Lighthouse Keeper

Keeping the lights on to guide you home

recent posts

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

  • The truth of Thomas

    The Doubting Thomas Caravaggio

    Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

    Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:24-29)

    The main (perhaps the only) reason I believe in the person of Jesus as God in flesh (John 1:14) is because…it’s true. 

    People make up all sorts of stories about religion as a crutch and a political model. Then they go into religion creating wars (people create wars not religion) all because they are terrified that if they look into the claims of Jesus, they might actually be true. 

    Often people will say to me things like:

    “That’s nice that you have that”

    “It’s a comfort isn’t it?”

    “I don’t have that sort of imagination”

    “I’ve always believed in spiritual things but I’m not into organised religion.”

    When I take antibiotics to treat a skin infection it’s not because I need a crutch or a comfort or a mythological story. The empirical evidence is clear that antibiotics will heal my skin infection. Taking antibiotics doesn’t require a whole bunch of faith and it certainly doesn’t require make-believe. It doesn’t make me a weak person because I seek medical attention or ask a trained expert for help.  You could argue that it’s going into the unseen but the real gap is between the people who have looked into and understand how antibiotics work and those who haven’t. Anti-intellectualism is rampant online with everyone claiming to have the secret formula or the natural therapy or the myth-busting solution. Don’t be led astray. 

    Staying on the skin theme, Jesus invites Thomas in the Book of John to “reach out your hand and put in my side” (John 2-:27). You can’t touch a ghost or a spirit and here Jesus is demonstrating the resurrection body that proves he overcame death.  When Thomas doubted, he wasn’t told by Jesus to use his imagination or even to show faith; he was told to look at the evidence and then to believe based on the evidence. 

    Christians who need constant rollercoaster “presence of God” meetings are really wrestling with doubt like Thomas. The antidote for doubt is not more hyped up God-flavoured meetings. The answer is to sit quietly with God and examine the evidence. 

    Did the events of the Bible really happen? What if they are true and what does that mean for humans and my life here? If Jesus is who he says he is then there must be a heaven. I wonder if that’s a real place?

    Have the courage to look into the claims of the Bible and Jesus so that you’re not building your life on the wrong foundation. 

    The Bible is not a book of horoscopes, it is the living word of God that teaches and encourages us about God and who He is so we can get to know him more. During my search in my early 20’s I also found Lee Strobel’s “The Case for Christ” to be really enlightening as well as CS Lewis “Mere Christianity”, and many others. 

    Seek, explore, touch the scars. Look at the empirical evidence and it will open the door to a new life of freedom and truth.

  • What is my God assignment?

    dog on river trail

     “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. (1 Kings 17:7-16).

    If you’re like me, you may have spent a lot of time with Jesus asking “What is my assignment? What is my purpose? Why am I here?”

     It’s a huge topic but I’ll give you a little journey through my thinking. 

    First of all, I think of it in terms of macro and micro assignments. 

    So for me the macro assignment comes from Romans 1 in the The Message. This is the big picture that all Christians are called to do. You can rephrase this as ”magnify God” of “make Jesus known” or whatever but I like how it is written in the The Message:

    I, Paul, am a devoted slave of Jesus Christ on assignment, authorized as an apostle to proclaim God’s words and acts. I write this letter to all the believers in Rome, God’s friends. (Romans 1 1-2) The Message 

    Proclaim God’s words and acts. That’s my macro assignment. You will need to spend a lot of quiet time with the Lord seeking his direction around this but it’s well worth the wait because then you will have a clear picture about what you do and don’t spend your time on in this life that is full of distractions.

    Then there’s my micro assignments that happen throughout the day and arrive as daily bread and daily grace. 

    An example of this is the widow of Zarephath who was out gathering firewood. Both Elijah and the widow are given daily, micro assignments in this passage. The widow to feed Elijah and Elijah to go and stay at the region of Zarephath. 

    Last week I was out gathering kindling for my fire with my new rescue American Bull Terrier puppy, Rita. I was actually thinking about the widow of Zarephath as I was gathering my firewood (Paul also gathers firewood after his shipwreck in the book of Acts 28:3-5); a very common, everyday task to do. 

    My puppy Rita started jumping up and down excitedly on this man in his forties who was at the river fly fishing. I apologised and he said it was OK that he loves dogs…then he started to cry. He told me how last week, he had a medical emergency with his Labrador Retriever of 12 years and the dog didn’t make it and died at the after hours vets. He said: “It was the worst day of my life”. 

    Rita continued to slobber all over him and his tears turned to laughter. She was comforting him in his time of mourning for his best friend (Matthew 5:4). I told him that Rita is a Bull Terrier crossed with a Labrador Retriever and that’s why she likes him so much (an exaggeration –she likes everyone) but it put a smile on his face. 

    Maybe that was my (and Rita’s) micro God assignment for the day? To bring joy to someone going through a hard time of grief. 

    Maybe your micro God assignment is to cook a healthy dinner for yourself or bathe your kids or give someone a phone call or hand in a lost wallet. Who knows? And I guess we’ll never know until we get to Heaven how it all stitches together. Simple, everyday things make up 99% of your Christian walk so start looking for the mercies and miracles as you go about your day.  And stop beating up yourself that you’re not doing enough for God. God has macro and micro assignments for everyone.

  • It’s OK to think about yourself as a Christian

    Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7 (TPT)*

    It  sounds wonderfully pious to go around saying that if you fix your eyes on Jesus, then you shouldn’t have to worry about yourself at all. 

    I see this sentiment posted on Instagram and everyone likes it and says: ”Amen! Yes, get your eyes off yourself”- but I have two problems with this. 

    The first one is that it doesn’t reflect the nurturing and caring, Father-heart of God. Imagine if your child came home from school with concerns about the friends or their shoes or their grades or their bike breaking down. Only a careless Father would ignore their child’s concerns and say “Hey-stay on mission. I’m not interested in your cares and concerns”. 

    The position of God throughout the Bible is ‘Come to me (Matthew 11) Return to me (Malachi 3, Zechariah 1). Turn to me (2 Chronicles 7). Cry out to me (Jeremiah 33, Psalm 34) Ask me (Luke 11) Cast your cares on me.(1 Peter 5). 

    In my daily reading today I was in the Book of Chronicles where there is a summary of the life of King Saul. 1 Chronicles 10:13-14. It states that Saul’s life ended in disobedience because he consulted the witch of Endor and didn’t consult God in his time of need. It never said that Saul thought too much about himself or stressed too much or bothered God with too many requests. He didn’t ask God in his time of need. 

    It’s a two-way thing. A conversation between you and God where you pour out your heart before the Lord and ask him as sovereign God. It’s all prayer is.

    The second problem is that there is an anxiety epidemic (20% of Americans have a diagnosed anxiety disorder) and all the Christians are going around telling everyone to simply “not worry”. 

    It is natural and human to worry and have cares and concerns. We are hard wired to survive and process information and formulate strategies to keep us and our loved ones alive. Frankly I think people who say they don’t worry or don’t have stress are kidding themselves and repressing their feelings. They are also often people who don’t take risks and insulate with money and lead very boring, stayed, lives because they have more fear than anyone. Telling someone to not worry shames them as unbelieving and causes more spiralling and negative thoughts as they question and wrestle with their humanity. Basically;that just makes it worse. 

    Living a God-dependent life is scary. As the famous CS Lewis Narnia quote goes: “Course he isn’t safe but he’s good, he’s the king”

    When you scratch the surface of supposedly stress free people you’ll find their security is in their bank account or their husband or wife, or their job, or their relatively good health. The main modern day idols of self reliance.  Take these things away and up go the stress levels. Everyone gets a good shake occasionally. 

    God is very, very concerned with whatever is bothering or troubling you and He wants to hear from you in the prayer room. Talk to him in your humanity and confusion and fear and He will shepherd you through the topsy-turvy life that we lead. 

    It’s ok to think about yourself. It’s human to worry about your kids or your cat or if your car gets stolen. God loves you. 

    He always tenderly cares for you.

  • The hired hand: like and care

    The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. (John 10:12)

    I was watching a podcast the other day where they were talking about the difference between “like” and “care”. 

    The example they gave was of a school teacher who felt bad because he liked certain kids more than others. He liked them at different levels, however his level of care for them remained constant. The school teacher was the true shepherd who cared for the sheep, even if he didn’t like them equally. A hired hand cares nothing and abandons the lambs to the wolves. So you can care for people that you don’t like and vice versa. 

    Social media is all about profile likes and we have started equating attention with liking. Then we get disappointed when our supposed online friends don’t care for us in a crisis. 

    People can like or dislike you to various levels but this is not the same as caring about you. 

    That was a breakthrough for me. 

    I used to have 5000 followers on Twitter and was a big part of the social and online communities. I was invited to influencer events, given free tickets to corporate boxes, and sent new product launches from PR companies. It was a hard lesson that while these people online may have liked me, in a practical sense there were very few who actually cared for me enough to make an effort and pick me up when I  stumbled or needed support. I don’t really see this as a failing on the communities part. I don’t think it’s possible to force yourself to care for everyone and some people simply don’t have the will or the capacity to care for people at that depth. But it was a wake up for me when I had my accident and was live tweeting from St Vincent’s  A and E in Sydney that I was on my own. So what did the Lord do? He sent strangers to care for me. I don’t know whether they liked me or not but I had world class orthopaedic and plastic surgeons and psychiatrists who provided practical assistance when I needed it. Do you see the difference?

    In a church context, with the focus on platform in the modern church, we have a lot of hired hands who care nothing for the sheep. Religious people who may like you and enjoy your company and your following but in a practical sense, they aren’t prepared for to care for you at an individual level. “They care nothing for the sheep”. I’ve experienced this in big churches and small churches. Pastoral care is very unpopular because it is essentially a private ministry that takes a lot from the shepherd and provides no spotlight or immediate reward.  Many religious people are interested in what you can do for them and their church building mission and as Jesus teaches: “Beware the yeast of the Pharisees”(Mark 8:15) – people with an agenda who want to slot you into their church building program. (I have a lot to say about the obsession with church building but I’ll write more about that soon). 

    One thing I have learned over the years, is that intimacy and depth of friendship is very important. You can know a lot of people but will those people be there for you when the chips are down? I now prune away people in my inner circle who don’t have empathy or practical care skills. People who are self absorbed and trauma dump without taking any interest in what might be going on in my world. If it’s all take and no give; I’m not really interested and simply wanting lots of people to like me doesn’t interest me anymore. 

    Jesus likes you and He cares for you because He is the Good Shepherd (John 10, Ezekiel 34) and lays down his life for his sheep. He calls you friend (John 15:15) and wants to have a close relationship with you and provide practical support for his sheep and lambs. Don’t get disappointed with people who don’t show up. Return to the Lord and He will give you people who care and like you and best of all….Himself. 

  • Everyday people

    Living in a small community, it’s interesting how many people you have contact with on a regular day.  On Tuesday, I counted 16 interactions with people on my river walk, neighbours, tradespeople, a district nurse who went to the wrong house. Someone who found my puppy in their yard (yes I now have a rescue dog but more on that later). The simplest and most important command in the Bible is to love God and to love people (Matthew 22:37:39)

    On an ordinary Tuesday in a small town God put in front of me 16 people to love. That’s quite a lot over a year. The longer I journey with God the more I’m convinced that we don’t need to be so ministry and church-project focused and that our work as Christ’s ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) with everyday people out in the world is the main thing. There are many distractions that will keep you off the main thing so it’s important to listen and obey His voice in your everyday life. (1 Samuel 15:22).

    Now before you say “I have enough going on in my life I can’t love 16 people a day” I hear you and I’m the same. I have a very full life and running around fixing everyone’s problems is the last thing I want to do. And God is not asking me, or you,  to do that. 

    The work of the Lord is to believe in Him who was sent (John 6:29).  Remember who He is and take the people before the Lord. So how on earth do you do that?. Like Mary…..we pray. (Luke 10:38-42). 

    I’ve always loved the old saints and how people have found extensive prayer lists in their personal items and prayer closets. 

    A 1B5 school notebook is my new “Prayer Book” where I write lists and names and souls to lift before the Lord. (1 Timothy 2:1). 

    Writing down prayers is really good to remind yourself of God’s faithfulness and also to demonstrate the “bending of the Will” as many of the things I’ve prayed for over the last 12 months haven’t happened the way I thought. His thoughts are not my thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9). 

    So now, I just write down names of people because I couldn’t possibly know all the things going on in their life-but God does. 

    As I sit in my prayer chair and pray through these lists, I’m really believing for “kingdom come” into their lives and for God to comfort them through the many trials we all face. And of course for them to know Jesus and the truth about why they’re here and who their Creator is. 

    I can’t fix everyone. I can’t be Florence Nightingale and Martha and the Little Red Hen and quite frankly, it doesn’t interest me and God’s not asking me to. 

    But He is asking me to bring everyday people before Him and deposit some of the Kingdom into their lives. And this I will do.

  • Sola Scriptura and context

    Sola daisy

    I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him. (1 John 2:26)

    Everyone is obsessed with “context”. Don’t get me wrong. I think it’s useful but getting into an academic discussion around the historical sociology of ancient Greece before you can have confidence that God is speaking to you through Scripture just creates obstacles to the cross. 

    The Bible is for everyone of all abilities.

    Central to the Reformation is Sola Scriptura (Scripture alone) and it seems fashionable to add a whole lot of somewhat made-up historical context to the Word of God. 

    God can move on one word. He can guide you in the way that you should go (Psalm 32:8) and keep you from stumbling. Don’t ever feel that you don’t have enough Bible knowledge to spend time with God in the living Word. I’m a book learner with a Masters degree and I’m continually humbled by Scripture. Every day I find things in the Bible I’ve never seen before or have zero understanding of. It’s the pilgrimage of a lifetime to gain knowledge of the Word and wherever you start is perfectly fine. Just start and God will speak to you because “my sheep know my voice” (John 10:27) and Jesus delights in revealing the things of the Kingdom to you (Luke 12:32). 

    Invest in a readable, modern language translation of the whole Bible and pray for the Spirit to teach you. 

    Hopefully we don’t need to go through another Reformation.

  • The Lord’s discipline

    In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,

    “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
        and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,

    because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
        and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”

    Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. (Hebrews 12: 1-7)

    Jesus has been talking to me this morning about discipline from Hebrews 12 and Proverbs 3. 

    No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11)

    Discipline is evidence that we are sons and daughters of God. 

    So the fruit of a disciplined life is peace and righteousness for the believer. A life that is pleasing to God and releases a harvest of peace. 

    I put on a heap of weight from the anxiety medication I started taking after my accident.

    Much prayer and frustration and a change of doctor put me on a new brew that doesn’t have the same metabolic effects. So I signed up to Weight Watchers (not an ad) and lost 30 kilograms over about 18 months. It required discipline to keep to my daily “points” budget and I fell off the wagon a few times but the results did come. 

    Slowly I’m learning that if I blow my ‘points’ budget, the weight will creep back on and undo my disciplined effort. I complained to God: “it’s not fair! Why do I put on weight so easily!”. 

    But the Lord disciplines those he loves. There is less pressure on my joints. My heart doesn’t have to work so hard. My HBA1C numbers are low (diabetes test). I had a whole bunch of tests done and today; I’m very healthy. I bought new clothes and everything fits better but to be honest, that’s secondary to the health benefits. 

    My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart,

    for they will prolong your life many years

    and bring you peace and prosperity. (Proverbs 3: 1-2)

    God wants to prolong my years and keep me healthy. God doesn’t want me to suffer with heart disease and diabetes and joint pain. So I stay on the Weight Watchers. Even when I wrestle and eat potato chips and ice cream and want to give up God says “ let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)

    This is the race marked out for me. It is unique to me and I can’t compare myself to other people or protest that I’m not a size 8 donut eater. 

    His discipline is evidence of sonship (or daughtership in my case–is that a word?) and only He knows the road ahead so again I must surrender and trust and get back on the chicken salads. He is good.

  • Forgiveness at Easter

    Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32

    I’m a bit concerned about all this “setting boundaries with people” business that seems popular on social media platforms in pop-therapy land. 

    It sounds great and appeals to our desire to control people and situations. You simply dictate how you wish to be treated and if other people don’t tow the line then they lose access to you. I’m not saying you should let people treat you badly. I’m a good listener and it took a long time for me to say to people “hey I’m not just going to sit and let you trauma dump on me while you take no interest in me or my life”. The two people I have done that with ended the friendship (that wasn’t really a friendship because it was so one-sided), and I must say, I don’t regret it. 

    Where we need to check for balance is where friends or family members misstep and we show them no grace or forgiveness. God has forgiven the unforgivable in all of us who are of Christ and it’s our role to extend that same grace and mercy to others. 

    Love doesn’t keep a ledger of rights and wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:5) and labelling someone as “emotionally unsafe” because they don’t behave the way you want is manipulation and control; something us humans crave. 

    Be careful that you don’t end up self-isolating and cutting everyone off because someone isn’t your number one cheerleader or if they say things you disagree with. Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17) and it’s up to us to navigate sometimes tricky interpersonal situations. 

    One of my favourite sayings as I get older is “have the argument”. Don’t be afraid of conflict and putting your cards on the table if necessary but, especially with a family of multi-generations, people are a product of their environment and we come at things from different angles. Thrash it out. Communicate your needs (which is a form of boundary setting) but self-isolation and going no-contact is not the answer. 

    Take the path of mercy and grace because our Jesus did. Forgive.

  • Enter into the rest

    For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,[e] just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:8-11)

    Rest is a position of worship. It’s the opposite of striving and, as a striver myself, I find it difficult to enter into the rest that Christ has purchased for me. The Scriptures continually tell us to surrender to the faithful hand of God and yet…The whole world is obsessed with hustle culture and now our kids have anxiety and sleep disorders. Everyone just needs to slow down.

    Thinking that we could possibly add anything to the blood of Christ is the heart of New Testament striving.

    Here’s the problem: We equate rest with laziness. And being about the Lord’s business (Luke 2:49) has been mangled into a new form of ‘works’ as churches of all sizes spin different activities as church outreach or programmes. 

    We keep looking at other people and churches and thinking we have to have the same elements or “we aren’t doing enough” for God. 

    My friend Christine in Sydney worked at a Salvation Army mission station in Surry Hills. I remember her saying:

    “The people of Sydney don’t need food. The charity groups have done research and every group is doing the same thing. Food banks. Soup kitchens. Meals. The people need other stuff (e.g. addiction services)  but they don’t need food”. 

    Think carefully in your church planning about whether you are prioritising the foundations of the Christian life such as faith community, Bible teaching, prayer, worship, pastoral care….JESUS before you embark on copy/paste outreach programmes. People have busy lives and churches need to be a place of prayer and soaking, meditation and vitally, rest,  for world weary people. I’ve seen so many people come to church with enthusiasm and get burnt out by being on too many rosters and thinking that God is not pleased with them if they aren’t saving the world. Jesus has overcome the world, so you don’t have to. (John 16:33)

    Jesus has purchased a Sabbath rest for those He has chosen and the fruit will naturally come from Christians as we abide and rest in Him (John 15:4). 

  • This.

    “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” Psalm 118:24 

    I ran into my friend from church this morning and we were talking about dissatisfaction and the wandering spirit. 

    In the Bible, wandering is a punishment and a separation from God. Cain was judged after murdering Abel and sentenced to wander (Genesis 11 4:16). The Israelites wandered through the wilderness until they could learn to listen and obey the Voice of God (Joshua 5:6).

    We moved around a lot when I was kid so I’ve always had a bit of a wandering spirit. Learning how to be planted and content in one place has been difficult for me.  The wandering spirit is nearly sanctified out of me after many years of prayer and wrestling and well; wandering. 

    One word has really helped me in recent times to be happy and content in one place…”this”. 

    We had friends visiting with their teenagers during the school holidays. I (stupidly) asked the 15 year old son,

    “What are you guys doing for the holidays?”

    He shrugged his shoulders and said “I dunno….this”. 

    This. 

    This is the holiday. This is your life. This is it. 

    This is the day that the Lord has made. 

    We can waste so much time waiting for our circumstances to change until we feel peace and contentment. We always think we are building up to some ideal life but we forget…this is our life. This. 

    And when I ask God on my morning walks what He wants me to do today sometimes he just answers…This. Be present. Enjoy your walk. Enjoy the music you’re listening to. Enjoy nature. Just be here and do this. Rejoice and be glad in it. 

    Grumbling and dissatisfaction caused a generation to die in the wilderness wanderings. Harking back to Egypt and “it was better before” triggered the fury of God. God had to take them the long way around so they wouldn’t return to the slavery of Egypt when they faced challenges (Exodus 13:17).

    God wants you to  be planted in your job, in your family, in your home and sometimes, we have to go through a wilderness time or two to get the Egypt slavery out of us. But if you want to enter the Promised Land of planting, milk, and honey- stop wandering and start rejoicing and being glad for…this.