Great testimony

Hi everyone, I had this testimony sent to me after the service last Sunday (thanks Warren!).

Hope it inspires you

Nige

 

My thoughts on Same-sex Marriage

On Monday two private member’s bills seeking to allow same-sex marriage were introduced into Federal Parliament through the House of Representatives. Like many things this issue is simple and complex. It is simple if people are willing to accede to an objective reference point and complex if opinionated subjectivity reigns supreme. We see simplicity in the call by Tony Abbot to dismiss the prospect of a conscience vote amongst his party. Therefore, Liberal members simply need to tow the objective reference point of the party line. Julia Gillard negotiated a deal for a conscience vote in return for the introduction of this bill, which she opposes. Conscience votes are the stuff of subjectivity and are fraught with the potential for complex, opinionated division in party room debate.

Deeper than this example of the simple and complex is the Christian perspective on the issue. As a minister in the Uniting Church I have engaged in plenty of conversations concerning homosexuality and same–sex marriage. Does it make me an expert on the matter? No. Has it highlighted many different angles of the conversation? Absolutely.

What I have observed about the issue of same-sex marriage is that the simple approach revolves around a willingness to fit into the way that God has created men, women and the family unit. I subscribe to this simple approach, which does not make me a simpleton or a homophobic. It simply makes me a person willing to draw a line in the societal sand in order to say that this is how I, and others, believe communities were designed to best function. It is a position politicians such as Nationals stalwart Sen. Ron Boswell espouse when they stand in opposition to same-sex marriage saying ‘‘If you are going to have a society, a society must be based on the family and marriage underpins the family.’’

The complex aspect of the same-sex marriage conversation emerges for Christians when certain quarters of the church try to fit God into a culturally relevant or personally justifiable position. A church that seeks cultural trends as their reference point for decision-making will assume a populist position at best whilst forsaking the Christ centred place it should have in society. The desire to be culturally relevant often stems from pride, insecurity and a misguided representation of God’s love. Speaking God’s truth in love doesn’t always mean the church will be popular. After all since when has being a Christian been about popularity and cultural relevance? Last time I checked Jesus was crucified because he was far from popular amongst the elite that set the cultural norms.

The complexity of personal justification in the same-sex marriage conversation ramps the debate up even more especially when people are pushing the agenda from a position where they or someone close to them is living in a homosexual relationship. There is a strong mix of emotions, desires, personal rights and choices that get caught up in personal justification. It is the classic case of “its my life and I have the right to live it as I see fit”. Ultimately, the issue gets back to the point of “what is wrong with two people who love each other expressing their love in marriage, even if they are of the same-sex?” Now I am by no means a narrow-minded person (which some people might accuse me of because I don’t support same-sex marriage). So let me push the aforementioned question further and suggest that “is there anything wrong with me being married to two women if I love them both?” If I wanted to interpret the bible to justify this position I could easily do so. What then is the problem?

The problem is that the moment we seek to develop a society around whatever pleases us is the moment we unravel in the very fundamental places of what unites us. Unfortunately in Australia the reference point for our society is the individual. Subjectivity trumps any objective reference point such as Christ. We continue to forge ahead as a country which esteems people doing what they want to do and being who they want to be. This is a great attitude up to a point because there has to be some limit to this in order for a society to develop in a healthy way both in the present and for the generations to come. But that’s not Australia at the moment as we see the prevailing individualistic attitude present in comments such as those spoken this week by Nathan Buckley coach of AFL team Collingwood who, in speaking about gay AFL players, said “you’d like to think that in society, we embrace all different types of people who have all different types of choices and everyone can live their life however they wish … As long as it’s not affecting anyone else.”

I have three children who I want to see grow up in an Australia that is led by people who can develop society the way that it was created to be, with Jesus Christ at the centre. Do we think that we are God and therefore belong at the centre of society? Of course we do that’s why the private member’s bills allowing same-sex marriage have been introduced and why everyone assumes they have the right to live however they please. If only life was so simple that our actions never affected anyone else, including Jesus!

Rev. Nigel Rogers

Creating habits

My favourite thing when a new client starts the PGT program is the seeing the enthusiastic energy they bring.

However, after a few months their enthusiasm can slowly diminish. Motivation can only get you so far.

People that tend to eat healthy and exercise at least five days per week are not super-motivated or have this amazing will power, they have just developed good habits.

Many clients get great results at New Life because, when they have this new-found motivation and will power, they start to break their old habits and begin new habits.

It takes only a few weeks to develop a habit and once it has continued for over a month it starts to become part of your life.

This is the key for any positive change as healthy habits are just as hard to break as unhealthy habits – once it is part of your life it is something which will last forever.

What is one healthy habit you could work on this week?

Developing healthy habits in exercise and nutrition is beneficial for your well being but even more beneficial is asking the question, what habits does God want you to develop in your spiritual life?

Dave Vaealiki

Trick or Treat

It’s that time again. The time where dentists around the world rub their hands together and costume shops go crazy. Halloween.

It is also the time when our house shuts down for the night. We never have any lollies in the house so we lock our doors, turn out the lights and hide until the little rascals either trick us or run, run away.

The main reason behind this is that we don’t like Halloween; what it stands for, what it represents. Halloween is all about witches and death and monsters and bad spirits, not just about lollies and dressing up.

It seems innocent enough but is it really necessary for our kids to be actively participating in this festival? They’re exposed to enough witchy stuff in schools without us actively endorsing it as parents.

Paul says,

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8

Keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus means rejecting the dark things of this world, even when they seem harmless. It’s a great opportunity to teach our kids that the world’s ways are not God’s.

This year, one of my lovely friends has invited us over for a lolly hunt in her backyard on Halloween. She is a mum who is a believer, someone who wants to reclaim this day for God.

So, we’re going to be cultural rebels and have our own witch-free party. We’re not going to celebrate death, gore, witches or darkness. We’re going to embrace our God-given role as light, life and salt!

A desert prayer

What happens when we find ourselves in a spiritual desert? We may have had the zeal of a hundred new converts previously but now our faith is being tested, tried and stretched.

As a long-time Christian, I feel like I know the drill. I know I should be praying, reading my Bible and walking in absolute trust in God, but sometimes it feels impossible. Life grabs us by the throat and drags us far away from all the good things God has planned for us.

Desert life is dry, hot and seems to stretch on forever. There are little patches of oases that provide hope but overall it is a desolate place. Jesus himself was tested in the desert. He fully gets what it is like.

Romans 8 talks about the world groaning for freedom from earthly struggles. It is a common experience. Living in this world can be painful.

So when we cannot pray in desert times, Paul says,

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Romans 8:26

It is good to know that we are known, and that in our weak times, groans are enough. Thank you God for your kind understanding of us and that when we are weak you are strong!

Nigel Rogers’ fitness challenge – final episode

Well the time has come to finish my fitness challenge. The good news however is that a new series will be starting soon which will focus on spiritual fitness. Keep an eye out for it in a couple of weeks.

Hope you have all enjoyed this little series. Maybe you might want to consider starting your own fitness challenge. Remember New Life PGT is a great place to start.

Nige

New Life fitness challenge – final episode from Pittwater Uniting Church on Vimeo.

Who do you trust, really?

Picture this, you’re on a ship called ‘The Dawn Treader’. On a mission to destroy the evil that comes in the form of a weird green mist. It tries to stop you any way it can. Where is your weak spot?

I love that movie (‘Voyage of the Dawn Treader’ of course). It proves that even the noblest of nobles can be tempted. And, like the mist, Satan knows our weaknesses. In often subtle ways he chips away at our confidence, our relationships, our trust in God and before we know it we find ourselves falling on our face once again.

I had a dream the other night about this very thing. Satan was there demanding offerings from me and a few other people. He was threatening my life, my family, everything that I hold dear. I turned to someone and said, “Maybe I could just give him a little offering so he won’t hurt my family, just to keep him happy.” In the dream, I felt that God was testing my faith. Would I give in to fear and doubt or completely give myself to my loving God?

Paul says in Ephesians 6:12:

“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

It’s not like we see demonic activity behind every event but that we cling to God as our loving daddy who is completely worthy of our trust. He has won the war and will help us with every battle, even if things look bleak.

Fear not

Today I am going for a job interview. I don’t really know what to expect, I could find myself way out of my depth, I could find myself disinterested, distracted, nervous … or I could kill it. We don’t know what, or how each day will pan out, yet we often worry about it … or worse, we worry about the day after. We can easily forget that God has a master plan, but we have to trust him, we have to seek him, and we have to remember that today is the day we are living, and God’s kingdom is the one we are building. There is absolutely no point in me stressing myself out about something I cannot change or predict. I truly believe that fear (emotional and spiritual) is something that God expects us to overcome, something we must trust in God for.

Like Steve preached on Sunday, fear is not something we were originally designed to understand, it wasn’t part of our genetic makeup … if it was, Adam and Eve never would have taken that apple. However, being fearful is not something we can just turn off, if it was we wouldn’t fear anything. I could go into this interview on my own … fearful of how I will go … (there is a test involved), or I could go in there with Jesus by my side. He overcame death, he wasn’t afraid to die because he loved and feared his father more than the cross … so why should I be afraid of someone sitting in a chair asking me some questions. It just shouldn’t even register on the fear scale, but like a lot of things, (tiny spiders, cockroaches, heights, flying) we manage to find ways of sacrificing our faith in favour of fear.

Are you scared of something you know you shouldn’t be, or do you worry about things beyond your control … maybe it’s your bank statement or your mortgage, or maybe it’s something utterly silly like forgetting to record Masterchef. Whatever it is, you should talk to God about it, and maybe read Matthew 6:25. It is possibly my favourite passage in the entire Bible!!

Who do you want to be?

Do you want to be the mum with the six kids, the single lad with all the money, the mature, wise person with all the answers or the family with the car, the house, the kids, the money, the career?

It’s so easy to sit back and compare ourselves to each other. Even in church we do that. Why does God let some people suffer while he lets others cruise? Some sing like an angel, preach like a superstar and welcome like there’s no tomorrow and we can sit back feeling useless.

Jesus said to Peter, when he was comparing himself to someone else, “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me” (John 21:22). He says this right after he foretells the horrific upside-down crucifixion of Peter. It sounds harsh but what he’s saying is, keep your eyes on me, don’t compare your life to anyone else. There’s a greater plan here.

We can often do the whole grass-is-greener thing but that doesn’t help anyone. It doesn’t build unity, it doesn’t help our situation … it actually digs a deeper divide into our community. It’s jealousy, plain and simple.

I know, cos I’ve been there. When I’ve had no money, I’ve been angry at God for allowing less noble people (humility pill please Emma) endless wealth. I’ve been jealous of career mums who seem to have it all when I am lost in nowhere land.

It’s hard but I desperately need to understand that this is God’s plan for my life. The truth is that the grass is never greener, really. As my kid’s kindy teacher says, “You get what you get and you don’t get upset.” Amen.

Em Watson

Nigel Rogers’ fitness challenge – week 6

This week is all about nutrition and there are some things that are just not a good idea to eat especially with people like Helga around!

Nige

New Life fitness challenge – week 6 from Pittwater Uniting Church on Vimeo.