 2:1- 4).

In the book The Generosity Factor Ken Blanchard and S. Truett Cathy note four areas that we need to implement generosity as a basic aspect of our lives. These are Time, Talent, Treasure and Touch. It is through the use of these four areas of our life that we learn to be generous and significant people.

Time — have you noticed that we all have the same amount of time? We all have 24 hours per day, seven days per week. The question is how we use the time we have been given? Paul tells us to make the most of our time for the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16). By this, he means to use the opportunities that come our way to sow into the kingdom of God.

Talent — according to Jesus, all of us have been given one or more abilities or gifts. Not only that, but if we use those abilities and gifts they will produce fruit for our efforts. Fear stops us from using those abilities and gifts to their fullest and produces negative habits in our lives that prevent us from prospering in the things we do (Matt 25:14- 30). God gives us abilities and gifts so we can prosper in the world, as well as assist Him in the establishment and building of His Kingdom.

Treasure — we all have treasure to some extent or other. The question is, does our treasure have us or do we have it. Paul notes that the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil (1 Timothy 6:10; Hebrews 13:5-6). Some people take this to mean that money or material possessions themselves are evil. However, the question of money or material things relates to our heart's desires and determines whether we have our treasure or our treasure has us. Some people love money and use people to get it, when we are supposed to love people and use money. Both poor and rich people can have a love of money. God wants us to turn away from the love of money to love and serve Him. He calls us to give generously to His Church and to others so that we might prosper in all we do (Malachi 3:10-12).

Touch — refers to what we give to others personally in the way of encouragement, support and assistance. Too many dreams or great ideas die in the early stages of their growth because there was no one there to encourage, support and assist. Many people never reach their full potential because no one took the personal interest in them to see them through. Paul tells us to be involved in what interests others and not simply our own interests (Philippians 2:1-4).

Each of these areas are prominent in God's call to us to be generous people. We are not necessarily novices in these areas. God has stretched us year after year so we grow stronger in the generous part of our lives. We also work hard at diminishing the self-centered part of us that so often wants to take control. However, we need to allow God to extend us further so that not only do we prosper, but His work also prospers through us. This not only involves commitment in these areas, but a willingness to learn new dynamics that make us more effective with our: use of time; development of our abilities and skills; prospering in the financial areas of our lives so we can sow into God's kingdom and church the resources it needs to impact our community, city and nation; and allowing our personal touch to be something that lifts the spirits of others so they can soar in the things that God is calling them to do.

Certain scholars claim that the word "sin" itself (in Hebrew or Greek) does not appear in the early Genesis stories about the creation of humanity. This is accurate. The additional inference that sin is finally dealt with as a result of this observation is probably not quite so accurate. We know that sin and its repercussions are pretty much alive and rampant in our world and community. That is, sin understood in terms of doing immoral or selfish things. For instance, some commentators have noted that the world is still reeling from economic chaos due to greed in some parts of the market place. Even though the creation stories do not mention sin, they clearly underline the fundamental nature of sin in terms of an independence from God — which was the essence of the temptation presented to Eve. Because of the decision to act independently of God, a number of areas of separation occurred.

1. God — the first level of separation was humanity's separation from intimate friendship and fellowship with God. Whereas, they once chatted with God in the garden now they hid from God in fear. For many as a result, God is either dismissed of altogether or held aloof from any real interaction in their lives.
2. Man and woman — the second level of separation was between them. Whereas once they were not ashamed of their nakedness, now they wanted to cover themselves. For many couples, intimacy is rare and misunderstanding is prolific in any attempt to deeply communicate with one another.
3. Child-birth — the next level of separation, for the woman, was separation from the enjoyment of one of the most precious events of her life, giving birth to a new child. Now it was attached to pain.
4. Dominance — again for the woman even though she would have an intense attachment to her man, he would domineer and rule her. As a result, many women are abused in place of the intimacy and romance they desire in their relationship with their husbands.
5. Work — for the man he would know only frustration in the work of his hands. Work would be hard and accompanied with pain. Finally he would return to the very dust from which he had been made. For many, work is a drudge to be endured not enjoyed and they carry into retirement a sense of failure and worthlessness.

The Genesis story is pretty accurate in its description of some significant areas of our life which could be better. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but outline key areas where independence from God creates significant levels of separation in our lives. However, there are two additional levels of separation indicated by the place of the serpent in the story, who has traditionally represented Lucifer who was once the Archangel in charge of worship and praise.

6. Worship — as a result of his fall from heaven and our independence from God, humanity was separated from the joy of worshiping and praising God. It explains the difficulty we have in coming to worship and the contention that occurs in many churches over the form of that worship.
7. Glory — the final other area of separation was from participation in the glory of God. The decision to act independently from God was aimed at grabbing God's glory apart from God. As a result the participation in that glory was lost. It is the reason that the serpent is condemned to crawl along the ground — falling from the heights of the kingdom of God to the dust of the earth.

Paul notes that each and every one of the barriers, that have arisen in our lives because of these areas of separation, have been torn down by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He writes: "for you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich" (2 Cor 8:9).

In Daniel 7:9-14, it refers to one like a son of man coming to the Ancient of Days who was seated on a throne. To this son of man was given all dominion and power. All peoples, nations, and men and women of all languages would serve Him. This passage in Daniel seemed to point to this event occurring at a future date.

In Mark 13:24-27 Jesus speaks of the coming of the Son of Man in clouds with great power. The term "the Son of Man" is used in the New Testament only in the Gospels and once in the Acts of the Apostles. In the Gospels, it is used only by Jesus to refer to himself and his mission, and once by the crowd who wanted to know what the term meant.

Although the disciples, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, used a number of Messianic terms to refer to Jesus, including Son of God, Messiah or Christ, Lord, and son of David, they never used the term "the Son of Man" in reference to Jesus' ministry, personhood and mission. That is, the term was Jesus' own personal reference to refer to whom He was and what He had come to do.

At the same time, Jesus rejected or minimised certain Messianic terms used by the various Jewish factions to describe their expectation of the coming Messiah. Jesus refused to take up the political role of one sent from God to deliver the nation of Israel from her enemies, especially the Romans.

Rather, Jesus came to do God's will and purpose which was far broader than simply saving the Jewish nation from its enemies. Jesus came for all nations and all peoples. Jesus uses the term the Son of Man to refer to his own ministry in three ways:

• the (present) earthly Son of Man — the miracles, work and teaching He did in Galilee and Jerusalem;
• the suffering Son of Man; and
• the eschatological (future) or coming Son of Man.

It is through these three different types of sayings that Jesus' unique interpretation of the motif the Son of Man, is expressed. Jesus succinctly combines the use of the Son of Man motif with the Suffering Servant motif from such passages as Isaiah 53. Both of these motifs had already existed in Judaism at that time, but were never used together. The first evoked a sense of exaltation with the Son of Man riding upon the clouds, and the other evoked a sense of deepest humiliation with the concept of a suffering Messiah. Jesus fulfilled the second by dying on the cross for our sin and rising from the dead so we could have new life. He fulfills the first in His coming again riding upon the clouds.

The combination of these two terms suggests the meaning of the term that Jesus' uses to describe His mission and purpose. Although the Jewish nation held a special place in God's purpose, Jesus did not come to fulfill only the Jewish Messianic expectations of the Messiah. The Son of Man motif carries with it a much broader meaning and application. It identifies the purpose of the Coming One that goes far beyond Jewish Messianic expectations and the redemption of the Jewish community of faith, to the redemption of all human beings through the Son of Man.

Moltmann, in The of Way of Christ notes: "The messiah is a historical figure of hope belonging to nation, space and time (i.e. the Jewish nation). The Son of Man is a figure of expectation for all nations; he is above the world, because he overcomes the world."

Although Jesus' mission began with Israel, it did not stay there. It is, thus, through Christianity that Israel pervades the world of the Gentile nations with a messianic hope for the coming of God to all peoples.

The second aspect of this passage in Mark's Gospel refers to the coming of tribulation or days of trouble with the sun darkened, the moon giving no light, and the stars falling. It is at such a time that the Son of Man is to come. However, what should the church, the people of God, be doing during the lead up to such times?

Jesus notes that before the coming of the Son of Man the gospel will be preached to all nations (Mark 13:10). The Church will be working full on, 24/7, to proclaim the gospel to every nation, to take it to all peoples, so that all can hear the good news of the redemption of the whole world through God's Messiah — Jesus of Nazareth.

The second half of Luke 4 tells the story of Jesus' visit to his own home village of Nazareth. He entered the synagogue and read one of the messianic passages from the Book of Isaiah that outlines the activity of the Messiah. It read:

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me,
Because the LORD has anointed me
To bring good news to the afflicted;
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to captives
And freedom to prisoners;
To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD .
(Isaiah 61:1-2)

When he finished the reading he handed back the book to the attendant and said: "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." Jesus here claims to be fulfilling this particular prophecy of Isaiah. Whether the congregation understood clearly enough the claim he made is uncertain because they all started commenting on the eloquence of his speech and that he was Joseph's son, whom they had watch grow up into the very nice, balanced person whose fame had come back to them from work he had done abroad.

Rather than basking in this paternalistic praise Jesus moves to provoke them by suggesting that they will reject His words because of their familiarity with him. Such familiarity should not be relied upon because God in the past had often gone outside of Israel to support his prophets when the nation was in disobedience to God's will and purpose (he notes the story of the widow from Zarephath, in the time of Elijah and the healing of Naaman the Syrian in the time of Elisha). The crowd in the synagogue became enraged at these words and dragged Jesus out of the synagogue up the hill to throw him off the cliff. However, Jesus slipped through their fingers and went on his way.

Although Luke indicates that this praise, even though paternalistic, did not yet have the antagonism in it that latter came when Jesus continued his words, Matthew's rendition notes that this praise itself was already antagonistic (Matthew 13:53-58). Both Matthew and Mark note that the source of their antagonism was unbelief. Because of that Jesus was unable to do many, if any, miracles in his own home town.

For Jesus, their familiarity, with its paternalistic praise, stood as a barrier to their ever truly hearing his words or understanding his teaching. He provoked them further in order to move them from the comfort of their unbelief to struggle to find faith again, and with it new hope. We are often challenged by unbelief in our daily life and circumstances. Jesus will often disturb our peace so that we might once again struggle with faith to find new hope in our lives. The writer to the Hebrews not only tells us that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen", but that "without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:1,4).

HAVE FAITH!

In 1 Kings 17 there is the story of the prophet Elijah and the widow of Zarephath. A great famine had come upon the land of Israel, due to Elijah's prayers. God was demonstrating through Elijah that God was Lord; not Baal whose followers believed controlled the weather. During this period, God told Elijah to go to Zarephath, because there God had commanded a widow to provide food and shelter for him during the time of the famine.

You would expect two things from such instructions. First, that the widow would be someone who had the resources to look after Elijah during the famine – thus she would be someone rich and influential. However, when Elijah arrives he finds a woman who, although she may have been well off in the past, had no resources with which to look after him. She only had enough flour left to make one more meal for her son and herself before they would die of starvation. Not only did she not have the resources herself, she had no way of finding such resources elsewhere. Whatever influence she may have had in the past was far gone from her current situation.

Second, you would have thought that God would have told the woman herself that he was sending a prophet to her to provide him with shelter and food. However, there is no indication in the story that the woman was aware of such a command before Elijah requested from her food and water. When Elijah requested food from her, she explained her plight and heavily noted that she did not have enough flour for her son and herself to provide food beyond their next and final meal. Elijah tells her to make food for him anyway and then for her son and herself. He finishes this instruction with a promise from God that the jar of flour and oil would not run out until the famine was over. That is exactly what happened. The jar of flour and oil did not run out until the famine was finished.

A number of thoughts come from this story. The first is that God's call or command to us might not necessarily come before the occasion for its enactment. That is, Elijah's request and promise instigated God's command in this widow's life. Despite her difficulties, this woman was sensitive enough to hear God's command and promise, as the prophet spoke those words, and to know that in this simple instruction there was now a glimmer of hope for the future. The second is that once the command came, with its slight glimmer of hope, she responded in faith and acted upon God's word. I am sure that she had often prayed that God would send her help. I am also sure she expected that someone would arrive with food to help her out. Instead, someone arrived asking her for food. However, in the prophet's request and promise she sensed the hand of God at work in her life to save her from her difficulties. The third is she had to act in faith and provide the prophet with food before the promise would come. If she had turned Elijah away that day then she would probably have died, along with her son. Often God's answer to our need comes in the form of a request for us to act for God or others, despite our difficulties. When we do that, His miracle-working power comes into play.

We have been looking at the effect of disengagement and the drive to passivity that influences us in our daily life. Last week we noted the importance of disengagement upon our attitudes.

This week we touch on its impact upon our perspective of life. Your perspective on life is fundamentally linked to who you are! Who you are determines the lens or eyeglass through which you see life. John Maxwell, in Winning with People, notes that who you are determines:

• What you see
• How you see others
• How you view life
• What you do

Who you are does not remain static. You do not remain the same person year after year, decade after decade. Maxwell notes that who you are is determined by:

• Genetics – your family back ground
• Self-image
• Experiences of life
• Attitudes and choices about those experiences
• Friends

Jesus said to his disciples that in this world you will have trouble. Most people I now agree that Jesus was pretty right about that – in this world we have trouble .

Well how have you fared?

Have troubles depleted who you are or added to who you are? Have they been the springboard to a lesser you – are you more bitter, resentful, untrusting, insensitive, uncaring, inflexible or impatient? Have you given up on humanity because of past hurts and experiences? OR have they been the springboard to a greater you – are you more compassionate, loving, caring, kind, sensitive or patient? We need to understand that disengagement and the things that provoke disengagement deplete who we are, whereas, engagement, despite the things that provoke us, add to who we are and make us better people as a result.

The Basic Acceptance of Ourself:
Gaining Confidence and Security

"The basic acceptance of ourself, as the person God created us to be, builds within us a sense of security that enables us to withstand the impact of rejection and peer-pressure."

Ever wonder why we always compare ourselves to others? Why we care so much about others opinions? Why we find it hard to see the amazing person God has created us to be?

The two articles in Self Acceptance and Healing of Bitterness , work through the reasons why we find it hard to accept ourselves and shows us how to see ourselves the way God see us.

As we noted last week, one of the key areas of our life that is impacted by disengagement is attitude.

John Maxwell outlines the importance of attitude in the following quote:

"Attitude...

It is the ‘advance person’ of our true selves.

Its roots are inward but its fruit is outward.

It is our best friend or our worst enemy.

It is more honest and more consistent than our words.

It is an outward look based on past experiences.

It is a thing which draws people to us or repels them.

It is never content until it is expressed.

It is the librarian of our past.

It is the speaker of our present.

It is the prophet of our future.

Good attitudes among team members do not guarantee the team's success, but bad attitudes guarantee its failure."

John Maxwell, Team, p110.

As we noted last week our Church Mission statement at St Jude's is to transform disengaged people in to fully engaged men and women of God. This mission statement is aimed at inspiring our people to reach out to a disengaged world and bring them to Christ. However, the pressure towards disengagement also impacts all of us who have decided to follow Jesus in our lives. We need to be aware of the pressures at work in the world that drive us towards passivity; and as a result not only a disengagement with the things of life – worship, relationships, prayer and spiritual development, and service to God and His church – but also a numbness to the moral, spiritual and leadership issues of our time.

In addition, a sense of weariness, hopelessness and depression move to disengage us from the things that make life worthwhile, rewarding and satisfying.

They separate us from things that are worth being committed to. This calls for an engagement with life! An engagement Jesus tells us that cannot truly happen without being connected to Him (John 15:1–8). It is Jesus who provides the light and direction for our lives. John writes. "In him was life, and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4). John also tells us that there is an active hidden force (darkness) at work in the world whose aim is to disengage us from life. However, this darkness is unable to overcome the life and light that comes to us through Jesus. John writes, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" (John 1:5).

We need to be engaged with God and the things that pertain to His Kingdom. This is not suggesting that we are necessarily disengaged. Rather, the movement to engagement comes from recognition of the level of disengagement around us that attempts to influence our attitudes and perspective on life.

This recognition comes through two fundamental forces at work in our life. The first is our ongoing awareness of our own frailty and ability to deceive ourselves – this is the element of humility and meekness in our life. The second is the word of God, which is able to highlight the activity of darkness that drives us to passivity and disengagement with God and one another.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Hebrews 4:12). Without such recognition, passivity and disengagement trap, beguile and engulf us as they flow through the various aspects of our daily life. They come through the small activities and decisions we make and manage to sap our energy; distort our affections and attitudes; and rob us of peace, satisfaction and fruitfulness.

Challenge disengagement and it will flee from you!

Looking for a way to kick-start the year?

40 Days of Life: Possession of Abundant Life, Joy and Peace

Looking for a great way to start 2010? Why not commit forty days to deepening your relationship with God and taking a hold of the abundant life, joy and peace He has for you?

These six studies were designed to be used in the lead up to Easter but they are also a perfect way to begin the year and encourage you to grow, develop and be ready for all that the year has to bring. 

Our Church Mission statement at St Jude's notes that it is our mission to transform disengaged people in to fully engaged men and women of God. This mission statement was aimed at inspiring us to reach out to a disengaged world and bring them to Christ. However, some of our members initially felt that they were disengaged themselves.

Many have felt a growing engagement with God as a result of the challenge they had been given. A fully engaged man or women of God is not a super -spiritual person or one who is perfect in all that they do. They are people who become engaged with God and are growing in their relationship with Him.

At the same time it is good for us to realise that the culture of our society contains a number of influences that encourage us to disengage with life, people, family and self. There is a strong undercurrent of passivity that we as Christians need to address in our lives and in our relationship with others. These influences include:

Western Buddhism – This is a term used by psychoanalyst and philosopher Slavoj Zizek. It refers to people's attempts to keep up with the dramatic changes in technology and the fast-paced movements and interactions of life. Western Buddhists have assimilated the passivity of withdrawal and disengagement of that philosophy and see themselves as detached from the daily activity of their lives, which does not affect who they "really are" inside. They see their work with its tensions and challenges as a game that they play that they are not really connected to it. They are aloof from it in the midst of doing it. That is they are disengaged.

Post-Modernism – rests on the de-construction of the meta-narratives of life. Post-modernism detaches us from any sense of inner-self or core value. We are de-centred selves without any core centre at all. We have no unique identity of being. It disengages us from real relationships and commitments to others. It removes the "I" from who we are so that there is no one inside to make a commitment for us.

Yoga and Transcendental Meditation – both of these forms of Eastern mysticism encourages us to disengage from thinking, to empty our minds in order to find tranquility.

The Enlightenment Project – aimed to dislocate any sense of spirituality as being real and related to facts that can be proven via scientific experiment or experience. It aimed to disengage the church from any influence in the real world and left Christians in a ghetto of individual faith and experience that did not interfere with the social or political realm.

Each of these influences (and others) engulf us in an environment of disengagement. Jesus Christ came so that we could be truly engaged with God and have an intimate relationship with God the Father through Him. Despite the influences around us Jesus strives with us to bring us into intimate engagement with God.

Next week we will look at how to engage with God and the things pertaining to His Kingdom.

Looking for a way to kick-start the year?

40 Days of Life: Possession of Abundant Life, Joy and Peace

Looking for a great way to start 2010? Why not commit forty days to deepening your relationship with God and taking a hold of the abundant life, joy and peace He has for you?

These six studies were designed to be used in the lead up to Easter but they are also a perfect way to begin the year and encourage you to grow, develop and be ready for all that the year has to bring. 

"The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest"

Luke 10:2

We have over many years heard these words of Jesus about the need for more labourers for the harvest that God has for all humanity. We have also recognised that need for additional labourers. However, in our culture we have subtly felt that the harvest is not yet ready: people are not interested; we might offend them by talking about religious things; or there are three things you should never talk about in public ­ sex, politics and religion. Well the first two have been blown out of the water, but we still cling to the third.

When Jesus first raised the issue of the harvest with his disciples they thought that it was something that would happen in the future, when they were ready or when they had the right resources. However, Jesus tells them to lift up their heads and look for the harvest is here . He said,

"Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest" (John 4:35 ESV)

Now some people would say that it not as easy as it sounds. We have tried year after year and people either just turn off or ridicule us in the process. I remember one of our farmers in a country parish recounting his visit to a friend he had known for twenty years. This time he was visiting as a part of the Parish's Thanksgiving Program. This friend just slammed the door in his face and left him devastated. It took him two years before he told anyone about the incident. Many of us can probably relate at some level about the crushing pain he experienced from that event. Yes, there are people outside the church who will turn off or ridicule us. Jesus, Paul, James and Peter tell us to rejoice at times like that. It is the only way to release ourselves from the feelings of such moments. By rejoicing we protect our hearts and guard against the eroding processes of cynicism and pessimism. We need to remind ourselves that God is able to break through the hardest of hearts.

The most amazing statement made by Nicky Cruz (a violent gang leader in the slums of New York ) in the movie the Cross and the Switchblade is how he couldn't get away from the words of a skinny preacher who told him Jesus loved him - words that kept at him though he had no idea who Jesus was.

The harvest is on. People are ready to hear. Some are seeking to find real meaning in their lives and to know whether God is real or not. For too long they have heard the inadequate proclamation of materialism and a scientific closed system understanding of the world that only acknowledges God as the first cause of all that exists, if it acknowledges Him at all.

They have closed God out of any real interaction in this world. Well, the coming of the Son of God in the person of Jesus Christ (the Incarnation of the Son of God) makes a pretty strong breach of that closed system and shows that it is God's intention to be intimately involved with the men, women and children He has created.

“People are curious beings. If we stir up their curiosity; they will ask us to tell them the gospel, giving us the opportunity to tell them of the good news…”God loves us to the extent of giving His Son to die on the cross for all of humanity. He also loves those outside the precincts of the church, even though they do not yet know it. God provides opportunities for us to share His love and word with others.

In the days when I worked with Teen Challenge in Kings Cross I was waiting for a bus. It was around midnight. Two young men stopped next to me and hailed a taxi. One of them turned to me and asked if I had any grass (marijuana). I told him that I had something better than grass. He responded with enthusiasm asking whether it was cocaine. I told him this was better than cocaine. You have heroin he questioned? I told him that what I had was much better than heroin and would give him a high that he would never forget. By this time he was hopping into the taxi and asked well what on earth do you have. I said, "Jesus Christ and he can change your life." At that point the taxi departed.

People are curious beings. If we stir up their curiosity; they will ask us to tell them the gospel, giving us the opportunity to tell them of the good news of the kingdom of God realised in Jesus Christ.

Looking for a way to kick-start the year?

40 Days of Life: Possession of Abundant Life, Joy and Peace

Looking for a great way to start 2010? Why not commit forty days to deepening your relationship with God and taking a hold of the abundant life, joy and peace He has for you?

These six studies were designed to be used in the lead up to Easter but they are also a perfect way to begin the year and encourage you to grow, develop and be ready for all that the year has to bring. 

I found this section of Lance McMurray's book Moving Beyond Depression helpful not just for individuals but also for communities. It challenges us to consider what we are founded upon. He writes:

"Another source of depression comes from frustration and despair. It isn't based on the loss of something, but on the absence of something that was never there in the first place.

It is depression based on the perception of loss. It is depression based on the death of expectation. The philosophy that a half-empty glass is an empty glass is one of the most destructive perceptions of life. This is the idea that if that glass is not filled to the top, brimming over, it might as well be empty. It is an all-or-nothing perception that flies in the face of reality.

No one's glass is truly filled all of the time. Life simply doesn't operate that way. As the saying goes, the healthy perception is to view the glass as having fullness. Those who are depressed don't see the half-empty; they see completely empty. Some rage because the glass never seems to be full. Others despair because they're convinced they aren't worthy of even a half-empty glass. Still others quietly accept the fact that the glass will never be full for them. They look at the glass and see what isn't there instead of what is. They focus on what is absent instead of what is present."

Quoted from the book Moving Beyond Depression by Gregory L. Jantz Ph.D with Ann McMurray.

Is your glass half full or half empty?

Particularly at Christmas this year, take some time out to see what is in your glass. Why don't you write a list of the things and blessings that you do have and thank God for them? In addition, ask Him to fill your glass further and to help you see the opportunities that surround you.

Have a very Merry Christmas!

You might ask: "Where has heaven gone?" John Lennon in 1970 wrote a song called "Imagine" where he promoted an Eastern mystical philosophy of life and wrote: "Imagine there's no heaven; it's easy if you try, no hell below us…"

Well it is not so easy to forget about heaven, but our understanding of it has become clouded. We live in a culture now that carries with it a number of different concepts about life, death, and the after life. The gospels are quite clear in their presentation of Jesus' conviction that not only is there life after death, but there is a place where we dwell eternally with God (that has traditionally been referred to as heaven). Jesus' concept of life beyond the grave, as well as St Paul's, is that we, as personal living beings, continue our existence beyond death holding onto our particular personality and nature, but replacing this mortal body with an immortal body. Our soul and spirit continues after death and takes on an entirely new body. In John 5 & 6 Jesus in a number of verses refers to His coming to raise us up at the last day. He says:

• John 5:21: For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will;
• John 6:39: and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day;
• John 6:40: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day;
• John 6:44: No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day;
• John 6:54: he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

These are profound statements made by Jesus that indicate His relationship with God the Father and His authority to bring us eternal life. His own resurrection is the beginning of new life for us that takes us beyond death into an eternal life with God. This understanding of life after death contrasts with other philosophical concepts such as reincarnation and our own ocker version of life after death.

In reincarnation, which comes out of a pantheistic understanding of God, we are told that we keep coming back in different life forms, or different persons. Our previous life determines the state of the next life. If we have been evil in the previous life then our karma determines a pretty bad lot for us in the current life. If we have been pretty good then it determines a good time.

This has had a disastrous effect in some cultures that treat the poor and needy with disdain. It also doesn't explain really what happens if your good times turn sour in this life, as it has for many people in the current global economic crisis.

There is also a question of whether our personality continues on as well, because we do not remember just who we were in the past life. Another extension from pantheism is panentheism that holds the concept of an evolutionary God that not only sees humanity evolving, but God as well. God too is growing up and is caught in time. From this perspective our existence after death ceases. But not all is lost, because the good things we have done continue on in the memory of God.

Our own ocker version was presented clearly to me one night when I had been introduced to a gentleman, with a can of beer in his hand, at a cast party of a dramatic play we had seen. My friends introduced me as their minister, Fr Andrew. The gentleman held up his can of beer, pointing to it and said: "When I die I am going to hell where there is boozing, gambling and plenty of women…" I responded by saying that was a pity, as I thought all the good booze was going to be in heaven. He was dumbfounded at that point.

Jesus tells us He will not drink of the vine until we join Him at His banquet table in heaven, where there will be feasting, joy, peace and love.

"Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God!"

Ephesians 4:30-32

What a profound statement! The thought that our BIG GOD could be affected in such a way by something we do. Can we upset God so much that the Spirit of God can become grieved?

Time and again the Bible describes God being grieved by what the community of faith does or does not do. God is an enigmatic personal God who desires a personal and intimate relationship with us.

This makes God sensitive to what we do and say to Him and to one another.

Paul notes the things that grieve God and the things that bless God. Both relate to the way we treat one another as the community of faith.

The Holy Spirit is grieved when the community allows destructive attitudes to have free reign in its community life. These include things like bitterness, wrath, anger, clamour, slander and malice. Paul tells us to put away these things as they are destructive to our personal life, the life of our Christian community and our intimate relationship with God.

Rather, Paul tells us to do things that will grow and nurture our relationship with God and with one another. We are to be kind to one another. We are to have a tender heart.

Robert Schuller says "It is more psychologically healthy to trust people than to not trust. Even when people have let you down time after time, it is more healthy to trust than to not trust." Finally Paul notes that we are to forgive one another. God knows there will be times when people will do and say things that hurt. We are to forgive them. Forgiveness is for our benefit not theirs. It enables us to remain focused, vibrant and committed to God's purpose for our lives.

Jesus said to His disciples, "Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?" (Mark 4:40 ). Although this was to become a common question Jesus asked His disciples, it seems unusual in the context of the story about the calming of the raging storm. It sounds like the disciples had been learning about faith from Jesus for some time. However, they had only been recently chosen by Jesus to be His disciples and trained to be apostles in the new fledgling church that was to grow out of the events of His death, resurrection and ascension. Wasn't it a bit soon to expect them to be experts in faith? Secondly, the circumstances that confronted them were extreme, for so strong was the storm that raged about them that the waves were filling the boat. Now many of these disciples were seasoned fishermen. They would not be easily frightened by adverse weather conditions. That they were frightened meant the situation was quite dangerous and the boat itself, as well as themselves, was about to be lost, destroyed by the storm.

While this was going on, Jesus was asleep. They woke Him and begged Him to help. He responded by rebuking the storm and telling the sea to be calm. This terrified them even more and made them wonder just what type of person Jesus was. So certainly by this time they did not have faith.

There are many times when we cry out to God to do something about the storm that rages around us through the various crises we encounter.

How often do we hear Jesus, as He moves to calm those storms, question us about our level of faith? Do we still not have faith? It is a question that faces all of us no matter how long we have walked with the Lord and served His purposes. For growth in faith is an ongoing experience we have in the everyday activity of our lives. Yet some people are so conditioned by the materialistic interpretation of life our culture has imposed on us that they do not hear His question about faith at all.

While others do not see that it is in the very everyday activity of life that God teaches us about Himself and His ways. They separate their spiritual lives from their physical lives and deal with the everyday stuff separate from the religious commitments and activities. Yet it is in the physical activities that the greatest spiritual lessons can be learnt – that is the lessons that help us grow in faith. According to the letter to the Hebrews "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval…without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him" (Hebrews 11:1-2, 6).

Who would have imagined that the fire breathing, persecuting Saul of Tarsus would have become the early Church's foremost theologian and preacher?

Most of the letters written in the New Testament were written by Paul (formally Saul). Prior to his conversion most of the Christian churches would have been praying for protection from Saul and his persecuting attitude and actions. God acts when we least expect Him to. Saul was on his way to Damascus to arrest and kill as many Christians as he could find and crush the Church there into extinction. Yet on the Damascus road Jesus threw Paul off his donkey, blinded him and told him to stop his activities and obey what God was asking him to do. As a result of this incident Paul was led by his friends into Damascus and left in a house where he began to pray and seek God in a different way.

Meanwhile God tells a Christian disciple named Ananias that he was to go to meet Saul and declare God's purpose for his life. Ananias was not eager to do this as he had heard reports about Paul's cruelty and persecution. Yet he went, spoke God's word to Saul and Saul's eyes were opened. Saul became Paul - God's apostle to the Gentiles.

Paul, along with Peter opened the Church to the Gentile nations so that the gospel of Jesus could be preached to every person on the planet. Yet it is amazing the way God chooses people to do His purpose.

He chooses Saul, who is steeped and trained in the Jewish traditions, a Pharisee of the Pharisees, a teacher himself of the Law and those traditions, to reach the Gentiles. At the same time he takes Peter and James (Jesus' brother), who are uneducated and untrained in the Law and the traditions to reach the Jewish people with the good news of God's saving act for all people through Jesus Christ.

Do you consider yourself just an ordinary person, not much of anything really, with no extraordinary gifts or abilities? Then God has a plan for your life!

You might say that you have never had a Damascus road experience like Paul. Maybe you do not need one! Paul was knocked off his donkey because God could not get through to him in any other way. Maybe you are not as hard-headed as Paul.

God does extraordinary things through ordinary people. The weird thing is that when they do it they do not even know that they have done something extraordinary.

We look for the spectacular, when God looks for what is the most effective way to communicate His love to a lost and forlorn world, to people who feel that God does not care about them.

After his resurrection Jesus appeared to His disciples and said to them: "Why are you troubled, and why do questionings rise in your hearts?" (Luke 24:38 ).

When we think of the circumstances they faced we can understand that things had become somewhat unstable and stressful with Jesus' arrest, trial and crucifixion.

These men had already committed three and a half years to Jesus and His mission; only to find that it all fell apart at the very point when it seemed like it was going to succeed. Only a week before they were elated when the crowds finally cheered Jesus entrance into Jerusalem - the King had finally come to own His crown.

At that point all their hopes were flying high and the hard work and sacrifice looked as if it would pay off. Then Jesus died.

Feelings of trouble and questioning arise when we lose touch with God's intentions and purpose in the circumstances that confront us. What do we do with the frustrations and setbacks that occur; even with the things that we were certain was part of God's plan and purpose for our lives and the life of His Church?

We turn our trouble hearts to trust in the Lord and his providence. It is a matter of trusting that God is still in control even when it seems that everything has gone totally out of control.

This was the true lesson that Job had to learn. Though Job was faithful in not turning his back on God or cursing God for his circumstances, he still did not understand that despite everything that had happened to him God was still in control of his life and its circumstances.

In the disappointments of life we need to turn to the Lord afresh and ask Him what His intentions might be in the circumstances that confront us. Proverbs 16:9 notes that "a man's mind plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps." As the Lord's servants we need to submit our plans to Him and let Him direct our steps to the fulfillment of those plans.

We need to be careful in the midst of the times that make us feel troubled that we do not allow stubbornness to arise in our hearts and close out the Lord's directionin our lives. Micah said, "He has showed you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" (Micah 6:8)