"No News Is Good News"

Over the past wee while I have begun reading a daily newspaper. The paper in question is the i paper, a kinda thinned out (or dumbed down in my case) version of The Independent. I thoroughly recommend reading this newspaper as you can get everything that's going in the world in around an hour.

But over the past while it seems that no news is good news, the paper is full of distressing images from around the world. If it's not civil unrest and the overthrow of General Mubarak in Egypt, then its the distressing scenes from Libya and the reaction against Colonel Gaddafi and his oppressive regime. Or more recently the terrible scenes from the earthquake in New Zealand. With so much evil in the world, with so many bad things happening (or good things happening in a bad way) how is it reasonable or coherent to believe in a God who rules the world and is in control of everything that happens? Let me suggest 4 reasons why I think the evil in the world doesn't rule out a loving, living God:

Firstly this isn't the way it is supposed to be. We are told in the book of Genesis that God created the world and when he created it is was very good. Now this doesn't mean that it was OK, that the world that God had created was better than average, it means the world that God had created was perfect, there was nothing wrong with it. But we all know that this isn't the way it is now? Events in Egypt, Libya and New Zealand show us that the world is no longer perfect and is stained with sin. But sin and all these bad things that happen are not the way it is supposed to be, they are an un-natural intervention into God's good and perfect world. Ever since Adam and Eve we have been living with the consequences of sin which unfortunately includes death and suffering.

Secondly this isn't the way its going to be forever. The bible also tells us that God has appointed a day in the future when he will judge the world, when the world will be returned to the perfect state that it once enjoyed. There will be a perfect world, a new heavens and a new earth, in which there will be no more sin, no more suffering and no more death. So this world is not all there is going to be, one day there will be a new heavens and a new earth which will be perfect. The only way to experience this new heavens and earth is to put our trust in God's son Jesus Christ.

Thirdly, God is sovereign and in control. The bible tells us that God works all things together for the good of those who love him and have been called according to his purpose. At times in our lives and times of extreme suffering in the world it can be hard for us to to see this and hard to believe this. But knowing that its all part of some larger purpose, knowing that God will somehow work good out of our suffering is one of the few things that give suffering purpose and meaning. Knowing that God will work out all things for our good enables us to endure and make sense out our suffering. I am not saying this to make light of the suffering of the Christian people in New Zealand or the Middle East but rather to try and encourage them that their suffering is not pointless, is not the product of simple bad luck but rather has been ordained by a sovereign God, who works all things together for the good of His people.

All this may leave us with one question, why doesnt God just wrap the whole thing up? If he is as powerful and in control as I say he is why doesnt he just put the world to an end? Which leads on to our fourth reason, God wants us all to come to know him and put our trust in Him. The bible tells us that God is patient with us, wanting us to repent and not wanting any of us to perish. Naturally we are all enemies of God and we all deserve God's punishment but God sent his son to die in our place, so that if we put our trust in Christ then we can experience this new heavens and new earth, which will be perfect. God is giving us opportunites to repent and come to know him for the mean time we live in this sinful fallen world waiting for our new eternal home...

Happiness in Every Stitch

On Friday my wife and I went shopping in Belfast. There are two types of shopping as far as I am concerned, there is the type of shopping that involves looking for something in particular and buying it. And then there is the other type of shopping that involves looking for nothing in particular and spending quite a long time doing it.


On Friday we were doing the second type of shopping, my wife knows that I can only tolerate this second type of shopping for around an hour and after that I begin to get grumpy (or grumpier). So we set off around Victoria Square and Holister, most likely the darkest shop in the world and had a look around. Then we came to a shop that has just opened recently, White Stuff.


The shop itself is not really my style (if i have one) but my wife enjoys looking round the shop and so I did the loving husband thing and went in with her. Now the motto of the shop, something that is engraved on every hanger is the phrase "happiness in every stitch."


To me this perfectly summed up the consumer society that we live in. The society says that if we buy enough clothes, if we wear the right brand of clothes then we will be happy, if we eat the right food and drink the right drinks then that is how we will be truly happy. If only we have that pair of jeans, that shirt, then we will be truly happy. But the thing is that we know that's not the case, because we we get something the happiness and buzz we get off it lasts for a little while but then eventually it wears off and we are left no happier but just financially poorer.

Paul addresses this issue of happiness in his letter to the Philippians, he tells them:

"I rejoiced in the LORD greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for i have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me."

For Paul he had learned the secret of being truly happy, the secret of being truly content and it was not being well fed, it was not being clad in all the latest designer gear but was rather about trusting in Jesus Christ. This is how we can be truly happy and content, this is the only contentment that will last forever. Happiness does not come in every stitch but comes from knowing God, from having a right relationship with him through his Son.

My soul finds rest in God alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHNEexLL3R8
Hey guys just a sneaky wee video but an awesome song that I have just discovered, a paraphrase of Psalm 62:

For God alone my soul waits in silence;from him comes my salvation.2 He only is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.

3 How long will all of you attack a man to batter him,like a leaning wall, a tottering fence?4 They only plan to thrust him down from his high position.They take pleasure in falsehood.They bless with their mouths,but inwardly they curse.

5 For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,for my hope is from him.6 He only is my rock and my salvation,my fortress; I shall not be shaken.7 On God rests my salvation and my glory;my mighty rock, my refuge is God.

8 Trust in him at all times, O people;pour out your heart before him;God is a refuge for us.

9 Those of low estate are but a breath;those of high estate are a delusion;in the balances they go up;they are together lighter than a breath.10 Put no trust in extortion;set no vain hopes on robbery;if riches increase, set not your heart on them.

11 Once God has spoken;twice have I heard this:that power belongs to God,12 and that to you, O Lord, belongs steadfast love.For you will render to a man according to his work.

Enjoy our rest in God alone

Crime and Punishment

In Northern Ireland yesterday there was a very odd news story the caught my eye, a woman from Strabane was caught shoplifting and sentenced to 3 months in prison. Nothing that unusual there really, if you do the crime you do the time, but when I tell you the value of the jeans was £10 and that this was indeed her first involvement with the law courts something doesn't seem to add up does it? The punishment doesn't quite seem to fit the crime committed.


It later emerged that the same judge who had judged this woman had also judged a drink driving case last year, the offender had committed 54 other motoring offences, but this time the judge decided to show leniency on the driver and not to send him to prison at all.



My sense of justice tells me that the woman committed the crime therefore she should have to take the punishment that her crime warranted, but when we see drug dealers and other people getting much lighter sentencing than this something just doesn't add up.


But what are we going to do about it? I mean it doesn't affect most (or any i suspect) of us directly, so why should we care? Well the public outcry over the event has taught me one thing about humanity, and that's that we all have a desire to see justice done, to see the person who commits a crime paying the appropriate penalty, and in this case the penalty meted out was deemed to be too harsh.



But as Christians how should we respond to injustice? How should we respond when we see people being disproportionately punished? Well as always we look to the Bible and we look to the example of our Saviour Jesus Christ. We read in 1 Peter 2:

"To this you where called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered he made no threats. Instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."

Christ is the ultimate example of someone who suffered unjustly, he committed no wrongs, there was never a time when he did not submit himself to his father's will. He never wronged anyone, yet the people of the day where jealous of him, jealous of his power and authority, jealous of the people's response to him and they decided to kill him and how did he react? Did he cry out injustice? Did he seek to have the sentence repealed? Did he claim that the judge was lousy and he needed a retrial? No, he instead entrusted himself to him who judges justly, more than this because he had done no wrong he didn't deserve any punishment, but he took our punishment upon himself, he paid the price for all the wrong things we have done, all the times we have ignored God and run our life our own way. He entrusted himself to his father, trusting his father to judge fairly and justly.