Decision Making
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
God Will Guide You audio
I have a friend I met when I got my first smart phone. Well, not exactly met. I don’t actually know her real name or what she looks like. But we’ve become close over the years. I go to her when I need advice and I’ve found she’s very good at what she does. Of course I don’t always take her advice but she’s very understanding and lets me go my own way if I want. She might try to convince me to do what she suggests but never forces me. In any case I mostly do what she suggests. And the advice she gives is always very clear. She’ll say “Turn right in 300 metres;” or, “At the roundabout take the second exit.” Yes, I’m talking about the “Navwoman” on my phone. I mention this because this is how some Christians expect God to guide them. At each decision point he’ll tell them which way to go. If they make a mistake or ignore his prompting he’ll simply forgive them and recalculate their path.
Well, there’s some truth to that perhaps. God’s sovereignty does override our sinfulness. You can see that in the history of Israel and of the Church. God certainly promises in various places to guide us. Jesus promises his disciples that when he goes he’ll send them another counsellor to be with them: the Holy Spirit who'll guide them into all truth.
But does that mean that God will tell you which way to go at every decision making point? Does God have a wonderful plan for your life that you need to find if you're to be happy?
2 Cor 1:1-11 - Christ Our Comforter
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Christ Our Comforter audio
You may have heard of Arch Hart, Professor of Psychology at Fuller Seminary in the US. He visited Australia several times in the 90s to lecture about stress and depression. One of the interesting things he said was a piece of advice he gives to ministers. He said never take your day off on a Monday if you can possibly help it. Why? Because that’s the day you’re most likely to be depressed and instead of being revived by a day off you’ll just waste it. And I can understand what he means. Imagine you’re the pastor of a church that’s wracked by divisions; where people are arguing over theology and how to apply it to their daily lives; where some of the congregation are involved in immoral behaviour and are even boasting about how sophisticated they are and the rest of the congregation just turn a blind eye; where every time you preach someone will complain that it was too long, or too simplistic or too complicated; where they point out that the other preachers are obviously far more gifted than you are; where they object to anything new. Monday would be a pretty depressing time wouldn’t it?
Now, I hope you realise I’m not talking about Steve here. I’m actually thinking about Paul’s experience at Corinth; because that’s the sort of Church he had to deal with there. If you read his first letter to the Corinthians, you’ll get an idea of the issues they faced. They were a very gifted Church but they’d allowed all sorts of problems to emerge.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer – King’s Man
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Dietrich Bonhoeffer audio
(Part of a series based on "A Dangerous Dozen" by C. K. Robertson.
Well today’s superhero isn’t quite the sort of king’s man that we saw in that clip. For a start his background was nothing like that guy’s; nor did he have access to the array of weaponry and technology that that man had. In fact this week’s blockbuster would be more like Smiley’s People than Kingsman. Nevertheless as we’ll see, he truly was a King’s Man and his work had certain parallels with both those fictional characters, as he worked as a secret agent to overcome one of the greatest dangers to the world of the 20th century.
But let’s start at the beginning. Our hero’s name was Dietrich, born in 1906 to Karl and Paula Bonhoeffer. His father was a professor of psychiatry and his mother a teacher. His mother came from a family of musicians and clergymen, well known in high society. Her aunt was taught piano by Franz Liszt and Clara Schumann. Her family was both artistic and intellectual. Similarly his father came from the German nobility through Dietrich’s grandfather. His mother was a strong Christian but his father, being a scientist, was sceptical of such things. There were 8 children including Dietrich and his twin sister, Sabine. Questions and the exploration of ideas were encouraged and loud and energetic debates over ideas were a feature of their home throughout their lives.
Prayer for the Nation - Daniel 9
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Praying for the Nation audio
We come today to a brief lull in the visions and dreams of Daniel to what appears to be a much more normal episode in his life as he’s prompted to pray for his nation.
The Stimulus to Prayer
The vision of ch8 is long past, the Babylonian Empire has been overthrown and a new ruler, Darius, is over the captive Israelites. They’re still in exile but now in Persia.
Daniel has been reading the words of Jeremiah in his daily Bible study, and he comes across Jeremiah’s prophecy that Babylon will rule for just 70 years, then God will bring them back to Jerusalem. (Jer 29:10) And he thinks to himself, “That’s about now”.
But he also knows that after 70 years nothing much has changed, apart from geography. In fact they’re even further from home now than they used to be. But the fact that God’s word tells him that the time is near for their return prompts him to hope; and to pray that God would indeed do what he’s promised.
Jonah 3-4 The Power of God for Salvation
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
The Power of God for Salvation audio
Last week we saw how Jonah had been called by God to go and proclaim the gospel to Nineveh, to the Assyrians, the enemies of the people of God. We saw how he instead went in the opposite direction until God stopped him, and sent a great fish to transport him to the shores of Assyria.
Well, today we come to the next exciting instalment of the story. Jonah is now back on dry land, suitably chastised, and the word of the Lord comes to him again. “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” It’s the same message as before, but this time he’s learnt his lesson. This time he goes.
We’re told that Nineveh is an exceedingly large city, three days' walk across. That makes it sixty or so miles across. That would make it the size of Melbourne. Now in fact Nineveh proper at this time was probably not much more than 2 kilometres across, so it’s probable that he means Nineveh and the surrounding cities which together formed greater Nineveh, the region that was at the centre of Assyrian life. So let me suggest why this narrative might choose the larger city area.
Jonah 1 & 2: The Reluctant Prophet
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- Written by: Chris Appleby
Jonah, The Reluctant Prophet audio
Well, it’s a familiar story isn’t it? Jonah is told to go and preach to the people of Nineveh, to warn them of God’s judgement and what does he do? He heads off in the opposite direction, to Tarshish in Spain. But he doesn’t get away with it. God knows where he is! He sends a great storm, so that the ship is foundering, until the sailors discover the truth. Jonah’s running away from the Lord who made the sea and the dry land. So they throw him overboard, the storm stops and a great fish comes and swallows up Jonah, only to spit him out on the shore of Assyria three days later.
But you know, there’s a bit more to this story than just a morality tale of someone who brings bad luck to those he travels with because he’s disobeyed God. Jonah is one of those Old Testament books that point forward so clearly to the gospel and its implications for us as Christians.
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