Harmony of Grace

Image Source:  Steve Halama   In a world that is so overwhelmed with evil and corruption, I am sure many of us wish that we were living in a fictional world where literal superheroes existed.  How great would it be if we could call on a superhero to come and fix all of our problems?  Unfortunately, we are unlikely to see a literal superhero fly in and save the day by defeating the villains of our story. But that does not mean that heroes do not exist in our world today. One of the reasons that the biblical stories appeal to me so much is because they remind me that ordinary people can be heroes too. They might not look like the superheroes that we have come to know and love in movies and books, but they live heroic lives of honour and valour. Every time that a person assists a widow, or stands up for a person's rights, or helps alleviate poverty and hunger, or brings a criminal to justice, I believe that heroism is taking place. As much as there are people bringing destruction and

Wow, I don't know if I can look at myself the same after the cheesy title to this post. Please bear with me. As much as this title would make an epic sermon title for a prosperity preacher, that is not where I am going with this post. My biggest weakness has often been the inability to say no to any requests, regardless of my willingness or time-constraints. One thing that I have learnt over the past three years at Seminary is how to say no. On top of academic and formational requirements, seminarians are often invited to join different organisations and take part in a wide variety of activities. One has to quickly learn how to pick and choose to avoid being completely overwhelmed by their commitments. Earlier this year, the chaplain of the Seminary asked me to consider coordinating the confirmation classes of the Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary Society. I told him that I would think about it, but I was immediately resistant to the idea. I was already feeling overwhelmed with

Image Source:  Emma Francis "We are not creatures of destinations, it is the journey that shapes us" ( Oathbringer ) It is amazing how often fictional stories connect with us on a deep spiritual level. I am currently reading a series of books by Brandon Sanderson called The Stormlight Archive . In it, the heroes of the story are required to speak a series of words in order to obtain access to their powers. They then live their lives to honour their spoken words. The first words that they speak are: "Life before death, strength before weakness, journey before destination." While I believe I could write a blog post on why each of these sentences is pertinent as we seek God, it is the third line that resonates with me most:  Journey before destination. We tend to spend large portions of our time thinking ahead to the end of our lives and where we want to (or don't want to) end up. While I am in no way demeaning the importance of considering our et

Image Source:  Jesse Orrico I have written often about experiencing God's grace in the world around us. But one of the greatest elements of the Jesus story is that we are able to partner with God in order to share God's grace with others. There are many ways that we are able to do this - one of the primary being through our responsibilities to others. Responsibility is not a word that generally excites us. It does not necessarily spark feelings of joy. Often, our responsibilities are not thrilling activities. Our lives are filled with menial work: chores, paying bills, lifting children, etc. If we resent these activities, we can easily begin resenting the people that we are doing them for. For example, if we resent changing diapers, we can begin resenting the child whose diaper we are changing; if we get annoyed by listening to our friend's complaining about their problems, we can begin to be annoyed by our friend; if we hate working at our jobs, we can begi

Image Source:  Jennifer Pallian I am not very good at baking cakes, but I am quite skilled at eating them. While most cakes are extremely delicious, not all of the individual ingredients that go into baking a cake are all that tasty by themselves. If I walk into the kitchen and my wife is in the early stages of making a chocolate cake, I would happily stick my fingers into the pot of melted chocolate, but you wouldn't see me going near the flour or raw eggs in any kind of rush. But something amazing happens when all of the not-so-tasty ingredients are put together in just the right order and quantity. After mixing all of the ingredients together and exposing them to extreme heat, they fulfil their purpose and form a wonderful new creation. Our lives are also made up of a large number of ingredients, not all of them tasty, that come together to make us who we are. Not all of life's experiences are enjoyable. Often we encounter difficulties or struggles. As we experie

This past week, my dad took our family on a 10-day tour of the UK with the intention of hunting down our family roots and discovering the origin of the Taylor name. It was an awesome trip and we got to experience some truly beautiful areas, making memories together that will last forever. We spent a lot of time in Scotland viewing some of the majestic castles and villages that the Taylor clan used to reside in, some of them are still in good condition while others are sitting in ruins. Throughout the trip, as we sat in the local pubs and the small living rooms of our Airbnb's, my dad shared the stories of the origin of the Taylor clan - wondrous stories about an abandoned, illegitimate child of the Cameron Clan who was raised by the local village tailor (hence the name), eventually becoming a fierce warrior known for his dark, relentless side when in battle. It is a blockbuster tale that would make a seriously good book! This trip reminded me of my other heritage, th

Image Source:  Joshua Hibbert Today's post follows on from my previous post,  Leave A Light On . In his song with the same title, Tom Walker sings about leaving the light on for his drug-addict friend as a constant reminder that he will always be welcomed home. Here are the lyrics again: If you look into the distance, there's a house up on the hill Guidin' like a lighthouse To a place where you'll be safe to feel our grace 'Cause we've all made mistakes If you've lost your way… I will leave the light on I will leave the light on I will leave the light on I will leave the light on In my last post, I shared that God uses a similar approach to us, that no-matter how far we stray, God will always leave the light on for us as a constant reminder that we will welcome be welcomed home into God's open, loving arms. So this got me thinking... what is the church's role in all of this? While God is the one who accepts us and

Image Source:  Flying in the Spirit As we encounter Easter, we can't help but consider the topic of resurrection. Most Christians believe in the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, 3 days after his death on the cross at Calvary.  However, for many Christians, Jesus' resurrection is merely a historical fact, much like the fact that Jan van Riebeck arrived in the Cape of Southern Africa in 1652 or the fact that Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990. The problem with merely thinking of the resurrection as an historical fact is that it has no significance in our lives today. However, just like the arrival of van Riebeck and the release of Mandela had long-lasting implications for the Nation of South Africa, so the resurrection of Christ also has long-lasting implications in the lives of believers today. What difference does the Resurrection make in your life? I believe that still today, Christ is bringing little resurrections  to our lives.

Image Source:  James Bold I love reading and I love a good story. Epic fantasies are my favourite. I love the richness of the world-building, the complex magic systems and the strengths and flaws of the wide variety of characters. I often like to think of my life and the life of the world as an epic story. Every story has a beginning, a middle and an ending. As we read/hear a well-told story we can only be sure of what has gone before. We do not know what twists and turns are in store for us at the conclusion, or even during the next couple of pages. There are character developments, conflicts, climaxes and anticlimaxes. The danger with thinking of our lives as a story though, is that we tend to take credit for the authorship of our story and the story of the world that we live in. While we have an important part to play in our story, we shouldn't forget who is the author. God created this world and continues to write our story. We have an opportunity to be a p

In my previous post, I mentioned that in order for us to live a fulfilling life, we need to align ourselves with God's purpose for the world. This brings us to the question: " What is God's purpose for the world?" I believe that God's purpose is revealed in the words and works of Jesus Christ. Many of us have grown up to believe that Jesus was born and lived on Earth so that our sins could be forgiven and we could go to heaven when our worldly bodies die. However, while forgiveness and hope for life after death is important, the Gospels focus less on these 2 purposes than we might imagine. Jesus did not come to earth on an evacuation mission to get us into heaven, but to bring God's kingdom to earth.  - Brian Mclaren Mclaren notes that our "evacuation theology" would require a very different prayer from the one that Jesus gave us. He claims that if forgiveness and going to heaven were Jesus' main purposes for us then the Lord'

I'm sure we have all come across the phrase of playing second fiddle . According to the dictionary, it means to "have a subordinate role to someone or something; be treated as less important than someone or something." Image Source: Larisa Birta I found the origin of this phrase fascinating. In an orchestra, the string players (particularly the 2nd violinists) are said to often feel insignificant to the other musicians. The main reason for this is because there are so many violinists and because their parts are often duplicated by other instruments. As a result of this, it is common for 2nd violinists to develop a laxness in both their practice schedules and their performances. On the other hand, 1st trumpeters and 1st oboists tend to be the most dedicated members in an orchestra because their contribution is considered very noticeable and important. Human beings were created to be intentional, purposeful beings. If a person cannot find a sense of purpose in