I want you to imagine that you go to a dear friend’s funeral. He died suddenly, violently a few days ago. You, his other friends and family are sitting in the pews – shell shocked – waiting for the service begin. But before it does, the guy who’s supposed to have died walks in and sits down next to you.
How would you respond?
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Almost everyone on this planet at some point in their lives has money worries. My hunch is that you’re no exception. Perhaps you’re travelling through a bit of a rough financial patch at the moment.
The tragedy is that when we’re in that place, we think that the answer, is simply to get more money. It makes sense. It’s logical. Ask anybody and they’ll tell you that it’s the right answer.
Anybody that is, except God.
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Let’s face it – you and I, we can’t juggle chainsaws can we? Don’t believe me, then watch the video in this post.
We wouldn’t dream of firing up three chainsaws and juggling them. So – here’s the bit that I find intriguing – why do we try such a crazy stunt with the “chainsaws” in our lives?
You may be wondering – “What the blazes is Berni on about this time?”
We’ll get to that, but first I dare you to watch this video!
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Ever felt like cancelling Christmas?
I mean cast your eye around your local shopping mall. Each year, “Christmas” seems to get further and further away from what that first Christmas is all about. No good complaining about it. It is what it is. And on the inside, where we live … I’m not sure if you’ve noticed … it’s becoming more and more difficult to celebrate the awesome meaning of Christmas. So … why not cancel it altogether this year?
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Well, my last blog post – Why I Don’t Believe in Tithing – certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons, with some lively discussion to and fro – which is awesome. Some people of course remain unconvinced – they see tithing as an important part of being a Christian.
I don’t, because I believe that grace opens the door to a whole new level of giving. A “New Covenant” alternative if you like, to the legalism of the tithe. Here’s what I’m talking about …
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Okay – so have you ever wondered why Jesus was baptised? A perfect Jesus who has never sinned, who then submits to John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance.
At first, it doesn’t make sense … that is until we realise that God is saying something really, really important to us through this one, powerful act of submission by the Son of God.
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Friends, Romans, countrymen … lend me your ears.
That was Mark Anthony in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar – calling the people to listen to him after the assassination of big Juli.
Hmm. I wonder how he’d get on today. Because listening these days, is something of a lost art. We’re all so busy. There are so many voices shouting at us. So mostly, we just tune out.
And yet listening is at the very least, one half of the equation in engaging in genuine communication. So if no one’s listening, well …we have something of a problem. Do ya think?!
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So besotted are we by the blood-red message of the Cross, that it’s all too easy to remain there at Calvary, glorying in what Christ did for us, without ever moving on to the second part of the Easter story.
And little wonder!!
But the message of Easter is a message of two equal parts. A message that takes place in two places. Up on a hill, and down in a garden. Up on a cross and down in a tomb. It’s a message about a new beginning … and an amazing future.
So let me ask you a question, also in two parts: What is the secret of the empty tomb? And what does it mean for your life, here and now?
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