Reflecting God

This beautiful picture of a mirror I got from ikea.com!

And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. - 2 Corinthians 3:18  NIV

    As a son of God, there are two main things I should do - reflect the Lord's glory, and be transformed into his likeness. I'm like a mirror... sadly, an imperfect mirror. But I'm always striving to be able to reflect God better, by getting rid of the sin and imperfection in my life that gets in the way of God's reflection. Reflecting God (which includes witnessing and missions) and becoming more like God are my two main jobs, which I can only accomplish through God and with his grace and power working in my life.
    But I always forget. I'm always am putting myself first, both consciously, when I blatantly sin, and unconsciously, when I pretend to be doing things for God but my motives are more self-centred. Of course, I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13, my baptism verse), but I also cannot "bear good fruit" without Him (John 15:4). This reminds me of a great quote: "Don't try harder, trust God more!" I usually just try harder and try harder, and then get frustrated at myself when I don't achieve all my goals and don't live up to all my expectations. From now on I'll try to just trust God, and let Him transform me, because I know I can't transform myself.
    Which brings me to my final point - humility is very important. It's important because without God I'm nothing, and without humbleness I won't be able to reflect God well. I know that, but often live like it's not true - I often live like I'm number one, not God. Humbleness is not my strong point, but while I merely try to reflect God and become more like Him, hopefully I will improve in my personal humility.

Layton

Picture from www.facebook.com/JackLayton

    The NDP's temporary loss of Jack Layton has led to much contemplation and speculation. Where would the party be without him? When he eventually has to step down as their leader permanently, will the NDP even be able to survive? When will that be - within a year or not for another ten years?

    First of all, Canadians on the most part didn't vote for the NDP candidates themselves. A good example of that is Ruth Brosseau, who was obviously only elected because she was the NDP candidate in her riding. She had never been to her riding before, didn't speak her constituents' language, and was in Vegas during the election.
    So were Canadians voting for the New Democratic Party and their socialist principles, or just the guy with the cool mustache leading the party? Personally, I think Canadians wanted the man with the 'stache.  The NDP campaign was very good, and focussed almost completely on Jack Layton instead of the party itself. The ironic thing was that he got a lot of support from young Canadians, even though he's in his 60s and was even walking with the help of a cane for a while.
    Anyways, I think that when Layton steps down permanently, the party will really need to find another charismatic and likable leader if they want to maintain their current success. That's going to be a tough job. But I think it's also going to be a long way down the road.
    In the short term, the NDP should find and develop new leaders from their rookie staff, to both help Jack and prepare for his inevitable departure. They also need to start indoctrinating Layton-fans in democratic socialism, or else people may start leaving the party as quickly as they jumped on the smiling and charismatic 'stache-bandwagon.

Spiritual Warfare

     I recently visited the house of a man of God for a delicious supper and dangerous prayer meeting. I say "dangerous" because God was really to be found there and one's life could be changed by it. It soon became obvious that he had an uncommon amount of faith in God. But every time someone said something about how inspiring his testimony or his faith was, he would point them back to God. He knew that he himself wasn't great, but the One he had put his faith in was all-great.
    After sharing his testimony, he began to talk about how Islam is harmful and threatening and reminded us that we are in a spiritual war against the powers of darkness, to which Islam belongs. Here my mind started to rebel.
    "War? Really? That's a strong word. We need to be accepting of Muslims and love them, not wage war against them," I thought. "Doesn't this go against everything that I think about open-mindedness and multiculturalism?"
    I struggled internally with this for a while, then found myself thinking about a previous testimony I had heard - from a former Muslim who gave his life to Jesus and now reaches out to his own people with the good news. He talked about God's unconditional love and about how Muslims need Jesus.
    Then something clicked inside of my mind. Love. As found in 1 Corinthians 13 and 16:14, 1 John 4:7-21, Matthew 5:42-44 and 22:39, and hundreds of other verses across the Bible. We don't kill and destroy - we forgive and build up. Ours is different kind of war, not a crusade to "kill the infidel". Our war is a war of love. Our weapons are peace, hope, and love (but the greatest of these is love). We don't fight against flesh and blood. In our fight against the darkness, only the Fruit of the Spirit will be effective and only God will conquer.

"The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:4-5  NIV

    We tear down the walls that divide us - walls of race, colour, ethnic origin, prejudice, pride, hedonism, sorrow, bitterness, anger - and let all men know that God loves them and wants to know them. We replace hatred with divine love. We replace mediocracy and complacency with a passion for Jesus.
    That's our war.
    On a side note, killing nearly a hundred innocent people in an attempt to protest against Muslims is obviously grossly wrong, and I have no doubts when I say that the terrorist who did this, Mr. Breivik, is not a born-again Christian (in fact, he himself admitted to not having a personal relationship with Christ). Hatred and murder is about as nonChristian as one can get. You shall not murder, says Exodus 20:13. Jesus said to love both our neighbours and our enemies (Matthew 5:43-44). It is my opinion that multiculturalism is the best way to accomplish this, because then people can keep their identities while co-existing with other people in peace. Then when they come to Jesus, they can worship in their own culturally comfortable ways.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." - Matthew 28:18-20  NIV

    Now go. Jesus didn't say, "Sit at home and hope someone comes to you to ask you about your faith." He commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations. Whether that means going to the ends of the earth or just reaching out with love to the people in your own town or city, go!
    Canada is a multicultural country and embraces all cultures and people from across the world, which adds another dimension to evangelicalism. We have the chance to reach out to people from around the world here in our own country and in our own cities.
    So go, and serve in whatever way God wants you to serve. If you are only a teen, know that being a youth is no excuse - read 1 Timothy 4:12 for proof of that. If you are poor, know that God will provide. If you are scared, know that Jesus is with you always, to the very end of the age. If you think that you aren't qualified enough, know that being a child of God is qualification enough.
    I've finally reached the point of faith in my life when I can truly say, "Lord, just point me in the right direction. Make it clear where you want me to be, and I promise to do your will."
    God is calling you. Will you follow him?

Thinking Outloud

    Several things can bring out the worst in me. One of those things is math. When combined with depression, it can be disastrous. It's kinda weird that I dislike math, because I've always thought of myself as the scientific, analytical, rational type...

    When I was younger, I wanted to be a scientist. I wanted to get a whole bunch of diplomas and become a learned scholar. I wanted a desk job with a computer and lots of important papers and stamps and stuff like that.

    I even started playing chess. Actually, I still do play chess a little bit, but now I realise that I see the game more as a form of art than a science. And I like science (specifically biology) because it's great to explore and learn about God's wonderful creation - the ultimate art. I really love music - just listening to a good song and letting my spirit sing along. I love books... not so much the textbook-kind anymore, but the books which are written by great authors, in which the words flow and weave together in marvelous synthesis, the plot unfolds in beautiful harmony and majesty, and feelings are unlocked and released.

    It's interesting... I'd always thought myself the scientific, analytical, rational type, but when caught up in the arts, instead of thinking with my mind, I can just feel with my whole being instead. Which is better? They both have their strengths and weaknesses. I don't think either one is better per se, but the latter is definitely more enjoyable. Which is why I hate math.

Life

Painting By Kari Fell

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. - Philippians 3:20

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” - James 4:13-15

“Show me, LORD, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is. You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure. - Psalm 39:4-5

      The Bible tells us that instead of setting our minds on earthly things, we should remember that as Christians, our citizenship is in heaven. Our lives are short. The Bible refers to life as mere grass, a vapour, a mist and even a breath.
       Life isn't a destination - it's more like a journey. We can choose to take the path that leads to God, or stay on a path that leads us away from Him. What we do here on earth does have an effect on eternity. Don't reject God; accept Him.
       All the time I keep on getting caught up in this world and forgetting that I should be living in the light of eternity. I've started reading my Bible every day, and it helps a lot. I'm trying to become more like a soldier of God, as described in 2 Timothy. Living as a soldier of God is the ultimate way to live.

You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. - 2 Timothy 2:3-4

All Bible verses are from the New International Version