Second Choice Worlds and God

Some of you may have been reading through this week’s devotions and thinking to yourselves, “Well this is all ok for God. He never has to deal with unwelcome changes, or a second choice world not of his choosing. God is powerful enough to sort it all out with just a wave of his hand”.

If we have ever found ourselves thinking like that, we would have of course, been forgetting about the Garden of Eden. Remember that? God’s first choice world is seen in the Garden of Eden – a place of beauty, justice, peace, love and deep communion between God and humanity. This peaceful place was, however, fractured by humanity’s poor choices, and thereafter sin entered the picture.

It is interesting to note what God did at this stage. God did not in his righteous anger destroy us with a click of his fingers. Nor did God give up on us by turning his back on us and leaving us to our own devices. No, God in passionate love, decided on an entirely different, yet far more difficult way. God chose to sacrificially enter this “second choice world” through Jesus and to impact it. God faced human temptations and shared human sufferings. God did this so that he might show us a way back into relationship with him, and so that he might restore us into Life as he originally created us to live it. It was the long way round but God saw us as worth it.

Make no mistake, God is powerful enough to sort out the situation with a wave of his hand, but love demands following an entirely more difficult route. You see for love to truly be real, free choice has to exist. Relationships have to be chosen, they cannot be forced. This is why God did not use power to sort us out, but gave up power for the sake of love, (see Philippians 2. 6-8). God’s extravagant love for us means that he would never give up on us, that he would enter into a world comprising the very worst of our mistakes, just so that he can bring us back to him.

This should help us to remember that God can do something wonderful even in the very worst of second choice worlds. God does not necessarily give us an easy way out of a bad situation with a click of his fingers, but he does offer us all the grace and strength we need to get through it. Although the path may be narrow, God takes us by the hand and remains with us to the very end of our journey.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Lord, we learn from the Bible that you are not necessarily into “easy-way outs” of difficult situations. For you did not abandon us when we turned from you, nor did you destroy us when we sinned. Instead you took the narrow road, the long and difficult way of love that has brought us a wonderful message of redemption and hope. Give us the strength we need to follow you always even if it takes us down some narrow roads, and help us to keep trusting in you always. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Pope urges different faiths to work together to end religious violence

In his New Year’s Day sermon, Pope Benedict XVI urged different faiths to work together for peace and an end to religious violence.

Pope Benedict was speaking from St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City when he announced his intention to hold an October summit similar to that of his predecessor, the late Pope John Paul. He said the purpose of the conference would be to “solemnly renew the effort of those with faith of all religions to live their faith as a service for the cause of peace.”

“At present, Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith,” the Pope asserted, referring to both overt and subtle attacks on Christians and Christian symbols.

These attacks, he said are an affront to all religious freedom, human rights and ultimately, society.

“I implore all men and women of good will to renew their commitment to building a world where all are free to profess their religion or faith, and to express their love of God with all their heart, with all their soul and with all their mind,” the pope urged.

“Often these forms of hostility also foster hatred and prejudice. They are inconsistent with a serene and balanced vision of pluralism and the secularity of institutions, to say nothing of the fact that coming generations risk losing contact with the priceless spiritual heritage of their countries,” Benedict added.

Latest on the Egypt church bombing

Egyptian police believe that a group of local Islamic extremists are behind the New Year's suicide bombing of a church in Alexandria, and not foreign groups as earlier claimed by the Egyptian government, says the Washington Times.

The attack on the Saints Church killed 21 people.

The bombing sparked riots and protests by Egypt's Christian minority, who believe they are targeted and discriminated against and do not receive sufficient protection from authorities.

Dozens of believers returned to pray on Sunday in the blood-spattered Saints Church - many of them crying and even screaming in grief. Security was provided for them, as there was for churches throughout Egypt on Sunday.

Inside the Saints Church, the floor was still stained with blood, two statues of Jesus and the Virgin Mary were toppled and benches were scattered by the impact of the blast.

Father Maqar, who led the service, did not give a sermon, preferring to express his grief with silence.

"I tell Christians to pray and pray to ease their agony," he told the Associated Press after the service.

"Is it possible that what happened is even remotely human? We were carrying dead bodies, but in pieces. Who can fathom such a thing? Who can tolerate it?" he added.

In Alexandria, around 500 Christians staged a vigorous protest near the bombed church. They were outnumbered by riot police at least two to one and prevented from going elsewhere.

Sally Moore, a Christian protester, said Muslim and Coptic protesters were planning to unite to form a "human shield" outside major churches in Cairo on Coptic Christmas Eve on Jan. 6 in a show of solidarity.

"The security is protecting the regime, not the people, not the churches," she said.

In another display of inter-faith unity, Egypt's top Muslim cleric, Grand Sheik of al-Azhar Ahmed el-Tayeb, visited Pope Shenouda III, spiritual leader of Egypt's Orthodox Copts, at his Cairo headquarters on Sunday to offer his condolences.

Interview with Sean Bastable

Sean Bastable is the author of this week’s book review in ‘So What’ (see ‘My Simple Faith’ in the book review section). We thought it would be good to catch up with Sean and find out a little more about him and his book.

SW: Sean, this is the first book you have authored – describe the process behind it for us. Had you always wanted to write as a long-cherished dream or calling, or did the compulsion to write just come out of the blue?

Sean: I think everyone wishes they could write a book at some point in their life and I guess I'm the same in that respect. But this particular book was very much a spontaneous, accidental thing. I didn't say, "Ooh, I'd like to write a book now" and then sat down and wrote. It was more of a spontaneous thing that just sort of happened. My dad had not been well and been fighting cancer for five years and at one point I was sitting next to him in hospital and started to write. And I think that when a member of your family is not well, there's a lot of emotion that comes to the surface and the book was kind of birthed out of that. I just started to write pondering God and thinking about what happens in life beyond what we see, and within four or five days I'd written the first few chapters.

SW: Try to describe in one sentence what your book is about.

Sean: It's a book about God and Love and everything else and the fact that you can only reason so far - the final step is always a leap of faith, whatever path you choose.

SW: Since the book was published, what has the general response from the public been? Has it achieved all you hoped it would?

Sean: Writing a book is one thing, getting people to read it is a whole other thing all together! But as my cousin keeps reminding me, success is not about the number of books sold, it's the number of lives changed. Looking back over the last couple of months though, I'd say it's been a reasonably good start given that it's more of a hobby than a job. I'm also very shy and completely rubbish at selling anything, which hasn't helped much. Highlight of the year though was a 30-min documentary and TV interview with Vision Magazine and Trinity Broadcasting Network that aired in September. They did a great job of putting it all together and I got to drive a Ferrari!! You can check out the video on the website www.mysimplefaithbook.com.

SW: Do you have any writing projects you are currently working on? If so, can you give us a general idea what to expect?

Sean: Yes! I also work with Faith for Daily Living, a non-profit organisation that publishes a Christian daily devotional booklet every two months. Our latest initiative that I'm very excited about is the launch of a new student edition for younger readers that comes out in January 2011. Readers can find out more on the Facebook Fan page (Faith for Daily Living - Student Edition) or by emailing ffdl@saol.com. Then I've also started writing a sequel to my book, "My Simple Faith [IN ACTION] - and why I don't want to be run over by a bus!" It's a slow process, but hoping to have something readable towards the end of next year.

[Picture depicts Sean behind the wheel of a (borrowed) Ferrari. You will find out the significance of this if you read the book].

Bible apps reach millions

After only five months in existence, an audio-based Bible app has already reached one million downloads.

The Bible.is app has been downloaded in 166 countries and is available for free to iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch and Android devices. The app combines text and audio and is offered in a large number of languages.

The audio-Bible app has been developed by Faith Comes By Hearing ministry, and is an expression of their Digital Bible Project (DBP), which combines the latest technology with the world’s largest digital library of both Bible text and audio recordings. The app advances the ministry’s mission to record audio Bibles for every nation, tribe, language and people.

At this point the ministry has Scripture recordings in 500 languages, with the aim of 2,000 by 2016.

"While the Bible.is apps are great at home, in church and on-the-go, we really see them as a part of a larger strategy to fulfill the Great Commission," said Troy Carl, the ministry's national director and architect of the DBP. "We are excited by this rapid growth, and especially the worldwide reach this technology has produced."

Another Bible app, the YouVersion developed by LifeChurch.tv has even more impressive download figures after recently surpassing the 10 million download mark .

In one weekend alone, more than 100,000 downloads of the app took place, according to the YouVersion team.

YouVersion is also free and available on nine different platforms and in 20 different languages. The app includes 23 different reading plans readers can choose from.

“What we see with the app and the number of people talking about it and sharing it with others is we are really seeing what I think is the beginning of a revolution,” said Terry Storch, who leads the digerati team at LifeChurch.tv.

Oldest human remains discovered in Israel

Archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have published a report revealing their discovery of human remains in a cave in central Israel which they believe may be the earliest evidence for the existence of modern man.

The team chief Avi Gopher informed Agence France-Presse that their discovery of eight teeth in the Qesem Cabe challenges theoris of the origin of humans because it calls into question the widely held view that modern humans originated in Africa.

At this point, the earliest confirmed remains of modern man, or Homo sapiens, were 200,000 years old and found in East Africa.

The teeth found in Israel are about 400,000 years old.

"It's very exciting to come to this conclusion," Gopher said. "This changes the whole picture of evolution."

Some have speculated that the remains are likely related to the now extinct Neanderthals, but the team’s report as published in the "American Journal of Physical Anthropology," states that none of the Qesem teeth "shows a suite of Neanderthal characters," though "a few traits may suggest some affinities with members of the Neanderthal evolutionary lineage."

Gopher's team is continuing their dig at the cave and are convinced they will find skulls and bones that could confirm that the teeth are the remains of modern man.

Three religious leaders crack the nod for 2010 Most Admired list

Three religious leaders have earned a place on the 2010 Top 10 Most Admired Man list. This is an increase from the two who made it last year.

The Rev. Billy Graham and Pope Benedict XVI were both ranked tied sixth on the list, while the Dalai Lama also cracked the nod this year in tenth position in the annual open-ended poll conducted by USA Today/Gallup.

Graham has been in the top 10 list every year since 1955.

President Barack Obama remained in top position in the list, a position he has held from 2008 since he was elected. It is common for sitting presidents to top the poll as they have grabbed first place 52 out of the 64 times Gallup has compiled the list.

Obama’s position has slipped a little however as he went from 30% of Americans who named him tops in 2009 to only 22% this year. Nelson Mandela also routinely makes the list and did so again this year.

In the Most Admired Woman list, Hillary Clinton continued her dominance as she was named in the No 1 spot for the ninth consecutive year. She was followed by Sarah Palin, Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, Condoleezza Rice, and Queen Elizabeth.