In God's Time

"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matthew 6:33-34 (ESV)

Work

The purpose of work is not to fuel:

What shall we eat?
What shall we drink?
What shall we wear?

But God's kingdom and His righteousness.

- John Lennox, God in the Marketplace

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." - Matthew 6:31-33 (ESV)

Not For Our Comfort, But For God's Glory

"But when Jesus heard it he said, "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."" - John 11:4 (ESV)

"Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."" - John 11:14-15 (ESV)

"Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me."" - John 11:40-42 (ESV)

Beginning and End

Jesus' earthly ministry was bookended by captives and criminals.

"And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour."

And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." - Luke 4:16-21 (ESV)

"One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." And he said to him, "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." - Luke 23:39-43 (ESV)

Good Friday

Who is God?

Who am I?

What did Jesus do?

How do I respond?

Creation Sings The Father's Song

To put it bluntly, some people seem to have damaged Bibles, in which the first two and last two pages have got mysteriously torn off. They start at Genesis 3, because they know all about sin. And they end at Revelation 20, because they know all about the day of judgment. And they have their personal solution to the sin problem and their personal security for the day of judgment, provided of course by the death and resurrection of Jesus. Praise God, I believe that too.

But the Bible has a much bigger story, the story of the whole creation, within which my personal salvation fits. And the Lordship of Christ spans the whole story. So I need to see Him as Lord of my physical environment as well as my spiritual salvation, and behave as His disciple in relation to both.

- Dr Christopher J. H. Wright, The Mission of God and the Task of the Church: Integral Mission and the Great Commission

When He renews the land and sky
All heaven will sing and earth reply
With one resplendent theme
The glory of our God and King

The Story of Missions

Missions is about (filling the earth with) the glory of God.

1. Creation

"And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." - Genesis 1:31 (ESV)

2. Fall

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." - Genesis 3:15 (ESV)

3. Redemption

"For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God." - Romans 8:18-21 (ESV)

4. Restoration

"And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, and its gates will never be shut by day - and there will be no night there. They will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations." - Revelation 21:22-26 (ESV)

Repent and Believe

"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." - Mark 1:15 (ESV)

Jubilee

1. Social justice is a manifestation of divine justice.

2. Deconstruct and reconstruct the world.

3. Think Big, Start Small, Build Deep

Global Convergence and Governance

Random thoughts from a series of lectures at work:

Situation: Global convergence between developed and developing countries, changes in social contract

Challenges: Financial crises, global warming, pandemics

Solution: Strengthen institutions of global governance

On another note, give yourself a margin.