The Prodigal Son

Q. What does the word “Prodigal" mean?

A person who spends, or has spent, his or her money or substance with wasteful extravagance

It is one of Jesus’ best known stories about a boy who left his home, spent all he had, met disaster and ruin to finally wake up and see that he didn’t belong where he found himself, so he went home. But now, perhaps more than ever before it can be applied to the World as a whole. People all over the World today can relate to the trouble the Prodigal Son found himself in at his lowest point particularly in the Western World. We have been up until now used to having great wealth, being able to travel, spend our money wastefully and extravagantly and enjoy the good times. Now that countries have found their money has run out and there is less work, what kind of a future are people facing? This is a big opportunity for the Church to reach the World with the Gospel. Will we waste our opportunity?

•       Countries financially bankrupt

•       People morally bankrupt

•       Broken relationships

•       Isolation

•       Addictions

•       Anxiety and fear

IS THERE ANY HOPE?

Back to LIFE

Here’s a question for you. What do you have in common with?

·        James Cameron

·        Jonah

·        Jesus Christ

On Easter Sunday we remember Jesus came back to life again. That is an amazing historical fact. No-one has ever found the bones of Jesus and no-one ever will. But that is not the end of the story. God has raised Jesus back to life but he has also raised each one of us back to life! We are also back from the dead!

Hide and Seek

I was stunned when I was asked 5 minutes before I was due to speak, "You're not doing Devotions on the Prodigal Son are you?". Sure enough I was!!! It turned out that the previous 2 weeks had also been on the same topic, each one of the speakers deciding independently to talk about the same thing : ) My immediate thought was, "What is God trying to tell this audience for the 3rd week in a row? Haven't they been listening!!!"

This Means War!

Last year was the first time I did Lent. It was a very spiritual experience for me so that’s why I’m doing it again this year and eagerly looking forward to see what will unfold. Lent is that time of year in the 40 days leading up to Easter where believers can set time aside for fasting and to reflect on what Jesus did for us at the Cross and the suffering he went through.

FIVE

In my job we do a fair amount of problem solving and it’s amazing how many times after analyzing a large complex problem, we end up with 5 smaller real issues that we need to deal with. Five is a good number because it tells us that the problem is in our hand – it is not as difficult as it first looked.
Last time I touched on the 5 common regrets of the dying but also mentioned that there is something we are going to, which we need to prepare for. It will be no use to you if you leave this life with regrets and nothing to hope for, nothing to hold on to.

If you were really concerned about this you would most likely look at all the major Beliefs in the world. But it is surprising how little real hope and assurance they offer to the dying.

1. The Hindus expect to be reincarnated, hopefully as something better but possibly as something less, depending on how they lived, with the final hope of becoming one with the universe.

2. The Buddhists have a similar belief to the Hindus in that how you have lived in this life determines what happens in the next reincarnated life. The final hope is for Nirvana, which although sounds like Heaven, is not a place at all but a state of mind and body. It is rather a vague concept of happiness where the person is released from suffering and earthly desires, sadly including love.

3. The Humanists/Atheists have no hope since they don’t believe in the spiritual world. Death is the end for them.

4. The Muslims hope that God will fairly judge them depending on their deeds. In this case they hope that their goodness outweighs their badness since that will determine whether they end up in Heaven or Hell.

5. The Judaists do believe in a continuation of life, although the focus is on the here and now. A soul will go to Heaven but there is a time in Hell for everyone depending on how well they obeyed the law.

I would not like to be in the position of any one of these “Believers” in my final moments!

I want to have a real hand I can reach out to with my hand. I want a Hand that is strong and secure, that has done it all before, that has conquered Death and is ALIVE. I want a Hand that belongs to someone who loves me. That Hand belongs to only ONE – Jesus Christ. He loves you too and He is The Way, The Truth and The Life.

Steve Jobs and All That You Can't Leave Behind

A couple of weeks ago I was forwarded a Guardian news article which really grabbed my attention titled "Top five regrets of the dying". The article quotes an Australian nurse who works in hospice care where people go in the final few weeks of their lives.

What interested me is that the regrets are not related to achievement or influence, something most of us strive for all our lives. Instead the regrets are relationship orientated or connected with our hopes and dreams.

I think though that there is one very important regret missing from the list and that is not a regret related to the life that has been lived. In people's final moments they also have clarity that there is something they are going to.

Eleanor Rigby

I was going to call this blog "Family" but I've named it "Eleanor Rigby" instead. I'm not sure why the sad tone but in this supposed connected world we live in, many people are not feeling that they are connected at all. They feel alone. Perhaps this is for them.

One of the best things for me about Christmas is the time our family spends together. It is one of the rare occasions when we can gather together, talk, laugh, eat, play and just enjoy each others company because our family is scattered in different cities, in different countries. One of God's first thoughts on man was that it is not good for man to be alone. There is a saying that "no man is an island" and it is perfectly true. You will struggle to make it in this world on your own.