Musings on Glory

As a human being - fallen, but created in the image of God - my interests are varied. Broadly, I might state that my hobbies include Photography, Music and Sport; but I get bored saying that. Throw a stone and you’ll hit someone with a similar combination. I'm not that special. But persevere with me.

I love photography because it serves people; it tells stories about character, personality, context, history, culture, passion, grief, ecstasy and so much more; it has the power to capture the essence of what it means to be human, to be created in the image of God.  

Music is the rhythm of my soul; it is the soundtrack to my life. I groove and headbang to rock, pop, hip-hop, R & B, blues, folk, country, easy listening, and most recently Dave Sinden has got me into electronic music, though his father has yet to draw me to classical. More than genre, music is a platform and a vehicle for truth expressed, questioned and celebrated.

I was made for sport. It simply captures my being. Emotion, energy, willpower, character, fitness, relationships, physiology, psychology, psycho-kinethesis; one half of a football match will expose all those elements of a human being to scrutiny.

And if you’ve studied or work in or have a curiousity concerning any one of those fields, you could probably engage me for hours before introducing the bibliography on any one of those subjects.

The world we live in is so vast, the universe an infinite times bigger still; choose one topic to explore, and “the more you learn, the more you realize how much you have yet to” is the understatement of history. As Christians, we believe Christ’s Lordship transcends and supersedes every issue or theme or paper you’ve ever loved or hated – and in this general revelation of awesomeness, in faith we can find Christ’s fingerprints there.

I don’t know how we distilled the expression “worship”, to our 2 hour meeting on Sundays, or worse, confining it to the even-shorter time of singing during those 2 hours. Worship is found in the faith-gathering of God’s people as much as it is found in the recesses of our everyday life and the frontline of our wars.

Worship is about reverence, awe and a passion to grow and to serve. True Worship is not confined to a place, but it is confined to a person. Or should I say, three Persons; God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

As a human being created in the image of God and fallen; but redeemed to be re-created in that image, my interests are varied, but my passion is One. Regardless the task, everything is an opportunity, every moment a chance – to give my all for the LORD who gave me these interests, which, at the end of the day, are really wee musings of His glorious self.  

7 the magic number

I once heard an Aston Villa manager say about one of his players that he was a "consistent 7/10 in every game"; and that he didn't want any 9/10s or 5/10s, he was happy with 7/10 from him week in, week out. He didn't say much more than that but it really stuck in my mind and I've been pondering it since. "Could having a 'good' player be better than having an 'excellent' player?" I thought to myself.

I wonder if ministry is much like that, and Christian ministers like stroppy footballers. We want the dizzy heights of the 9/10s but to be quite honest, we can't really handle it. It's too close to excellence, to perfection. We have much more to grow in than we often care to acknowledge. We'd much prefer to defer to thinking we have it made. We prefer to be much closer to the ceiling of deity than we really deserve.

After all, as any young English player would testify, hit a 9/10 and the press will hail you as the new Christ of English football, then flog you when you fail to perform next time out. I wonder if the Kingdom of God was to be a football team, if it would be less of a Manchester City and more like a Aston Villa, its players more  like Barry Brennans and Marc Albrightons than Carlos Tevezs and Mario Balotellis.

I'm grateful for the folk around me who, in wanting to encourage me, told me that I had done a "good job", or am a "good leader". By which I mean those who carefully and incisively told me I was 7/10, rather than using the lazy 9/10 language of "awesome" and "amazing". In any case, I know I think too highly of myself - and could totally use the humbling. Yet, paradoxically, I am probably more in need of the encouragement than I choose to let on.

Worthlessness, Worship and War

I have been wondering for awhile where my first blogpost would come from. I started this blog when I was about to start as a Staff Worker with TSCF some 2 years back. Andy would remember this well; we argued for close to 45 minutes the value (or lack thereof) in a name like ‘Smelevision’. I don’t recall him ever being so uptight about something I deemed insignificant, and found it quite amusing. He didn’t. But seeing it was my blog and not his, I didn’t back down for once, which probably contributed to him having a few more migraines that week, bless his wee noggin. So here I am, 2 years on, with my first ‘Smelevison’ blog post. The name is about sharing my vision through my tainted but increasingly sharpened view of the world and life around me as God works in my life through his Word and by His Spirit. And it’s just like seeing my world from afar, through my eyes, but my prayer is that it also leaves a lasting scent – hopefully a fragrance of the God’s gracious work in and through me, for His glory.

It’s been a hard, hard 3 months back in Singapore. And I don’t know if it’ll get any easier. It’s hard being away from my parents, from Kate, from Marsden, from Three Kings United, from AUTCF, from Andy, from beautiful, laidback Aotearoa. It’s hard being in Singapore, struggling to find gainful paid employment, to find/build community, to be amongst not-yet believers on a regular basis, working out a significant relationship in a new context, encountering psycho Singapore drivers on a regular basis and simply being in a largely claustrophobic, materialistic and thoughtless society.

There have been some corker times though. The continuation of a couple of special Kiwi-made friendships, hearing of continuing fruit of shared ministry in Auckland, some brilliant times in Scripture with an old friend, sharing life and Scripture with some Boys Brigade boys, wonderful everyday opportunities for the Gospel, moments with John Piper and Tedashii on buses and trains and the fellowship of Su Ann’s Bible Study group around Romans to name but a few. Sharing life with Soubs, day in, day out, is also pretty special!

Still, the majority of time spent in Singapore has been lonely and at times, downright gutting. Yet, through these times, God has allowed me to wrestle with some massive issues: the fleetingness of life on this earth; illness, decay and death; the role of the church and its apparent and increasing divorce from the world; and perhaps ultimately, the absolute worthlessness of my life here on this earth apart from God’s gracious purposes for me to live and work for His glory.

Even tonight at Bible study we had the privilege of being humbled by Romans 9, wrestling with God’s sovereign choice in His mercy, by His will and for His glory. Understanding we were as lifeless and useless as shapeless clay in a potters’ hand was like swallowing a pill the size of a fat crayon. Understanding God’s decision over who He would create for ‘honourable use’ and to have mercy on might yet choke some of us to death. It was hard, humbling, sobering times. But it was good times. And dare I say supernatural, transformative, soul-saving times, by God’s grace.

Whilst the future for me is not a lot clearer than it was a month ago, I've see more clearly that life is warfare: warfare against my sinful nature, a battle for souls fought in every moment; seeking to capture every decision and every opportunity for worship of the Creator of my being, Lover and Redeemer of my soul and the Sovereign, Reigning and Soon-coming King. I am a soldier of the Conquering King of the Eternal Kingdom. May I be ready for every battle, however small, for it could be a matter of life and death; may I fight for every person as I would a fellow comrade/citizen; may I sharpen my handling of my sword, the Word of God; may I treasure every moment in every breath as God-given and God-worthy and may I love my King, my Captain and my Saviour and to delight in knowing Him more each day.

I don’t know what I’ll be doing tomorrow, next week or next month. I don’t know where money will come from or where I’ll be living or whether my earthly relationships will continue. But I know what my Worth is in: In Worship, and in War. That is my calling – every day and every moment. It’s going to be messy, but it’s time to kickass for the Kingdom. Starting with the ass of my own sinful nature.

1 Cor 9:24-27 " Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self control in all things. They do it to receive a pershiable wreath, but we an impershiable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified."

Check this: Make War (Tedashii) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONOdqmXkx9M&feature=player_embedded#at=44