Can Love and Perfection Overcome earthquake, tuberculosis and the Evils of World War 2?

Are you sick of the same old computer generated violence that Hollywood continues to serve up movie after movie? Even the Hobbit (a children’s book) could not avoid Hollywood’s lust for violence. If so then you should not go pass Hayao Miyazaki’s animated movie “The Wind Rises”.  The Wind Rises is a fictionalised account of Jiro Horikosh – the designer of the famous A6M Zero. The A6M is a fighter aircraft. In the Second World War, a fighter plane serves two purposes: It can defend ones territory from enemies’ bombers or to protect one own bombers in their mission to bomb the enemy.  As one is drawn into Miyazaki’s story, one realises that this is an anti-war movie. I do have more to say on this question but this is first and foremost a review of Miyazaki’s creative ability. My concern for Miyazaki’s treatment of Japan’s responsibility for the war will come later.

Right from the start Miyazaki uses one of Jiro’s many dream sequences (the animation is vibrantly beautiful) to help the audience become familiar with Jiro’s passion for flying and plane design. Not only that, Miyazaki uses the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923 (where Jiro rescues his future wife) and the great depression of the early 1930s to bring out Jiro’s selfless nature.  Growing up with a diet of Godzilla, Ultraman and Japanese animation it is really refreshing to see that Miyazaki’s can use animation to weave together these historical events to build up Jiro’s story.  It would be so easy for Miyazaki to simply dazzle his audience with more and more animation so as to turn his movie into yet another Hollywood feel good cartoon. Instead Jiro the genius aeroplane designer not only dreams of setback but is also plague by real setback that nearly cost the life of one of his pilot. Just when the audience think that life cannot get worse, we found that the love of Jiro’s life Naoko suffers from tuberculosis and will soon die.  To be honest, my eyes were getting quite wet by this stage. However Miyazaki wants his audience to see through all these failures, sadness, and even the evils of World War 2. Why? It is because nothing was going to dampen Jiro’s passion to build the prefect aeroplane.  Naoko rather than demanding Jiro’s complete attention instead left her sanatorium to be with Jiro. Jiro in turn married Naoko even though he knew Naoko’s tuberculosis would mean their time together would be short.  It is this sacrificial love that Jiro and Naoko have for one another that makes it all worthwhile.

It all sound so wonderful doesn’t it? Even though Miyazaki’s Jiro is not the real Jiro, we do know love can do much more than even what Miyazaki can imagine. Why? It is because we have seen the Cross.

Finally one question that I realise cannot be bypassed.  Yes, Miyazaki did point to the futility of war but did he do enough to question Japan’s responsibility? At the start of the war, the Zero out manoeuvre all Allies fighters.  In this way, Japan was able establish air superiority wherever they went. In the city of Hong Kong (where I was born), the Japanese bombers were able to drop bombs on the Kai Tak airport with impunity.  Hong Kong had no hope of defending itself and had to live under Japanese oppression for three years and eight months. As an engineer, I realised that whatever I design or built, it too can be used for evil. On the other hand even Mikhail Kalashnikov, the inventor of the AK47 also had to ponder about the damage that his invention had caused.  Kalashnikov was so troubled that he sought spiritual advice from the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church.

What Swimming has taught me about Spiritual Growth

Australians are often proud of the ability of our Olympic swimmers and children start early in the pool. So it is a surprise to some people that I am such a bad swimmer. However I am not alone, I have come across a number of people who also swim poorly or not at all. Recently a sister-in-Christ who once helped people correct their stroke (improve their swimming) started coaching me so as to correct my stroke. I believe my poor swimming style falls into two groups:

1.       Bad habits that no one ever help me to correct. For example, I didn’t know that I could be more efficient by rotating my upper body with each stroke of the arm.

2.       My stress from fear.  My sister-in-Christ pointed out to me that my right arm was very stiff and that I could swim more efficiently by relaxing.

The apostle Paul brought the Gospel to a world dominated by Greek culture. Our modern Olympic Games had its origin from the Olympic Games of ancient Greece. In Paul’s time, an athlete can gained money, prestige, and privileges by winning in the Games. But in order to do so they have to train hard. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, Paul wrote:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. ²⁵ Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. ²⁶ Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. ²⁷ No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

Sports training like swimming are good examples of our Christian life.  Some of us learn to swim when we are children; others like me only learn good swimming techniques late in life. The freedom of being able to swim freely without the fear of not touching the bottom is like the freedom we feel when we finally realised that we can have friendship with God because of what Jesus had done for us. This is exactly why Jesus in John 8:32: “then you will know the truth and truth shall set you free.” But we shouldn’t stop once we know how to swim because we can swim more efficiently with better swimming technique. Whatever exercise you do (e.g. running, cycling, ping pong, swimming etc.) you will develop what is called muscle memory. That is why people say once you know how to ride a bicycle you will never forget. However if you are using poor techniques then you will need someone alongside you to help you develop new muscle memory to replace the old one. In the same way we shouldn’t stop growing spiritually once we have turn to Jesus. Because at conversion, your life would still have old spiritual muscle that would hinder your journey to be more and more like Jesus. In Romans 5:1-5, Paul wrote:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ² Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

We train hard in the pool. We “do not run like someone running aimlessly”. We “do not fight like a boxer beating the air”. In the same way we work to train our spiritual muscle so that we can receive the everlasting crown.

Finally we must not forget the other ingredient to spiritual growth and that is our spiritual coach or mentor. This is because spiritual growth is not easy and we need Christian brothers and sisters who are willing to swim or walk along side us to help us unlearn the bad and train hard so that we can one day be completed in Christ! In 1 John 4, John wrote “There is no fear in love …”, when we have loving brothers and sisters then there is indeed no fear even in the pool!

Religion - Opium or Character Builder?

According to Wikipedia, one of Karl Marx's quotes is "Die Religion ... ist das Opium des Volkes" which is paraphrased as "religion is the opium of the people".  This must be a phrase that is most quoted by atheists. For Christians there are two issues. Firstly the connotation that our faith is somehow related to a deadly and addictive substance is obviously degrading. Secondly one has to question the veracity of this statement. 

As a human being, I certainly feel insulted by such a statement. This is not because I look down upon drug addicts. Rather that I have been accused of needing a substance akin to opium to keep me going through life. Worse still this is nothing like the reality for untold millions of Christians. I myself is far from perfect (ask my wife, sisters, parents, cousins and friends) but they can tell you how faith has changed my life in positive ways. My faith in God has built me up spiritually, emotionally and even surprisingly physically. In just the last three days, I have been lumbered with more work than I could really cope. It is easy to complain and if religion is indeed a drug I will go through each testing period at work merely to survive to the next one. One common term we use around work is "hump day". Hump day is Wednesday, supposedly we carry our heavy work load through Monday, Tuesday and then the hardest is pushing through Wednesday. With the weekend insight by Thursday, it is downhill from then on. Surely if we are looking for an addiction then one would have to say the weekend is our addiction. Like my co-worker I too look forward to the weekend but I don't see it as a drug to keep me going through the hard work. Sure my faith supports me and gives me rests like the weekends but it does more than that. My faith builds me up. Why? Because whether I succeed or fail, I know that I am part of the bigger picture where the faithful and loving God is in charge. As much as I have delusion about being the Doctor (Time Lord) I don't know the future but I don't have to because God will take care of it. Knowing these facts not only drag me from one crisis to the next, it actually builds up my character. 

My example is not much to look at but if people of faith merely survive day to day on their diet of religion and addicted to the point that we become dis-functional then you better start worrying about the Australian economy. In 2010, Glenn Steven (chief of the Reserve Bank of Australia) revealed on Channel Seven Sunrise program that he is a church-going Christian. Steven even plays the guitar in his church band. How can a religious addict become the head of the RBA? 

But don't just take my word or even Glenn Steven's word. Examine the Bible for yourself. When Paul wrote to his friends at the church in Roman 2000 years ago, Paul said 

"Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5)

By suffering, Paul meant the suffering that the Roman Christians were under official persecution (nothing serious really, just death at the Colosseum through being torn to pieces by lions). If religion is like opium then surely the Christians at Rome would have given up and took to watching the games (the real opium for the ordinary Romans). And this not the fanatical faith of people who blow themselves up with high explosive in crowded markets, no this is a faith that promotes love and care even for ones enemies. 

Religion is like opium? I just wish I could say directly to Uncle Karl whether he still believes in such a silly notion.

The Atheist Straw man

For all week I have been really excited about the "Has Science buried God?" debate. So much so that I started talking to a work friend about it. For some reason this work friend keep insisting that I am wrong about Christianity. She believes that Christianity originated from a pagan background. In our age of science, we are told (by people like Lawrence Krauss) that religions are all myths invented by man because before science we needed myths to make sense of our world. A cursory reading of the Bible such as from chapter 38 of the book of Job could easily justify what these opponents of religions are saying. Chapter 38 involves God questioning Job understanding of God's creation. Let's look at some of the verses:

Job 38:31-33 states:

 ³¹ “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
    Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
³² Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
    or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens?
    Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?

Here the Pleiades, Orion, Bear (Ursula Major) and the cubs (Ursula Minor) all referred to constellations. Constellations are grouping of stars. In ancient time, people did make up myths based on the shapes of these constellations (hence Orion the Hunter, the seven sisters of the Pleiades). But to the ancient the shapes of the constellations are not supposed to change. Another way of thinking about how the ancients see constellations is like they are drawings on a blackboard. About the only exception to the evening sky are the planets which wander amongst the blackboard of two dimensional shapes. But that is exactly what the word planet mean, wanderer. The atheist would say "ha ha, there you are myths in the Bible!" But they cannot get away with it this easily. Because this not what this passage is saying, the author is not saying that he or she believes in these myths. The author is saying the God of the Bible transcends these myths. The Bible says God can actually change what the ancients assume are fixed shapes in the night time sky. Why is this important? Before we can discuss this, let's consider the idea of the God of the gaps. 

Atheists like Lawrence Krauss argue that ancient man invented gods for things that they cannot understand. This I would say are pagan religions. Pagan myths often described how the Universe come into being through the interactions between the gods (who are themselves part of the Universe). For example the Babylonians believed in Apsu, the god of fresh waters and Tiamat the goddess of the salt oceans were involved in the creation of the world. Science tells us all about water and so we know that there is no Apsu and no Tiamat . Apsu and Tiamat were the gods of the gaps because they fill in the understanding gaps of the ancients. As our scientific understanding grows there is less and less space for the gods of the gap. But is the God of the Bible a god of the gaps? In Genesis chapter 1, we see that the world came into being simply through God's word. Genesis chapter 1 is not a complicated cook book through which God created the world. The Israelite believed that God is sovereign over the universe but God is nothing like the pagan gods who themselves are subject to the forces of nature just like the humans who worship them. This clearly debunk any notation that somehow Christianity had its origin from pagan religions. 

It is possible to read Job 38:31-33 figuratively but when one realized that constellations are not merely static 2 dimensional shapes then God has the last laugh. In our night sky the belt of Orion consists of three stars in one line, Alnitak, Alnilam and Mintaka. Mintaka is 800 light years from earth, Anilam is 1000 light years away and Alnitak is 900 light years away. Together with all the stars that make the Orion constellation, they actually mark out a 3 dimensional part of the universe. More importantly stars are not static. Stars are suns like our sun (actually all three stars making up the Orion belt is many order of magnitude bigger and brighter than our own sun) and they move relative to one another. Unfortunately this relative movement is very very small, i.e. not easily observable without advanced instrument but clearly visible over several thousand years. It is as if God is smiling at us foolish humans saying, I am more then your gods of the Gap and I have done wonders far beyond the wisest humans can ever imagine!
  

Lawrence Krauss - Please stop peddling myths about Christianity

The City Bible Forum organised three debates between Professor Lawrence Krauss and 

Dr William Lane Craig. I attended the first debate (7th of August 2013) in Brisbane. The first debate was titled "Has Science Buried God". Actually I wouldn't really described it as a debate as Professor Krauss basically took on the attitude that any non-athetists present in the Brisbane City Hall that night was wasting his time. If I understood him correctly, he thought all religions are myths and that the answer is in the rationalism of science. Hopefully someone would correct my description of Professor Krauss but that is the best I can do from my recollection. 

Dr Craig in his reply to Professory Krauss' tirade made the observation that Professor Krauss was basically attacking the religion straw man. That straw man is the God of the gaps (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_of_the_gaps). Another word the whole argument about religions being myths is that some people uses "god" as explanation of the gaps we have in our scientific understanding of nature. But that is not the God of our Bible! Our God transcends His creation. Another word God is independent of His creation. God is not there to fill in gaps in our understanding of creation. If the tools of science e.g. observations, experiments are all bound up in our universe then they can only tell us about our universe. They can only tell us about creation and not the Creator. Science can certainly disprove pagan beliefs where the object of worship are man-made idols but they are merely our straw man. Science can shoot as many arrows it likes against our straw man but it does not nullify the existence of the one true God. I found Dr. Craig description  three reasons why science and theology can cooperate very helpful. (There are three more but Craig only had time for the first three). They are:

1. Theology furnishes the framework in which science can flourish.
2. Science can verify or falsify theological claims (e.g. straw man)
3. Science need theology to answer the why question (can't tell us about the Creator).

I think of the most difficult parts of being a Christian apologist must be trying to stand up for God's reputation from atheist like Professor Krauss. It is not that God's reputation needs rescuing. The problem is that when Professor Krauss use half truth to question God's goodness then God is no longer loving but a vengeful god. Professor Krauss uses Dr Craig's own explanation of  Old Testament genocide to condemn Christianity.
I didn't understand why Dr Craig did not cut through Professor Krauss' deception by simply asking whether Professor Krauss understand the centrality of Christ in the salvation history? Why do we need the New Testament and Jesus if the Old Testament was sufficient to save? I felt all those young people who sided with Professor Krauss in condemning Christianity needed to hear that.

If you were at the debate, tell me what you think?

Building the House of God

Anthony Lee

Introduction

When I was asked to submit an article to the church extension dedication committee, I did not know where to start. I consulted our 120^th Anniversary Book of Commemoration. In the book, I found Rev. Dr John Munday’s words encouraging. Names such John Munday, Cecil Ip and Ken Lai certainly ring a bell. Of the three gentlemen, I only have the opportunity of knowing and working with Ken Lai.

Thinking about the new extension and the old extension that it replaced, I can’t help but see God’s blessings on Toowong Baptists Church. The parable of the talents from Matthew’s Gospel comes to mind. Were we like the two faithful servants? Will we continue to be like the two faithful servants? What future challenges will we and future generations face in being faithful servants?

Have we been faithful?

Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labour in vain. Psalm 127:1

According to the National Church Life Survey (NCLS), in the 1960s 41% of Australians attend church at least once a month. By 1980 this has fallen to 25%. NCLS found that from 1996 to 2001, Catholic church attendance fel l by 13%, Uniting Church by 11%. NCLS director Dr Ruth Powell, in a media release from 2004, older people in mainstream denominations can no longer attend but these older people are not being replaced by younger attenders.  Another word, the typical Australian church is aging. In light of this trend, God’s blessing on our church is evident in our ministries span the age groups. These include Children Sunday schools, University Students (YAF and Joshua) Young Working Adults (Koinonia as well as Salt and Light), Families (Berean, Canaan and Married Couples) as well Ladies and Seniors’ Fellowship.  We are also blessed by our cultural diversity. In 1995 when I first attended Toowong Baptists we have a Chinese (Cantonese) congregation and an English congregation. And now, we are further blessed by growth in a new Mandarin speaking congregation.

But wait, God’s blessings does not stop with age and cultural diversity. Our church is also located within a short distance of The University of QLD (St Lucia campus) and the Queensland University of Technology.  And now God top this off by providing us with a new church extension.

In Luke 12:35-48, Jesus taught a parable on watchfulness.  He concluded in verse 48 by saying “…From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” Clearly, this is Jesus’ cry to rally us to follow in the footsteps of men like John Munday and Cecil Ip.

Have we experience spiritual growth in the building process?

Comparing the building extension to the parable of the talents does not stop here. Sure Toowong Baptists have been blessed but we are not to be pew warmers and expect these blessings to simply fall on our laps. We are faithful co-workers who are called to use our God given gifts to be used by God to extend his kingdom so that blamed can see, the lame walk and the prisoners are set free.  But just like the faithful servant in the parable of the talents who are awarded by the master, we too receive the award of spiritual growth as we work for God. This is particularly evident when I observed the numerous brothers and sisters (including my wife) who spent hours on studying plans, preparing applications, choosing colours, moving furniture. Even the occasional misunderstanding provided opportunities for us to grow.

What can learn from Pentecost in how we work unity even when we are diverse?

The completion of the new church extension is indeed a time for rejoicing but we need to heed Jesus’ call to be watchful. Although we are not of the world, nevertheless we are in the world. Previous generations faced their share of hardship, the two World Wars, the Cold War and the Vietnam War.  In our generation, the typical Australian churches are in decline. Prominent atheists like Richard Dawkins are enjoying resurgent attention from the media. Western governments such as Australia and Britain are fooled into believing that it is discriminatory to limit marriage to be between a man and a woman.  Yet while God closes one door, he opens another. As Australia become more and more dependent on trade with China, more mainland Chinese are coming to Australia. Many are young academics who seek to study and do research in institution such as The University of Queensland.  The NCLS observed that a quarter of Australian churches now involved ethnic ministries.  Some might question how church unity can be maintained across the different ethic congregations but surely the first Pentecost is a resounding endorsement that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Did the New Testament writers think that Jesus is God?

Ever had a visit from a Jehovah Witness on a Saturday morning? I have several and each time I do try to engage them in conversation. They will often tried to convince me from the scripture that Jesus is not God. Are they right? Have we in fact misunderstood the Bible? One difficulty we have is that the word Trinity does not exist in Bible. So does that mean Jehovah Witnesses are right. Well yes the word Trinity does not exists in the Bible but you don't need to dig very deep into the Bible to realize that Jesus quite forthrightly states that he and the Father are one. When we are reading the Bible we cannot allow the Jehovah Witness to manipulate the scripture to support their view about Jesus. Rather I found it helpful to see people's reaction to Jesus proclamation. Let the scripture speak for itself.

Firstly, let us consider how Jesus' supporter see Jesus. In chapter 9 of John's Gospel, Jesus healed a man born blind. The Pharisees want to discredit Jesus because he healed the blind man on the Sabbath. John recorded that Jesus caught with the previously blinded man after the Pharisees had rejected the miracle. In verse 35, Jesus asked if the previously blind man believe in the Son of Man. Jesus go on to tell the man that he is the Son of Man. According to many English translations (King James, New International Version) of the original Greek text, when man find that Jesus is the Son of Man, the man worshiped Jesus. The Jehovah Witness Bible use the word obeisance which is only an expression of respect or homage. In fact, In Matthew 28:17

NIV has:

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Interestingly, Jehovah's Witnesses Bible has in v17:

17 and when they saw him they did obeisance, but some doubted.

In both cases, the original Greek word used is prosekynēsan which can mean two things:

1. to do reverence or homage by prostration
2. to pay divine homage, worship, adore

Note that this same Greek word also appear in v9 of the same chapter where Mary Magdalene and the other Mary met the risen Jesus.

Could the Jehovah's Witnesses translation be right? The women have just met the risen Jesus, did they merely paid homage to someone who had just risen from the dead? Verse 17 is even more interesting when we ask who were the ones that doubted. From the other Gospels we know that by this point the disciples had already seen the resurrected Jesus. Therefore they weren't doubting that this was the risen Christ. Could it be that they were doubting whether it was OK to worship Jesus (Deuteronomy 6:4)?

But in all three cases mentioned:

1. The man born blind
2. The women who met the risen Jesus
3. The disciples who see Jesus ascension to heaven

If the Jehovah's Witnesses are right then Jesus must in every instance order his disciples to stop worshiping but he did not. One Jehovah's Witness said to me that perhaps the Gospel writers did not record it. But that is not true because the word prosekynēsan was again used in Acts 10:25-26. Here's Jehovah's Witness translation:25 As Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell down at his feet and did obeisance to him. 26 But Peter lifted him up, saying: “Rise; I myself am also a man.”

Clearly, Peter considered Cornelius' "obedisance" is not merely homage. Peter saw Cornelius' action as one of worship! More importantly Peter proceeded to stop Cornelius from worshiping him. Jesus not stop the previously blind man, the women nor his disciples from "obedisance" him.

Finally, how did Jesus detractors react to Jesus' claims. For this we can look at Jesus healing of a paralyzed man in Matthew Chapter 9. Jesus said to the paralyzed man:

“Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.” and then go on to heal the man. More interestingly, Matthew recorded that the teachers of the law thought Jesus was blaspheming! This is because only God can forgive sins.

From the recorded reactions of Jesus contemporary, the only correct understanding is that Jesus is truly man and truly God.

P.S.

Another interesting passage is Isaiah 42 - the Servant of the LORD (Yahweh). Consider in particular 42:8

“I am the Lord; that is my name!
    I will not yield my glory to another
    or my praise to idols. "

Yet in John 17, Jesus asked the Father to glorify him, in particular Jesus prayed this:


⁵ And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.

Even the Witness' NWT has:

5 So now you, Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was.

Surely this is only possible and if Jesus is also Jehovah. The same being but a different person! 

In John 8, particularly 8:58 the NIV has:

⁵⁸ “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”

This was in the context that Abraham has seen him and the Jews complaining how they could be possible when Jesus (to them) is not yet 50.

Even the NWT has:

58 Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to YOU, Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.”

This passage in itself doesn't mean anything. A loony can say the same thing. However, the telling part is verse 59 where the NIV has:

⁵⁹ At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.







   
Wouldn't this be a bit drastic if such a claim is from a loony, obviously the Jews didn't think Jesus is a loony. They want to stone Jesus for blasphemy because the they recognize they Jesus is claiming equality with the Father.