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U2′s song ‘Moment of Surrender’ has a line which simply says ‘to be released from control’. It is yet another line from a U2 song which hit me like a brick.

Just about everything we do in life is designed to keep us in control of our lives. But the life of the cross is about relinquishing control to the only one who is ultimately trustworthy. Oh to be released from control on that day when we will have new bodies and new minds in the fully consummated kingdom of God.

I realized this morning that until my dying day I will be forever having to surrender the desire, no, the demand, to control my own life. C.S. Lewis described himself at his conversion as the most reluctant convert in all England. I think many of us can relate to that. Through the years of our lives we are constantly backing away from our hell instead of marching on our knees into heaven.

The paradox of the way of Jesus is that life is found only when we die to ourselves. The life of surrender is the life if victory – victory on defeat as Irish singer Sammy Horner puts it. God help me to surrender all to You every day.

The latest issue of The Atlantic has an article about the fact that Americans (and by extension the rest of the affluent world), are finally waking up to the fact that the accumulation of stuff is not the be-all and end-all of life. I’m not so sure it will last though. Human nature is such that as soon as we become comfortable again, we automatically become complacent, unless there is a conscious surrendering and conviction that our previous way of life really did not work. My personal view is that this can only come when we realise we need a power outside of ourselves to guide us through life and put us on the straight and narrow.

Check out the article here.

Today’s daily reading from Richard Rohr is another classic. It looks at the question of why Jesus commands us to love and tells us to look beyond ourselves for our own good.  Here is some more of what Rohr says:

We must learn to move beyond ourselves, to set limits on our own needs and somehow to meet other peoples’ needs. We actually need to do this for our own good!  That’s why Jesus commanded us to love—to get us started.  So love is not a feeling, but a decision, yet a decision that increases our inner freedom each time we do it.  You will know this only after you act on love.

Jesus didn’t say when you get healed, love; when you grow up, love; when you get it together and have dealt with all your wounds, then love. No, the commandment for all of us is quite simply, “Love!” Once we know it is not a feeling, but a grace empowered decision, we can all do it. And each time it is a growth in freedom—and flow.

As I read this I thought of the issue of how many many Christians, including Christian counselors, bring across the unbiblical message that you cannot love others until you love yourself. I wrote about this in an article a couple of years ago. reference to my article on self-esteem. The point that Rohr makes and which I didn’t make in my article, is that love is a grace-empowered decision. We are only able to love because of God working in us. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

Those Christians who say you can’t love others until you love yourself take grace out of the equation, take God out of the equation by assuming that love has to be done in our power and that we need to get ourselves together before we are able to love others. I believe this is such a serious issue in the Christian church as to be a heresy. As I read elsewhere recently, the gospel of Jesus is about self-denial, not self-fulfillment. The Way of Jesus is only by denying ourselves, taking up our cross and following him.

I was among a group of people who was recently asked their top 10 favourite songs of all time. My first thought is how can I do a top 10 when there have been so many songs that have impacted me over my life. For a start I could list just about any song from U2, such has been the inspiration of so much of their music. Then there are at least 10 from John Mellencamp that could be considered worthy of making a top 10 of all time according to me, as could a mtriad of songs frmo Midnight Oil. One band that didn’t make it was Queen, with a few of their songs that have certainly hit the spot. But in the end there can be only 10. So here is the list, with apologies to the many who did not make it:

1. All I Want is You – U2
2. Window in the Skies – U2 (a song I would like played at my funeral)
3. For the Children – John Mellencamp
4. The Real Life – John Mellencamp
5. The Long and Winding Road – The Beatles
6. In My Life – The Beatles
7. In the Valley – Midnight Oil
8. The Special Two – Missy Higgins
9. Secret Garden – Bruce Springsteen
10. Blow up the Pokies – The Whitlams

And for the best live performance of all time, can anyone go past U2′s Where the Streets Have No Name? One of their many anthems, I have never seen a peformer have 50,000 screaming fans in the palm of his hand like Bono does when this song is performed live. It sends shivers down my spine and makes me want to get up out of my chair and jump around the room. Check it out:

Martin Luther King said in as many words that any Gospel that doesn’t take into account the plight of the poor is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And Sojourners founder Jim Wallis said once that we need conversion everyday. It is a process that we need to constantly be reminded of.

What have these two statements got to do with each other? Well, Voices for Justice was a catalyst for a kind of reconversion for me. Over those few days in Canberra I was immersed in God’s love for the poor and his passion for justice. I realised too that this is a life that requires assertiveness. It is about taking a stand and being a voice – a voice for justice. As a lobby group leader I had to move beyond my sense of inadequacy and just do what is right. That’s what it takes but anyone an do it. All you need is a passion for God and God’s ways. If we ask we will receive, and we can be a prophet of hope for millions who live daily with none.

Just saw Carlyn Chen, our Voices for Justice champion (she would hate being called that) being interviewed on the Centre for Public Christianity website. Check it out here.

Does your life count? I mean really count? When that day comes when you meet your Maker, what are people going to say at your funeral? I’m now at the middle point of the average lifespan for an Australian male. And it makes you think about what your legacy would be if you died soon. “There’s less days in front of the horse than riding in the back of this cart” sang John Mellencamp back when I didn’t think about such matters so much.

Now, just because I’m at the mid-point of the average Australian male’s lifespan doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to make it. Martin Luther King said – perhaps prophetically – the night before he died, that “Like everyone I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I’m not worrying about that now…I just wanna do God’s will”.

When it comes to our time, remember that God is not going to say, “so did you get those projects finished?”; he’s not going to say, “Did you get to the top of the social ladder?”, or “Did you ever get those renovations to your house finished?”. No, he’s going to say, “How did you love? What did you do for the least of these my brethren?”.

Many years ago I heard a preacher say that when we’ve reached our final day, the first thing we’re going to say is, “I wish I’d taken more risks”. To take risks means stepping out of our comfort zones. What are some of your comfort zones? I know for me they are job security, enough money to live comfortably, internet access, and the support of friends. How willing would I be to give any of these up? When it really boils down to it, I have to admit that I find myself quite unwilling to let these things go.

If we are honest with ourselves, for the vast majority of us, our comfort zones have everything to do with our lifestyles. Yet when I thin iof my confrot zones I cannot get away from the call of Jesus to deny myself, take up my cross and follow. God give me courage to heed that call.

Part of what I want this website to be includes just random thoughts I have while waiting for the bus in the morning. I will often write these thoughts in my phone and then use them in articles later on. As I just bought an iPhone and I’m not sure how to transfer the notes from my previous phone onto my PC, I thought I would add them here periodically. Here’s the first one, on belief and conviction. I first heard Rob Coyle from Youth Dimension talk about this many years ago and it has stayed with me.

Belief is commitment to a set of ideals or, in the case of Christianity, to a person – Jesus. Conviction is a knowing; it is something deeply entrenched in the core of our being and it is a foundation for our lives.

One of the workshops I attended on day 3 of VFJ 2010 was on prophetic engagement with politics and society. It was a panel discussion facilitated by Jeanette Matthews who is currently completing a PhD in Old Testament studies. The panel included Dave Andrews, Deborah Storie, and Phil Ireland. Jeanette opened the discussion by explaining that the prophets of the Old Testament were primarily spokespersons and not fortune tellers, which is pretty much the opposite of what I was told when I first became a Christian in my teens.

The prophets often performed strange symbolic acts. Ezekiel 4 is a good example of this. Generally, the prophets were into what you might call ‘shock and awe’, unlike the people in the wisdom books of the OT. The message that a prophet carries is a burden to them. But the point that really challenged me was that a prophet embraced the Word, that is, they lived out what they spoke. Some examples of prophetic actions from the OT are as follows:

• Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 19)
• Ezekiel (3:1-3, 4:1-3, 24:3-13)
• Jeremiah (chapter 19)
• Zechariah
• Jeroboam and the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 11)
• Isaiah (chapter 20)
• Micah (1:8)

One of the questions Jeanette raised about this is about whether or not there is room for such prophetic action today. I have no doubt that there is, and as usual, Dave Andrews gave a wonderful example. He was once out in his home town of Brisbane when a young man had just smashed a window and vandalised a shop front. The owner came out, mad as a snake as you would expect, and demanded that the youth be dealt with severely. On hearing the fracas, others came out and also had a go at the youth. But then one man said, “I know what we should do. Why don’t we give him a hug?” What?!!! But the man persisted, and he went up and gave the youth a hug. Slowly and awkwardly, the others standing around also went up and gave him a hug. Eventually, after yet another hug, the youth dissolved into tears and blurted out in remorse about how he was so sorry and he just wanted to be noticed. It was a perfect example of prophetic action in practise. It was non-violent and saved potential further violence. It is highly likely that if the hug-fest hadn’t of happened, the youth would not have shown any remorse and would have continued his angry life of committing the same offences again. But this prophetic act of love (they weren’t condoning his vandalism remember) brought the youth to his metaphorical knees and caused a heart change that mere punishment never could. Dave then made the point that prophetic action needs to be colourful and creative, designed to engage people. Anger is to be a last resort. My first thought on hearing this was that Jesus expressed prophetic anger at times, particularly in turning over the tables in the temple. But Dave emphasised that this was one of Jesus’ last acts and it got him killed.

Following this, Phil Ireland mentioned that one of the most prophetic acts that anyone can engage in today is to participate in a church. And he emphasised the word ‘participate’. It is being active in a church, not being a pew-warmer. His point was that participating in a church community dismantles the individualist ethos so prevalent in our culture. He followed this up by saying that our primary prophetic actions need to be through the church. People in the church can also inspire each other. For instance, often it’s the little acts that nobody notices that can be the most prophetic, such as tending your garden, as it tears down the culture of consumerism and reconnects us with the earth. Dave added that the most effective acts are often the most unseen ones. The most important thing is to live the prophetic life.

One of the points that Dave made was that a distinguishing characteristic of the prophets was their sympathy with God. And in the example given by Jesus who was strong in relating to the powerful and gentle in relating to the powerless, the prophet is to do the same. Deb reiterated this in saying that prophets always treat people as human beings – as people with dignity, especially the people they are prophesying to. We need to remember what we are wanting to draw people to. Finally, Deb mentioned that we need to respect the non-Christian prophetic voice. God does not only work through Christians. God can and indeed does work through anyone he wishes.

One of the points that Deb Storie made was that not everyone is called to be prophetic, and similarly, sometimes to be prophetic is to make space for others to do the prophetic acts. Backing up Dave’s comment, she also emphasised that prophets see the world through the eyes of God. Another interesting point she mentioned was that often, people in the OT thought the prophets suffered from mental illness. It is pertinent to remember that Jesus’ own family thought the same of him. But we need to remember too, Deb reminded us, that if they do have a mental illness, then that is fine. Dave mentioned that Michael Leunig is a great example of this, as someone who has been public about his own struggles.

It is panel discussions like this that stay with me for a very long time. A colleague mentioned to me afterwards that it was dialogues like this that made her want to go back to the Bible. That of course can only be a good thing. We sing a song at our church sometimes which talks about being a prophet of hope. The term ‘prophet of doom’ has widespread use, so the term ‘prophet of hope’ sounds somewhat of an oxymoron. I think the prophets were both. They sounded warnings of judgment as well as the hope of what a future with God can be like. God help me to be a prophet of yours. Amen.

Well, yesterday and today have seen us flat out visiting our nation’s leaders, strolling the corridors of power asking them to increase our nation’s commitment to halve global poverty by 2015. The response has generally been very supportive. I have to mention one MP in particular. Mike Symon, my local Member in Deakin in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, has made a personal commitment to do all he can to get the Labor Government to commit to 0.7% by 2015. He is also very keen for the Government to do more on the issue of climate change. The lobby group I am with visited Mr Symon this morning and we were very impressed with his support and passion for these issues. He is also a member of the Parliamentary Friends of the MDGs group and has made speeches in Parliament highlighting the plight of the global poor. Mike (as he insisted we call him), thank you!

Yesterday our lobby group also met with Minister Jenny Macklin. She was also supportive, although I had to hold myself back from responding when she tried to tell us that we have no greater supporter on climate change than Kevin Rudd! He may be personally supportive, but as a Prime Minister, I am afraid he has shown an appalling lack of leadership. With no legislated commitments on climate change to 2020, and with our commitment to only a 5% emissions reduction by then, there is simply no way we can claim to be a global leader on this issue. We have a moral responsibility to do alot more than we currently are.

Yesterday I mentioned that I would hope to blog about our eminent poet Cam Semmens and his words of wit and wisdom that he has inspired us with over the last few days. Here’s some of what he said:

• “We see the homeless sleeping in the bus shelters of our apathy, lying in the laneways of our indifference.”
• On asking how different we really are from the poor and how we tend to ‘other’ them: “Between black and white, there are shades of grace; between 3rd and 1st I’m having 2nd thoughts.”

Some of the workshops here have also been excellent. Yesterday I attended one about the Old Testament prophets and political engagement with the powers. I’ll blog more about that either today or tomorrow. ‘Til then….