“Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all the believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity.” – 1 Timothy 4:12

A lot of Christians think this verse is some kind of general verse for all young people. They think that young people are automatically entitled to not be looked down on by older people simply because the bible says so. The bible says no such thing.

This bible verse written by Paul is not for all young people. It is written specifically to a young man named Timothy. Any other young person wishing to take part in Timothy’s entitlement to not be looked down on because of his age must also take part in the other instructions that Paul writes in this passage. Later in the verse, Paul tells Timothy to “be an example” in what he says and the way he lives his life. A few sentences later, Paul tells Timothy to keep a close watch on how he lives and to stay true to what is right.

Any young person who wishes to take part in Timothy’s entitlement to not be looked down on because of his age must also take part in Timothy’s burden of being an example to everyone of all ages. This doesn’t have to be a stressful or complicated burden. But it does require an acknowledgment that God has called you to be an example here and now. God’s plans for you are not tomorrow somewhere else. They are today wherever you are. And if you step up to the plate and set an example for those around you, you are fully justified in taking for yourself Timothy’s entitlement to ignore anyone who looks down on you because of your age.

And here’s the accompanying video:

I should note that I’ve never really written a worship song I’m happy with, but I figure commenting on them can’t be any worse than movie critics who only like arty movies no one understands, despite never having touched a camera in their life.

I like songs that tell a story. To me, a chorus is the summary, like the introduction of an essay except more interesting (hopefully). It lays out all your main points. Then the verses dig deeper into the story and lay it out in more detail. And the bridge, if you have one, tells you the happy ending.

Then worship songs have this extra element in them: Christianese. Christianese is a language made up of words only Christians understand, or pretend to understand. This is what causes those moments halfway through the church service where you’re singing and realise you have no idea what you’re actually singing about. To illustrate, I’ll annotate a very popular and (in my opinion) pretty cool worship song:

How Great is Our God

The splendour of a king
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice
This verse is pretty user-friendly. There’s not many kings in the world these days, but people understand they’re supposed to be pretty splendiferous. No one says rejoice any more except in church, but we all know what it means.

He wraps Himself in light
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice
I think this verse is my favourite. It’s got a bit of a superhero theme. Jesus is the hero with a blinding cape chasing the dark side, which runs away if Jesus even talks!

How great is our God
Sing with me, how great is our God
And all will see, how great, how great is our God
Not sure about the grammar in the last line, but Chris Tomlin isn’t famous for that anyway (Our God is healer?). Repetition either reinforces the point or gets very tedious depending on your perspective.

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end
Despite most people using the word ‘ages’ in any situation where they have to wait longer than five minutes, I think most people understand that an age is a long time. So even the uninitiated should be able to tell that this means God is very old. Or has very sore legs.

The godhead three in one
This could get very confusing for newbie Christians, have you soon how many heads some hindu gods have?
Father, Spirit, Son
The lion and the lamb
The lion and the lamb
This is where things get really deep. Most Christians, when pushed to think of a lion relevant to their faith, would probably think of Aslan. Those who have heard of the lion of Judah would know it’s Jesus, but not why. Most Christians know Jesus is the lamb of God and have a basic background in Hebrew sacrificial rituals, but do not have enough time to mentally process this even when repeating the line.

Name above all names
This is Christianese, but fairly easy to decipher. Most people have a concept of some names being worth more than others. Ask anyone to list soft drink brands and they’ll think of Coke before Pepsi. Failing all that, the fact that the line contains a superlative (above all) gives the general impression that God’s Name must be pretty awesome, which anyone can understand.
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing how great is our God

Welcome to Being Jesus, the show where we explore the challenges of following Jesus and being like Him in a world that wants answers. This week we’re going to discuss one of the big momma questions of Christianity: What about Evolution???

So here we go:

Does evolution happen?

YES! Evolution happens through a process called natural selection whereby over time species develop genetic mutations. You’ve probably heard about all sorts of genetic mutations before. People born with 6 fingers or toes, siamese twins, flightless birds and and cheeseburgers with no cheese to name a few! If the mutation makes a species stronger then it will live on and even may become the new standard for that species once the old weaker version gets killed and eaten! But if the mutation makes the species weaker, that species will die out to be found centuries later by archaeologists and put in a museum.

Did humans come from primordial sludge?

No. Although natural selection does happen, there is no chain of natural selection that connects humans with primordial sludge. This would require a process of millions of evolutionary steps and fossils of all the creatures that would have existed leading up to modern humans simply have not been found.

What about neanderthals?

Neanderthals are a species related to humans and other primates that definitely did live a long time ago. They existed at the same time as humans and even contributed a tiny percentage of DNA to the some ancient humans through breeding, not through survival of the fittest natural selection.

Will humans evolve in the future?

Natural selection favours the survival of stronger species, but historically humans have relied not on natural selection for their survival, but on technology. Even monkeys can use a stick to get something they want, but only humans have ensured our survival by using hand weapons to defend against beasts and irrigation to defend against famine. It’s not the our species that evolves, but our technology.

What’s not important???

Did God “use” evolution to create humans? Not important!

Is the earth 6000 years old and God just made it like it looked billions of years old? Not important!

Did God create the earth in 7 literal days of 24 hours or are the days just metaphors used to divide up the creation story? Not important!

Did God let the big bang happen and then make things on the earth later? Not important!

Did people live at the same time as dinosaurs? Not important!

Any one of these things COULD have happened and indeed MAY have happened or equally may not have happened. God is mighty and nothing is impossible for Him. I’m sure there’s ways of creating the earth and making people that we haven’t even thought of that He may have used! There’s all sorts of theories out there with various kinds of evidence being used to back them up. Due to how long ago all this happened it’s hard to say any of them are certain.

What does the bible say?

John 1:3 “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.”

Here’s what is important: God made humans. The bible says so and we can rely on the word of God. How He made them, when He made them and where He made them are things we can argue about until we’re blue in the face. But we do know the following things:

THAT He made us: The bible says through Him all things were made and without Him nothing was made that has been made.

WHY He made us: God made us to be His children, His family, whom He loves so much that He sent Jesus to take all our sins away so that we’re perfect in His sight!

WHAT He made us for: To love each other and to love Him.

I hope this video has helped you to clarify in your head what’s important and what’s not regarding evolution and Christianity. I encourage you to do your own research. God has given each of us a brain. Pray for discernment as you read so that you’ll be able to tell fact from opinion. And don’t let any worries about when, where and how we were made cloud your understanding of why God made us! :)

It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here, but I haven’t been idle! In November, I went to the Philippines and visited two orhpanages over there. It was really a blessing to see what God is doing in the Philippines and the different ministries and ways of impacting kids.

Over the holiday period, I’ve been making some YouTube videos of songs, trying to make them a bit more professional by recording the sound properly in my studio at the same time as recording the video and then syncing them together. The result is way better than my previous videos!!!

I’m also working on a YouTube show that will hopefully come to fruition if I can really make some good content for it, so stay tuned for that later this year!!! I hope you all have an awesome 2012! Bless yas :)

Here’s some of the songs I’ve recorded recently, both originals and covers:

Death is inconsistent with the very nature of God. God does not die! It’s not something He does any more than a farmer wears a leotard. As surely as Helen Clark would never wear a skirt, it is simply not in the nature of an Almighty God to submit to death. I have pondered over this many times and marveled at how God would volunteer His own life. He didn’t have to do it. He isn’t supposed to die.

But then I realized: neither were we. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God and prior to being condemned (in Genesis 3) to return to dust they were free to eat from the Tree of Life. Provided that they didn’t so much as lick a single piece of fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they were free to eat the fruit of the Tree of Life for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They were intended for immortality.

God is a God of restoration. Although God has had to deal drastically with the human race before, especially in the time of Noah, He has never indicated that He desires to eventually ditch this universe and go with Plan B. In the beginning, God created the heavens, the earth and mankind as they should be and by sending Jesus, He gave His own life to make certain that at the end of the age, His beautiful design will be restored. He is not going to retreat into heaven with whatever He can salvage from the rubble of this earth on judgment day.

Our God is mighty! Our God is loving! And He has secured the restoration of all of His creation, including mankind, by sending Jesus:

6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

The film contained many insights into Billy’s career and personal life, and the story of his ultimate early death was definitely a reminder to eat healthy! No matter how politically correct this world becomes, being overweight does eventually kill you before your time, that won’t change.

It was certainly good to see some old timey faces again (thinking Pio, Richard Long, Judy Bailey) and learn a bit about how race relations used to be in NZ in the mid 1900’s. It’s easy to take for granted the current ethnic situation in NZ combined with the fact that we’ve never been a slave nation. But that doesn’t mean there was never discrimination.

Not a film you have to watch at the cinema, but certainly worth watching!