Being right and yet so wrong

I have been noticing a somewhat sad trend in some of my Christian friends lately. This has been an observation over some years of knowing them and it is centered around a noticeably steady decline in their conviction and faith in Jesus. Whilst it is hard to tell how someone's faith is doing, there are some clear signs that not all is well. We are told in the Bible to look out for these, within ourselves and also in our brothers and sisters around us, so that we may keep each other accountable and be ready for the Lord's return. And, if there are clear signs that a brother or sister in Christ is in sin, we are to point to it out to them and correct them.

However, there in lies the challenge as most sin is hidden and subtle. Looking at outward appearances fail to show anything wrong. This is even more challenging as most of us are adept at hiding our sins and even convincing ourselves that nothing is wrong. We are adept at putting on our Christian masks, saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes, raising our hands in worship, supporting the right cause, playing Christian music in our cars etc. We say to ourselves that hey, we're still faithful because we do all these things. A bit of sin is alright, we're human and not perfect after all. Jesus' blood will wash it away.

I'd just like to say that a Christian that tolerates sin in their lives, especially habitual sin, is in a very dangerous state. I question their standing with God and even if they are filled with the Holy Spirit. When we tolerate sin in our lives, however small, we open the door to more and soon our small act of rebellion leads us to greater levels of depravity. Christians who continue to sin are deceived and will eventually ignore or justify their failings. Their relationship with God deteriorates as they fall further into Satan's trap. Correcting them at that stage will be an uphill battle indeed.  

I've compiled a list of warning signs from my own experience, lessons that I have personally been taught and also from observations from people that I have ministered to. I hope and pray that these serve as a personal reminder to us. We must ensure that we are vigilant, that we keep awake and are constantly filled with the Holy Spirit lest we forfeit the prize that God has in store for us at the end of the race.

1) Tolerating sin, especially habitual sin, is a clear warning sign that something is not right. Read above.
2) Lack of prayer. Let's not kid ourselves, if you're not praying you ain't talking to God. And if you ain't talking to God, you probably don't know Him very well. My Pastor recommends at least 1 hour of prayer per day although she would gladly advocate more. After all, we are to ceaselessly pray.
3) Lack of joy in worship. We are called primarily to worship God. To joyfully worship Him. If you find yourself lacking joy in a worship service and this has become a trend, I encourage you to re-seek the Holy Spirit to restore this joy.
4) Life taking over. When you find that your priority is your job, material things, money, anything but God. Also saying that you have no time for church (yes, I know there are legitimate reasons too) is something else to watch out for. Not going to church entirely, well, enough said.
5) Negativity. Negativity can manifest itself in terms of speech (criticisms, complaints, gossip), in our thoughts and even in our general attitude to those around us.
6) When was the last time you read your Bible?
7) Pride. This is a tough one as proud people probably don't think they have a pride issue. A good way to diagnose this; when was the last time you had to eat humble pie and did? Do you always think you're right and that everybody else should perhaps be a little smarter? Do you get jealous of someone who actually does better than you?
8) Apathy. Are you apathetic to your fellow man? God certainly is not apathetic to man and if we are to carry His heart in all we do, I would suggest that apathy should not be a feature of our Christian walk. In saying all this, when was the last time you shared the gospel, like properly? I don't mean talking about God, your belief or even showing them your Christ-like behaviour. I am talking about actually sharing the gospel.
9) Something from the list above made you angry and defensive. And you want to send me hate mail and put me straight.

There are a few more but I'll leave it there as I think there's enough to work with here. Typing this has really made me realise my own shortcomings. I am thankful to God that He has been addressing many of these issues in my life over the last few months. They can be painful lessons but they are so worth it. God, after all, disciplines those that He loves and calls his own.

p.s. I am not advocating that we be or even try to be perfect all the time. We can't. What I am advocating though is arresting a noticeable decline in faith that will ultimately lead Christians to spiritual apathy and death.

The use of 'haha'

Haha. Hehe. Hoho. Whatever takes your fancy.

There's a lot hidden behind a simple 'haha' - especially in text speak, that is, text messages, email, FB whatever.

It can convey a genuine sense of merriment or joy. You say `haha` when you actually are, well, laughing.

But just like not all types of laughter conveys the same feelings of joy, merriment or amusement (take for instance, the evil laugh or the uncomfortable laugh or the fake laugh), 'Haha' can take on an entirely different meaning which can actually take a certain level of discernment to figure out. I've recently been observing a proliferation of the use of the word haha, in FB, to disguise hidden messages of angst. I find this all very amusing. Here is a recent example, paraphrased. If you recognise this, don't be offended or insulted or try to send me death notes. Take it as an interesting example. 

The example:

Person 1: I feel sorry for those suckers going back to Uni! 

Person 2 (possible feeling a bit insulted by the statement): At least I get to enjoy my 3 months holiday and freedom and not 4 weeks :P haha.  ----> notice the use of the face icon and haha.

Person 1: True, but I will be enjoying all that money I earn! Haha -----> again the haha

Person 2: I make money in Uni anyway, so I can spend it on travelling the world in my 3 month break, enjoying life! Haha 

There are many other better and more blatant examples that I'd wish to use but alas I fear retribution. If you ever meet me, I can share it with you in person.... unless you're the example.....

Anyways, variations in the Haha will probably be easier to interpret. Muhahaha (evil laugh?), Bahahaha (person with weird laugh?), hhh (person who can't spell haha), hehe (cheeky, mischevious laugh), hohoho (Santa Claus, triumphant laugh). Lol?

Have a great day. Be blessed.

-k

Fell into the trap

Sigh. Fell into the trap of not writing. Should have taken a colleague's advice of pre-writing ten posts prior to starting but alas! Haha.

Here's the Nomos Tangente Norma.

Sorry, not a particularly good photo. It's a mechanical watch which I have to remember winding every morning. It's a fairly discreet watch, not flashy in anyway but I guess people who know their watches would be interested in the fact that Nomos make their movements in-house. 

Back with glass

Side profile

Having worn it for almost a year now, I can reflect on how it is to live with the watch. I did get some initial hiccups. It started gaining time quite significantly when I was on holiday in Seoul, I think by almost +2 mins every 12 hours (or something ridiculous like that). This all came about because it was placed too close to the iPad, which had really strong magnets on the cover...

After sending it off to a qualified watchmaker to sort the issue out, it was restored back to an acceptable working condition. As with the nature of these mechanical watches, they do gain some time but almost at a rate that is not noticeable. 

A month later, it started gaining time again! It so happen that at this point in time, I was on a trip to Sydney (where my authorised dealer was based) and decided to bring the watch to him. After a week with him, he sent it back all fixed. He mentioned a magnetism issue (probably the iPad again!). Happy to say though, the watch has since performed perfectly. I have been careful though to keep it away from the iPad (which has since been gifted to someone) and any general magnetic sources etc.

Only other drawback is the need to wind! Had to make it a habit to wind each morning. It has become a very therapeutic routine. There's something nice about the action of winding a watch at the start of the day.  

-k

On holiday...

It's been a cold few days here in Auckland. Summer seems to be hiding her face. I don't imagine she can hide for long though.

Christmas is synonymous with Summer here. Christmas is synonymous with holidays here too.

This Christmas and into the new year, I have decided not to do much. I usually scramble around, organising events and gifts and inadvertently, my calender fills up quickly with lots of festive events, food and socialising.

This time around, I've decided to take it easy and be somewhat of a recluse.

I will read. A lot.
I will pray. A lot.
I will spend time with people that matter.
I will write with purpose.
I will spend one day having a BBQ.
I will still go to church (of course).
I will mope around the apartment.
And I will reflect on a year that's had more ups than downs.

Why the confusion?

Sometimes fences can be funny.  It's unclear if we're fencing things out or if we're fencing ourselves in.

A recent conversation topic that I've been having with a few friends has centered around the meaning of salvation, what it means to receive Jesus and the gift of salvation and what life should be like after we are saved. The obvious questions came up. Can we lose our salvation after we receive it? What if I remain faithful and holy and then, at the last minute, I curse someone or hated someone and almost immediately got hit by a bus, would I lose my salvation? How can one be saved properly and what does it mean? Etc etc....

I do not intend to answer any of the questions above as I believe it warrants a deeper and more well thought out discussion. However, I will say this though. If salvation becomes something that fences you in, dis-empowers you or makes you fearful as opposed to joyful, you'd probably need to re-evaluate your perceptions and thoughts about salvation.

I believe salvation through Jesus Christ is a gift that empowers, encourages and gives life. It is a miracle of faith that transforms an individual to submit, joyfully and willingly to the will of God. In other words, salvation enables us, through the power of the Holy Spirit that comes with it, to be slaves of righteousness. When we become slaves of righteousness, sin and its effects, no longer have a hold on us. Sin no longer has power over us and we stride confidently and assured into the world, to partner with God and tackle the myriad of issues that breaks His heart.

Salvation is the fence that let's sin know that it can no longer have dominion or hold on our lives. Salvation, however, should never be the fence that contains us and the life that God is giving us through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour.

Yes, I take things for granted

I see this on my desk in the studio every morning.

Every single morning, without fail, this cup magically arrives at my desk. The contents within is a dark dark liquid that can taste somewhat bitter and sour but packs a punch to get me going.

And yes, as the title would suggest, I take this for granted. What does taking something for granted really mean? Well, firstly, I think it's something you expect, all the time, without question. Secondly, you get extremely used to it, almost to a point of desensitization, and it becomes part of a routine. Thirdly, you increasingly fail to appreciate it. And lastly, you almost start to get annoyed at it.

Yes, this cup that appears on my desk every single work day for the last 12 months ticks all those boxes. I certainly expect it every morning, I am very used to it (the bitterness and sourness almost tastes sweet to me, and the `kick` is losing its effect), I don't appreciate it anymore (well, at least compared to when I first saw it appear magically on my desk) and I am actually starting to get annoyed at it (I mean, I sometimes want to drink something else, in a different looking cup!).

Of course, life is more than just a good cup of coffee but the realisation of taking a simple cup of black liquid for granted made me ask myself of other more significant things I take for granted.

The life I lead for instance is pretty sweet. I have a secure job which I enjoy immensely, a wonderful wife, am surrounded by great people, my health is good, I have enough money to do what I want and eat what I want, I drink coffee every morning, I have been saved from my sin by a loving God who called me to live a better story and I am loved. Yet, I can sometimes be unhappy with my life and those moments are usually found when I fail to appreciate what I already have.

A friend recently sent me an email with some attached photos highlighting the life of people who live around rubbish dumps in Cambodia in order to forage for food in order to live. I looked through the photos and read the accompanying narrative. Instead of actually feeling sorry for them and going through the whole, 'oh look at these poor sods, what terrible conditions! Look at me, I live in luxury, I should be soooo thankful', I began loathing my terrible mindset. I did not like the fact that I was using someone else's misery to make me feel better about myself and my life.

No, if those images do not illicit something more than just false self evaluation, I think I've failed to love.

If all I can think of after seeing this photograph is how I should appreciate and not take for granted my coffee, I've failed in the compassion department.

I think most of us avoid these issues and look at these photos with a lack of compulsion to action because we don't like to feel guilty or we just don't care. Or perhaps we don't even know where to start when it comes to addressing the issues. I certainly feel this way at the moment but am determined to overcome my lack of love and do something.

I am compiling a team of like-minded individuals who would like to make a difference and hopefully with Godly inspiration and guidance, we can do so.

I just hope I never take for granted my abilites and resources to make a difference no matter how small or large it may be.

Telling the truth about people I like.

There are times when I’m not in a good mood and I really couldn’t care less about the people around me and all I feel like doing is to shut myself away and read. Yes, that is the truth. You see, there are times that I find people exhausting and thankfully, I am currently surrounded by people that don’t tax me as much.

It really isn’t the case of me hating people. In fact, I do actually like being around some types of people (emphasis on the word ‘types’).  So here’s the truth and my list of qualities that I find in people that I like.

1) They are not try-hards.

2) They tell the truth, all the time. And they tell you the truth, even the hard stuff.

3) Closely in line with point 2, they mean what they say.

4) They pick their battles and know when to fight for something that really matters.

5) They’re stable.

6) They’ve got character and a sense of style.

7) They’re opinionated, in an intelligent sort of way.

8) They’re humble and challenge me to be more humble.

9) They’re not remotely jealous about anything. 

I am aware that having a list like this probably opens me up for a whole lot of criticism. Firstly, you could perhaps accuse me of not living up to the standards on this list. Or you could almost say that I am acting obnoxious or sounding obnoxious by having a list in the first place. After all, what gives me the right to have a checklist of qualities that I like in people? Am I that likeable anyway?

Well, if you have those thoughts or are in anyway offended (even in the slightest), you’re probably not going to get along with me or like me.  That’s ok, we can’t like everyone nor expect everyone to like us. 

I think it does pay though, to understand that whilst we can’t necessarily like everyone, or expect everyone to like us, we have a duty to look beyond our likes and dislikes and attempt to love everyone regardless of their disposition, mannerisms, values, appearance and idiosyncrasies. And to help facilitate this love, we must realise that sometimes we do have to put up with and serve the ones we dislike.

Hopefully, over time, as we exercise more of this love, we can grow to accept more types of people and look beyond our likes and dislikes. I don’t necessarily think you’d like them more but you’d accept them, be patient and understand that at the end, we’re all unlikeable in some way or another and could do with a break.

If Love were dictated solely on ‘likes’, I’d say we’d be in a whole lot of trouble right now.