• God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Yet God also laughs at man’s rebellious attempts, Islamic or otherwise, to overthrow the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. I don’t want to get carried away with glee over the death of an evil man, but as a redeemed sinner I can smile today in the knowledge that God’s justice is sure.

• Bin Laden’s death day was divinely appointed, after a long life of violence and hatred, and despite a superpower’s best efforts to kill him for almost ten years. God does permit such evil men to live on. Still:

• Thinking back to that September 11, would anyone have predicted that the US would fall to its knees — not to terrorists, but to creditors? The nation’s finances have become the greatest threat to Americans’ national security. Bin Laden’s death is significant but this triumph will be quickly forgotten.

• How awesome are the elite soldiers of Seal Team Six! Supported by tireless intelligence work, their brave assault produced a stunning victory. The operation was meticulously executed by men honed by the daily grind of disciplined training. There are no casual weekend reservists on this team. These men are on-mission.

Onward, Christian what?

Ben Kwok

On June 7, 2002, Filipino troops attempted a rescue and during the fight, Martin was fatally shot in the chest.  Gracia was airlifted to safety.

The Burnhams’ story became international news and in her grief, Gracia was still able to publicly claim God’s sovereignty and goodness in their ordeal.

In her book, In The Presence Of My Enemies, Gracia looks back on her captivity and in conclusion, speaks candidly about her personal struggle and her commitment to keep trusting in God in a hostile world.  It’s faith at work.

We have a chance to show the love of Christ to the world.  I think Martin managed to do this successfully in the jungle.  I’m not sure I did very well myself.  I hope nobody calls me a hero, because I know the facts about the bitterness that blazed in my heart that year.  I still have lots of maturing to do.

… I already knew I was a sinner, of course.  It’s one of the first things I learned as a child in Sunday school.  But I was also a missionary, a pastor’s daughter, a life-long “good girl.”  Weren’t people like me supposed to be able to react to adversity with strength and grace and kindness and courage?  Why wasn’t I showing more of those traits?

I knew, for example, that I was supposed to forgive my captors, but the truth is that I often hated them.  I despised them not only for snatching me away from my family and the simple comforts of a life I loved, but also for forcing me to see a side of myself I didn’t like.  There was a Gracia I barely knew existed: fearful Gracia, selfish Gracia, bitter Gracia, angry-at-God Gracia.  That wasn’t the only me, but it was a bigger part of me than I wanted to accept.

… Some people want me to offended and angry and bitter with the government for not doing this or that.  Others want me to be depressed and morose — the poor, whimpering widow.

I can’t be either of those.  What good would it do?

… This ordeal came with the territory.  I refuse to let this dampen my joy or detract from the love that God means to flourish in my heart.

… The special people God gives us along the way make us stronger to face the trials of an ugly world.  Obviously, I never expected to face something of this magnitude.  But I thank the Lord for helping me to endure it.  … And I resolve to keep living in the embrace of God’s gladness and love for as long as he gives me breath.

Ben Kwok

“What is your most popular Easter egg?”  I asked the lady at Darrell Lea.  She pointed to a large-sized egg.

“Oh, definitely the nougat egg — the whole thing is filled with nougat!”

Sounds way too sweet, I thought.  No offence, nougat fans.

For most people, Easter is a nougat egg.  It’s filled with sweetness (treats and a day off work) but the actual nourishment value may be questionable.

Christians should see Easter as an opportunity to participate in evangelism — to speak nourishing words of life.  The best time you could spend this holiday is to contemplate on the Gospel and communicate it to others around you.

The story of Christ’s atonement and resurrection speaks powerfully to listeners, regardless of their age group or attitude.  Consider:

• Each Gospel places its greatest emphasis on the death and resurrection of Jesus, as God intended.  Everyone who considers Jesus’ life and teaching must be confronted by his cross and empty tomb.
• John Stott remarks in The Cross Of Christ, “The biblical gospel of atonement is of God satisfying himself by substituting himself for us.”  This is profound truth for believers, no matter how familiar you are with the event.  You can never “get over” the Gospel.
• No other message bears this kind of impact.  It is “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called … Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”  The Gospel both unites and divides, challenging hearts to respond.

This season, I’ve noted again how Jesus’ death and resurrection provokes such a range of responses.  We see the callous indifference of the soldiers and hear the taunts from the crowd.  We sense the panic of the disciples as they flee the terrible scene.

Then you can almost feel the wonder and exhilaration when they realise the Lord is not dead but risen indeed.  They practically trip over themselves to tell the good news.

I like how the Jesus Storybook Bible describes it:

“Mary ran and ran, all the way to the city.  She had never run so fast, or so far in all her life.  She felt she could have run forever.  She didn’t even feel like her feet touched the ground.  The sun seemed to be dancing and gleaming and bounding across the sky — racing with her, and shining brighter than she could ever remember, in the clear, fresh air.  And it seemed to her, that morning as she ran, almost as if the whole world had been made anew, almost as if the whole world were singing for joy…”

Don’t waste your Easter holiday.  Gaze again on the work of Christ crucified.  Peer into the empty tomb.  And run and sing for joy.

Ben Kwok

“Godliness is a vibrant, personal relationship with God that manifests itself in actions consistent with Who God is and with what He is doing in the earth.”

“Nothing erodes progress toward godliness more than today’s entertainment mindset and the modern church’s casual Christianity.”

“Energy, enthusiasm, and emotional experiences are no substitute for the daily, personal pursuit of Christ in the Word.”

“There is much going on between the godly man and his God, and his personal quiet time with God is measured, not by minutes a week but eventually by hours a week.”

“Godliness is not accidental; it is intentional.”

From Essential Virtues, a study on II Peter chapter 1.  Well worth reading.  You can buy it on Amazon here.

Ben Kwok

Clearly, what you believe concerning salvation has a profound effect, e.g. on your view of God and yourself, your assurance of salvation, and your approach to evangelism.  Christians often define their theological understanding of salvation in terms of Calvinism or Arminianism.

Coming from an independent Baptist background, I am curious whether most IBs in Australia hold a negative view toward Calvinism today.  Or are their churches more open to it?  If not, what do you think are the primary objections?

Probably the main objection is to predestination and God’s unconditional election. “We still have a free will,” I’ve often been told.  There’s concern over limited atonement (fair enough), and perhaps a suspicion that evangelistic zeal will be numbed by the Reformed emphasis of God’s sovereignty in salvation.

Maybe many Christians baulk at Calvin simply because they were taught inaccurate or misleading information about Calvinism.  Charles Spurgeon (who himself has often been misrepresented) described the problem this way:

” … to this day, there are many of our opponents, who, when they run short of matter, invent and make for themselves a man of straw, call that John Calvin and then shoot all their arrows at it.  We are not come here to defend your man of straw — shoot at it or burn it as you will, and if it suit your convenience, still oppose doctrines which were never taught, and rail at fictions which, save in your own brain, were never in existence.  We come here to state what our views really are, and we trust that any who do not agree with us will do us the justice of not misrepresenting us.  If they can disprove our doctrines, let them state them fairly and then overthrow them, but why should they first caricature our opinions and then afterwards attempt to put them down?”

CH Spurgeon, “Exposition of the Doctrines of Grace” (quoted from Debating Calvinism, Dave Hunt & James White)

Calvinists, Arminians, and everyone in-between are welcome to comment …

Ben Kwok

Martin Luther, “A Sermon on the Estate of Marriage”  (from Nick Roark)

“Let your own example teach your children that holiness, and heavenliness, and blamelessness of tongue and life, which you desire them and to learn and practise. The example of parents is most powerful with children, both for good and evil. If they see you live in the fear of God, it will do much to persuade them, that it is the most necessary and excellent course of life, and that they must do so too; and if they see you live a carnal, voluptuous, and ungodly life, and hear you curse or swear, or talk filthily or railingly, it will greatly imbolden them to imitate you. If you speak never so well to them, they will sooner believe your bad lives, than your good words.”

Richard Baxter, “The Duties Of Parents Toward Their Children,” A Christian Directory

“If your children are kept from wrong-doing only by the fear of you,—if they only do that which they are bidden to do because they are afraid to do otherwise,—you will have a very poor form of obedience; and you will have, at the same time, an abundant crop of deceit springing up; for, when your child has done wrong, his fear of punishment will drive him to a falsehood, and perhaps lead him from one falsehood to another, and falsehoods may become so common with him that, at last, it shall be as natural to him to tell a lie as to speak the truth; and I think every parent must know that all the faults a child can commit, if put into the scale together, are not equal in criminality and in injury to his spiritual constitution to a lie. The power to tell a lie is one of the most hideous powers to which a man can attain, and some children are kept in such a state of terror that they naturally learn to do it.”

CH Spurgeon, “Two Ancient Proverbs”

Ben Kwok

• In 2007-08 (the most recent year for their research), the average tax-deductible donation made and claimed by Australian taxpayers was $523.10. This average amount has nearly trebled in the last decade.
• In 2007-08, 4.48 million taxpayers (or 35.47% of the taxpaying population) made and claimed tax-deductible donations.
• On average, those individual taxpayers who make tax-deductible donations donate approximately 0.43% of their taxable income.

This report, based on Australian Tax Office data, does not include donations to organisations which are not deductible gift recipients, e.g. churches or charity events.  So we do not have a complete picture here, as many individuals might also contribute to charity events, raffles or other fundraisers.

Even with that in mind, contrast Australians’ charitable giving to their spending on other items.  In his book Promoting The Gospel (2005), Christian writer John Dickson observed:

On a weekly basis … Australian households spend on average $4.44 on charitable giving.  The average Australian spends more each week on confectionary ($8.10 on chips, chocolate and ice-cream alone); quite a bit more on pets ($9.18); more again on cigarettes ($11.55); three and a half times more on beer and wine ($15.58); and nearly ten times more on restaurant and takeaway meals ($42.10).

Churches and Giving

According to the 2006 National Church Life Survey regarding Protestant churches:

• The first group with the highest rates of giving (tithing a tenth or more) include Seventh-day Adventist (66%) and Pentecostal attenders (62%).
• The second group, with around 30% to 46% of attenders who tithe, includes the Baptist, Churches of Christ, and Salvation Army denominations among others.

• The third group, which includes the Anglican, Lutheran and Uniting churches, has around 14% to 18% who give a tenth or more of their income.
• Thirty-three percent of the individuals surveyed said they give 10% or more of net income regularly.
• Thirty-six percent said they gave less than 5% of net income, or a small amount.

In a more detailed NCLS survey of 2500 participants:

• Fifty-one percent of the individuals gave between $11 and $60 per week to their church.
• Twenty-one percent gave over $60 per week, and 23 percent gave less than $10 per week.

Most Australians could give more money to charitable causes.  As Christians, we too should evaluate our spending.  Dickson asks some pointed questions:

Would I spend as much on the work of evangelism as I would on my CD collection, movie/theatre tickets, sporting events and other weekend outings?  Do the missionaries I know get as big a slice of my income as my local restaurants, takeaway joints, bottle shop or cafe?  If not, why not?  What possible reason could there be for not matching my expenditure on ‘luxuries’ with expenditure on my ‘partnership in the gospel’?

Ben Kwok

“Yes it is … what do you think about it?”  I asked.  The girl pondered for a moment.  ”Seems like we’re out of harm’s way here in Sydney!”

Leaving the shop, I wondered how the rest of us are thinking about Japan’s earthquake, as we view the stream of dramatic video and photos from the devastation.  Perhaps it’s a mixture of horror, sympathy, fascination, and a sense of perspective that our own troubles seem minor to the chaos over there.

Christians need to think beyond these initial feelings and be ready to respond with biblical truth.  We’re hearing references to “Mother Nature” at work (which gives no comfort or even explanation) and the skeptics are spouting, “If there’s a God, why do these things happen?”

This challenge is an old one.  In the great Lisbon, Spain earthquake which rocked Europe in 1755, the French cynic Voltaire wrote:

“Will you say: ‘This is result of eternal laws

Directing the acts of a free and good God!’

… Did Lisbon, which is no more, have more vices

Than London and Paris immersed in their pleasures?

Lisbon is destroyed, and they dance in Paris!”

How can Christians respond?  A few suggestions:

We should tremble. Earthquakes are neither random nor purposeless, but are reminders of sin’s curse on the earth and the weight of sin on the whole creation.  All mankind is helpless and unable to save the planet or themselves.  We should be moved to fear the Lord as our Creator.  Psalm 114 declares:

“What ails you, O sea, that you flee?

O Jordan, that you turn back?

O mountains, that you skip like rams?

O hills, like lambs?

Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,

at the presence of the God of Jacob … “

We must pray.  We all have sinned and deserve God’s judgment, whether in sunny Sydney or Sendai.  We all suffer from sin’s curse and no one lives outside of God’s mercy.  We all need to turn to the Lord, who is sympathetic to our pain and grief, and is able to save.

A long time ago, the earth quaked when Jesus was crucified, as he who knew no sin became sin for us.  He was crushed for our iniquities.  There was another earthquake when Jesus rose again, victorious over sin and death.  And the Lord warned there will be more earthquakes, before He returns to make all things new.

We can help. Jesus gave of himself to heal and help the distressed in our fallen world.  We have the opportunity to let our light shine in a practical way, whether it be a donation to a humanitarian organisation or a gift to Christian agencies such as the OMF.

Ben Kwok

Corrie’s bedroom, where refugees were hidden.

In prison, Corrie was still able to write letters, which were full of faith, keen insight, and even humour.  Both she and her sister Betsie ministered to their fellow prisoners.

Most touching was Corrie’s reliance on God in a nightmare winter, as she watched her sister slowly die in the Ravensbruck concentration camp, among nearly 100,000 women who perished there.  Corrie clung to Christ as her only hope.

The horrors of Ravensbruck, especially Betsie’s death, caused me to wake up to reality.  When I did, I was able to see that when all the securities of the world are falling away, then you realise, like never before, what it means to have your security in Jesus.

Corrie was providentially freed from prison, and went on to proclaim her testimony worldwide.  She traveled to over sixty countries, speaking of God’s sovereignty and salvation.  Beginning this ministry in her fifties, she died on her 91st birthday in 1983.

Six months after her release from prison, Corrie wrote another letter — to the person who had reported her family to the Germans.

What would we have written?

Dear Sir,

Today I heard that most probably you are the one who betrayed me.  I went through 10 months of concentration camp.  My father died after 9 days of imprisonment.  My sister died in prison, too.

The harm you planned was turned into good for me by God.  I came nearer to Him.  A severe punishment is awaiting you.  I have prayed for you, that the Lord may accept you if you will repent.  Think that the Lord Jesus on the Cross also took your sins upon Himself.  If you accept this and want to be His child, you are saved for Eternity.

I have forgiven you everything.  God will also forgive you everything, if you ask Him.  He loves you and He Himself sent His Son to earth to reconcile your sins, which meant to suffer the punishment for you and me.  You, on your part have to give an answer to this.  If He says: “Come unto Me, give Me your heart,” then your answer must be: “Yes, Lord, I come, make me Your child.”  If it is difficult for you to pray, then ask if God will give you His Spirit, who works the faith in your heart.

Never doubt the Lord Jesus’ love.  He is standing with His arms spread out to receive you.

I hope that the path which you will now take may work for your eternal salvation.

Corrie Ten Boom

Ben Kwok

After some ministry in the US and England, Pink spent three years in Sydney as a preacher and writer.  His arrival in 1925 stirred the Baptist churches, who were challenged by his expository preaching.  One local remembered:

“‘He was not what some might term a “fiery” preacher although he was very forthright, clear and uncompromising.’  … He employed no gestures and did not shout.  ’…He never deviated from his theme with stories or quip sayings.  Everyone present knew that he had no time for levity for he spoke as a man whose one purpose was to honour the Blessed Trinity and to show what the Word of God requires of us.”

He worked hard in his ministry as pastor and writer.  He and his wife published a regular magazine of his writings, “Studies In The Scriptures.”  Its circulation was never large (usually less than 1000 subscribers) but his articles have been re-published into many books.  Here is a glimpse of his workload, as he describes:

On many occasions has this writer — when preaching six times a week (rarely for less than an hour, usually seventy-five to ninety minutes) in the heat of Australia, journeying here and there to do so — returned home at 10pm, feeling worn and weary and pleading this promise expectantly and partaking of light refreshment, sat down for four hours’ hard study and writing an article for this magazine.

Pink was never able to remain long at any one church, probably due to his personality.  He served briefly as pastor in two Sydney churches before returning eventually to the US.  Iain Murray describes him as “an unwanted preacher” and ironically, he distanced himself from church life in later years.   He died in Scotland in 1952.

Despite personal shortcomings, his writings have endured to our benefit.  During his Sydney years, Pink held pointed views which are still relevant to evangelical churches here today.

Calvinism & Arminianism

There are Arminians who have presented the ‘free-will’ of man in such a way as to virtually dethrone God, and I have no sympathy whatever with their system.  On the other hand, there have been some Calvinists who have presented a kind of fatalism (I know not what else to term it) reducing man to nothing more than a block of wood, exonerating him of all blame and excusing him for his unbelief.  But they are both equally wrong, and I scarcely know which is the more mischievous of the two.

Worldly, Weak Churches & Sound Doctrine

The vast majority of the churches are in a sorry state.  Those that are out-and-out worldly are at their wits’ end to invent new devices for drawing a crowd.  Others which still preserve an outward form of godliness provide nothing substantial for the soul; there is little ministering of Christ to the heart and little preaching of ‘sound doctrine’, without which souls cannot be built up and established in the faith.  … The great need of Australia today is for God-sent and God-anointed men, who will not shun to declare all the counsel of God; men in whom the Word of Christ dwells richly, so that they can say with the apostle, ‘Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel’; men on whom rests the fear of God, so that they are delivered from the fear of man.”

Purity First

Today it is true almost everywhere, that we are far more concerned about the results of the gospel than we are about the purity of it!  … Is it not true that the first great question asked everywhere today is, What are the ‘results’?  What is the fruitage?  How many people have been saved in your church the last year?  I am not saying that the question has no importance, but I do say that, if that is the first question that is asked, it only shows what a low level we are living on!  The first question we ought to ask is, How scripturally is the gospel being preached in your church?  Is the preacher magnifying Christ?  Is the preacher emphasising the absolute sufficiency of his finished work?

Source: The Life Of Arthur W. Pink, Iain Murray

Ben Kwok