Hahaha.. I love this

No Holiness, No Heaven?

This week, through my encounters with some individuals, I have been thinking a lot about the whole issues of holiness, especially as it relates to the question of who can be in the ministry.
Hebrews 12:14 says "Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord." (NIV)

I have heard preaching from this verse that in order to make it to heaven (or even to be 'qualified' to serve) I have to achieve certain level of holiness. This strikes me as odd for a few reasons:

1. Who decides how holy is holy enough? (for heaven or for ministry)
   
2. God promises salvation to all who simply recognise their sinfulness and believe in Jesus Christ as their Saviour (John 3:16);
3. Failure is not only possible but a certainty in our walk as a Christian (1John 1:8-10)

So, what is the writer of Hebrews saying here? He's not teaching us to be perfect in holiness or be burned in hell forever. He's saying to "make every effort" to live in peace and to be holy as we, in Christ Jesus, will be when we finally see the Lord face to face.

How can this be? When I stop putting my trust in my good works and put my trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, the holiness of Jesus Christ becomes mine (Romans 5:19). So, in God's sight, He sees me as holy because of the holiness of Christ in me. However, in real life, we are still oh sooooo very far from being holy. The writer of Hebrews is simply encouraging us to pursue holiness because that's who we are in God's sight now and that's what we will be when we see the Lord.

1John 3:2 says it best. "Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is." (NLT)

There's hope yet for a messy pastor like me. :-)

Quote of the Week

"Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does." - William James

In this blog, I will attempt to cover up my lack of writing prowess with pictures. If I can't find a picture that matches the entry, like in this instance, i will just show a picture of my lil mate Jayden. :-)

Hillsong Conference 2007

This year conference is my first HSC. I found some of the speakers sounding more like a good salesman trying to sell me a product that will benefit me than God's messenger with a message that God wants me to hear. No disrespect to the other speakers, but Louie Giglio is easily the speaker I respect the most. Over all, I feel really blessed attending this conference. Hanging out with my Sydney friends (Michael, Citra, Maureen, Lia, and others) is as much blessing as the conference itself! So, if you're reading this, thank you guys. You're awesome!!!

Friday arvo with my son

My wife and I took our son Jayden to Heath Cote Park Friday afternoon (click picture to enlarge); got some nuggets and fries from McD (Jayden loves fries) and then we just enjoyed watching him running around chasing the sea gulls at the park. Aaah... Thank you Lord for the joy of the simple things in life.

Listen to the Man

So, who's this Mike Yacono-who guy? Here's an interview with my hero.

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. This site is dedicated to the late Mike Yaconelli, author of "Messy Spirituality." I'm doing this blog first of all for myself as an outlet but of course, anyone who find my rambling amusing can lurk around anytime. I don't think I'm a good writer and I'm gonna talk about anything and everything I find interesting here. You will find, more often than not, that I will write about my imperfect life as a 'messy' follower of Jesus Christ, my love for my God, my family, and Apple products (in that order.) This is my second attempt at blogging and knowing me, it may end up like the first one. So, let's see what's gonna happen! P.S. That's my miracle son Jayden. I love him more than anything :-)