JOURNEY OUTSIDE THE CAMP

Faith comes by hearing

In my busy day, one way I connect with God is by listening to his Word while commuting. I have an old iPod which I stuff with sermons and an sections of an audio Bible. Trouble is, ripping my old CD audio Bible into MP3 format takes a lot of time. I thought of buying an MP3 edition but then I stumbled onto Faith Comes by Hearing's free audio Bible.

The mission of Faith Comes by Hearing is to reach the nations with the Word of God in audio format. They offer the Bible to people who are illiterate. These people may not be able to read God's Word, but they can definitely hear God's Word. So they offer the Bible in a variety of editions and languages. And it's free.

I downloaded their AudioBible Ambassador, selected the edition and language I wanted, and it went to work, downloading the entire New Testament to my hard drive. Their software can play the Bible or in my case, I stuffed the MP3 files into my iPod. Now I can soak myself in God's Word as I do something terribly mundane: riding the train home from work. Thank God for this.

If you do download their audio Bibles, consider donating to them so they can continue their work.

Only one life

Only one life, it soon will pass.
Only what's done for Christ will last.

A brother in Christ had a chat with me. He was talking about making full use of God-given talents. His reasoning went like this: God blessed us with particular talents. Therefore, we glorify him the most when we utilise our talents to the fullest. So if I had musical talent, it would be the right thing to do to make a career out of it and play in front of a stadium full of concert goers. If my talent were in writing, then I should glorify God by writing the great Singaporean novel. If I were a brilliant doctor, I should spend my time finding the cure to cancer. If making money comes naturally to me, then I should maximise my earning potential and funnel the money to good causes and to the church. Being the best I can be would glorify God the most.

A vision for the glory of God

My wife and I have been preparing for our Spiritual Habits of a Child's Heart workshop. One of the main points we want to impress on the participants is the need to give our children a vision for the glory of God.

We're learning that how we move through life is determined by what we value most. Is it money? Reputation? A need for security? Pleasure? What we desire most will direct how we live. If we gain a vision for the glory of God, how will our life be? When we marvel at the sovereignty of God, when we are in awe of his supreme power and his all-surpassing wisdom, how will we react to him? How will our life be changed by this knowledge?

We were created with a need to worship. We love our Hollywood idols, our love to imitate the lifestyles of the rich and famous. But worshiping man was not what we were created to worship. We were made to worship God. But we have traded the greatness of God to worship other men.

Instructing a Child's Heart

As part of the upcoming Spiritual Habits of a Child’s Heart 2 symposium, I’ve been preparing notes and reading up on the subject of parenting. One of the books that I referenced was Instructing a Child’s Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp. In a sense, this is a follow-up book to Tripp Tripp’s excellent Shepherding a Child's Heart. I say in a sense because this book goes so much deeper.

It opens with familiar material but it then goes much more deeply, not into the child’s life, but into the heart of the parent. This is not a how-to book. The point that the Tripps are making is that how-to parenting books miss the mark by a galaxy. Going about trying to make a child behave is like what Jesus accused the Pharisees of doing when he metaphorically said that they cleaned the outside of the cup but the inside remained dirty (Matt 23:25).