Lynn Green

Tag: Ywam

  • Trial by Media

    Trial by Media

    Photo ©Pixabay

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

    A woman gathers her courage and decides to use Twitter or Facebook to tell the story of when she was sexually assaulted as a teenager.  What response can she expect?

    The current social environment means that she will probably be commended for being so brave.  Her message will be re-tweeted, her post will be shared.  She will get a large number of likes.  With this encouragement she decides to name the man who assaulted her.  Someone else then finds out where he is now and posts that information along with a picture of him.

    What happens to him?  Most of us would think that whatever happens to him will be deserved—and probably more!  Let’s say he loses his job at the charity/non-profit where he works, then his wife confronts him and his children are deeply embarrassed and lose confidence in their dad.  The family breaks up.  Some men in these circumstances have committed suicide.  Does he still deserve it?  How does the woman who accused him feel?  She says he destroyed her confidence, will this rebuild it?

    MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS
    Is it ever possible that the woman could have a different reason for holding a grudge against this man?  Is there even a remote chance that he is innocent of the charges?  What does sexual assault mean?  It covers such a wide range of unwelcome and damaging behavior!  Most of that wide range of acts can be devastating to a woman, especially when she is young, innocent and unsure of what is really happening to her.   Some acts, at the other end of the spectrum, can even be innocent in intent but misinterpreted.

    From my perspective, the vast majority of women who go public with a charge of sexual assault will be telling the truth.  That is because there is a great cost to going public and, sadly, little chance of the person assaulting her being convicted.  (More on that later.)  However, the recent high-profile charges against powerful men have made it  less difficult for women to make statements about sexual assault.  That is a good thing!

    But it also opens the door a bit wider for spurious allegations.  Let’s say that over 95% of women who say that they were sexually assaulted are telling the truth; what do we say about the 5% where the men are innocent or there is mistaken identity?  When the allegation gets social media interest, and sometimes print or broadcast media, the accused is almost always assumed to be guilty.

    ACQUITTED BUT STILL PUNISHED
    Here in the UK, the reputations of several high-profile public figures have been unfairly destroyed by the media identifying and publicizing the name and photos of the accused.  After many months or years of investigations, the police or courts have dismissed the allegations as having no substance.  Usually though, the original allegations get a lot more media coverage than when the case is dropped.  In some cases, the accuser has been shown to be an attention-seeking or vindictive individual.  But we all tend to rush to judgment against the more powerful person.  In our Western cultures, most of us have a very strong, emotional bias for us to always believe the person who is the least powerful.  I think that is because, in a culture influenced by the Bible, we have a bias towards protecting the weak or powerless—and that is also a good thing.

    However, God speaks to Moses in

    Leviticus 19:15 and says, “Do not twist justice in legal matters by favoring the poor or being partial to the rich and powerful.  Always judge people fairly.”

    JUSTICE DERIVED FROM THE BIBLE
    The Bible is a primary source for our legal system and this passage is one of the more important ones.  It is the reason why, in classical art, Justice is always pictured as a female who is blind-folded.  She also has a set of scales in her left hand and a sword in her right hand.  It symbolizes the principle in Leviticus 19; she does not judge on the basis of whether people are more or less rich, more or less powerful, young or old, male or female or any other basis for identity.  She weighs the evidence and executes justice on that basis.

    The very low rate of convictions in cases of rape or sexual assault is the result of another fundamental principle of justice.  Every person must be considered to be innocent until there is sufficient evidence to conclude that they are guilty. One person’s word against another is not enough.  There must be either witnesses or convincing evidence.

    Sexual assault usually occurs when there are only two people present.  In addition, most of the recent high-profile allegations are about events that happened years ago, so there is no evidence and usually no witnesses.  Another foundational principle of  justice from scripture is

    Deuteronomy 17:6, “You must not convict anyone of a crime on the testimony of only one witness.  The facts of the case must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. ”

    These are well-proven, essential principles of justice.  They are essential to Western democracies with law and order and they come from Biblical Christian influence over hundreds of years.   We ignore them at our peril, even though social media tempts us to pass judgment without witnesses or evidence, but because we want to believe the less-powerful against the more powerful.  Whatever the reason for the rush to judgment via social media, it has become a scourge in our society.  I am not sure what we will do about it, but we will have to eventually do something.

    BETTER PERSONAL RESPONSES
    In the meantime, we can hold ourselves accountable to the proven principles of justice.  When we read accusations or allegations online or in the more traditional media, we can remind ourselves that we don’t know what really happened but we can hope that a fair process can be played out so the guilty are found guilty and the innocent are not punished.

    STILL FRUSTRATED?

    You may have read this article thus far and found it quite frustrating because these principles of justice are so likely to allow many guilty people to go free.  But that is not actually true.  Our courts and other legal processes are far from perfect, but are not the final judges.  King Solomon understood that well and when he dedicated the Temple.  He and his people had labored to build it over the previous seven years. When the day of dedication came, he prayed,

    “If someone wrongs an innocent person and is required to take an oath of innocence in front of your altar in this Temple, then hear from heaven and judge between your servants—the accuser and the accused.  Punish the guilty as they deserve.  Acquit the innocent because of their innocence.”  1 Kings 8:31.

    JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED
    If a crime has been committed and there is no evidence and no credible witnesses, and the accused lies under oath, that is not the end of it.  God sees and He is the final Judge.  Remember, though, that His justice is sure even though it is not always immediate. 

    Ecclesiastes 8:11-13 says;  “When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong.  But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off.  The wicked will not prosper…”

    The ultimate Judge will punish the wicked.  On the other hand, God is on the side of those who suffer and he promises that He can make

    “…everything work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Romans 8:28.

    When seen in the light of God’s character and His promises, we needn’t become angry, bitter and judgmental.  We can actively trust Him, knowing that He sees.  We needn’t  rush to judgment with the angry herds on social media, or believe all that we see, hear or read in traditional media.

    Thank God that He is the all-knowing, merciful and final Judge!

    Lynn Green.

  • Redirecting Our Hunger

    Redirecting Our Hunger

     

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

     

    A few weeks ago, I said that I would post another of Dr Atef’s wonderful thoughts on prayer.   If you did not read those, then it would help if you know that he is Egyptian by birth and spent several decades as a “Celibate Priest” in Egypt.  Much of that time was spent in prayerful seclusion.  In recent years, the Lord directed him to relocate near to his sister in Arizona.  Then her husband died and Dr Atef’s assistance was of vital importance.  In the meantime, he was received into the Orthodox Church of North America and many men and women of all ages gathered round him to form a prayerful community.  It is my great privilege to see him from time to time.  I was there in December and he will pay a short visit to Highfield Oval, with two teaching sessions on Friday evening, March 31st, 2019.  The sessions will be open to guests.

    The title I have given this is a little misleading because the notes are about more than redirecting hunger, but they do show important insight into our longings and hunger.  For example:

    “The body and soul of the human being longs for sex and for being united with the other. The world makes him/her constantly hungry, never having enough of this greatest pleasure.”

    He then goes on to write about how that hunger after that which will never satisfy can actually be filled by fellowship with God.  These notes are worth meditating upon.

    Click on the link below to read the Dr. Atef notes Transforming Prayer.

    transforming prayer

  • A Rich and Satisfying New Year

    A Rich and Satisfying New Year

     

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

     

    As we were approaching the end of 2018, someone asked me, “Have you set some goals for 2019?”  I couldn’t answer that question immediately because I hadn’t set any goals.  so I admitted that I had not.  That conversation made me wonder if I am becoming less focussed and is that a good thing or a bad thing?

    Many years ago, I learned that a goal is an objective I want to achieve with a time-frame for doing it.  Too often if we have no deadline, even if it is self-imposed, our best ideas don’t come to pass.  So I found that definition really helpful because it prodded me to be more faith-filled and proactive.  Without a time-frame we can let days, weeks, months and even years pass without taking the risks required to make an idea become reality.

    Why do I hesitate?

    So I asked myself, “Why am I hesitant to set goals for 2019?” I had to think about that for quite a while before I could decide whether I was becoming more lethargic or had a good reason for not having goals.  I know I have set goals before and that has been very helpful.  When I first felt that God had spoken to me to initiate and implement the Reconciliation Walk, I set a goal for getting underway in five years.  Actually that was pretty much set for me because when God spoke to me about it and I began to learn more about the Crusades, I recognised that the 900th anniversary of the First Crusade was coming up in five years.  That goal really helped me focus and get it done!

    Is it God-given?

    That goal was marked by a conviction that it was a given by revelation; that made it different than a self-determined goal.  In practice, it was a very big difference because I had real faith for it and as Hebrews 11:1 says, “…faith is the guarantee of things we can’t see.” There is another passage of scripture that says it another way: 1st John 4:14, 15: “And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.”

    Faith makes things happen

    I think that is why I have become less interested in setting goals for the New Year.  However, it shouldn’t stop me asking the Holy Spirit to tell me anything he wants me to know or do in 2019. I don’t really have the confidence—or perhaps it is presumption—to set goals for myself.  But I do desperately want to know what God wants to do with me and through me.  That way I can have genuine faith and faith makes things happen!

    The most wonderful news!

    As you and I look forward to 2019, there is so much uncertainty about the major events of the world.  I think about that quite a lot, but it is always in a bigger context.  Most of us have lived in a very long season of peace and our general prosperity is greater than at any time in history.  Day to day life is SO much better than it has been thus far in human history.

    As long as we invest our time and efforts—and humility—into our relationships with Jesus, with our family and with our friends and neighbours, this is a great time to be alive.

    The best news of all is what Jesus said in John 10:10.  I like the way the New Living Translation puts it, “My purpose for them [us] is to give them [us] a rich and satisfying life.

    We may or may not have goals, but we do have One Who Watches Over Us; One who is able to make everything work together for good.  And His purpose couldn’t be better!  I plan to go along with His plans for me.  Experience tells me that I am in for some surprises I could never plan. So, I guess that means I do have a goal. My goal is to actively, daily put myself in the hands of the One who wants my life to be rich and satisfying.  Beat that!

    Lynn Green.

  • How does your Heart Think?

    How does your Heart Think?

    Photo ©Rawpixel

     

    **This is a personal website and reflects my thoughts and convictions. It does not represent any official position held by Youth With A Mission.**

     

    In the preface to his translation of the New Testament, Tom Wright says how important it is for each generation to keep working on new translations.  I couldn’t agree more!  Our language keeps evolving and our knowledge of first century Greek and Aramaic is also increasing. At the same time more manuscripts and portions of manuscripts of New Testament content are being discovered and compared to our existing manuscripts.  I think it is both amazing and very reassuring that we continually encourage scholars to examine the veracity of the New Testament.  The foundations of our faith are always open to scrutiny; what a good thing!

    New translations also give us the opportunity to see the texts in a slightly different light, so I have really enjoyed reading The New Testament for Everyone for the past year or so.  I came across a verse in Mark 2 that suggests a profound truth.  Jesus had just said to a paralysed man, “Child, your sins are forgiven!”  The Pharisees who were watching and listening grumbled to themselves that this was blasphemy.  Mark goes on to tell us that Jesus knew “that thoughts like this were in the air”, and said, “Why do your hearts tell you to think like that?”  He then went on to ask them if they thought it was easier to forgive the man’s sins or to heal him from his paralysis.  So he made his point by telling the man to get up, pick up his stretcher and walk!  This did not serve to change their minds; rather it hardened their fear and hatred of Jesus.

    My thoughts were arrested by that question, “Why do your hearts tell you to think like that?”  Jesus knows the truth that we are simply not objective creatures and we don’t change the way we think easily.  No matter how much we think we are willing to recognise what is true and right and no matter how much we think we are willing to adjust our opinions to new information, we are very subjective and usually stubborn about what we think.  We don’t readily listen or believe information that runs contrary to our existing opinions.

    Do our hearts really tell us what to think?  When he says, “your hearts”, what did that mean to them?  I think it meant the way in which their lives were already aligned with certain beliefs and values.  They were convinced that they were righteous because they had defined God’s laws in demanding detail and then had obeyed them fastidiously, or at least they appeared to do so.  But by that approach, they had drained themselves of compassion, humility and love.

    But Jesus came with a straightforward and very demanding message, “Repent!  (change your mind); God’s Kingdom is arriving!”  The change of mind that Jesus was commanding requires a change of heart, and a change of heart demands humility and courage.

    My guess is that if you are reading this, at this point you are thinking, “But I am not like that”.  That’s what I think too.  My life is not aligned around a legalistic approach to pleasing God and, I am pretty pleased about that; maybe even a little self-righteous.

    Nevertheless, however, it is aligned; my heart is telling me what to think.  Is my heart right about everything?  When I put the question like that, then I have to admit that I must be wrong about some of the ways I have aligned my life.  Some of my values are at least deficient, if not wrong.  Some of them probably need to change.  I am just not aware of which ones should change.

    Certainly values held by the majority of people change over time.  We can find illustrations of that wherever we look.  Think about some of our social values.  When I was a child, it was assumed that the great majority of women would pursue home-making and motherhood as a career.  Women who went out to work were often considered to be selfishly ambitious or irresponsible.  Now it is considered old-fashioned and even unacceptable to think that way!

    Think of all the heated subjects that seem to divide our Western world today:  Brexit, climate change with its causes and cures, same sex marriage, differences and similarities between sexes, trans-sexuality; the list is very long! When these subjects come up in conversation, or are debated in our media, those participating or observing tend to divide along lines that are already well established in all participants.  More facts and figures don’t seem to change anyone’s mind.  Our “hearts” are already aligned according to a bundle of values and beliefs.  It’s true that our hearts tell us what to think.  Even scientists and journalists, who have (or used to have) a reputation for the objective pursuit of truth are subjective people whose hearts tell them what to think and write or say.

    Jesus confronted the religious leaders with amazing evidence that they should change their hearts, but most of them would not.  How do I avoid that hardness of heart, that harsh certainty that my heart is rightly aligned?

    I think there are a couple of things that can help us keep soft-hearted.  One is to make friends and stay friends with people who think differently than we do.  We should also read, watch and listen to people with whom we disagree.  Where possible, we should engage them in conversation to learn, not to win.

    The way the early Church was organised also gives some insight.  Jesus did not leave one person in charge.  He left a team of 11, who then added the 12th.  They were different personalities and had backgrounds that varied as much as tax collectors and fishermen.  However, they had all been shaped by time with Jesus and that is the main thing they had in common.  Soon others were added and they came from both men and women and from many different language groups, races and tribes.

    Paul used the metaphor of a body to explain how it should work.  We all need each other and the differences we bring.  We have to make room for others to change and shape our hearts.  We have to keep learning and growing in maturity, whilst continuing to be soft and ready to change.

    There are many issues that can and do divide Christians today. Party politics, social issues like same-sex marriage, differing economic views and even theological or differences of Biblical interpretation can cause tensions or division.  Like the Pharisees, we can become so set in our ways that we won’t consider any change.  Our hearts become set and that makes for rigid thinking.

    We should also remind ourselves regularly to be open to new information, even if it challenges an opinion we have strongly defended.  We can choose to be teachable, to keep learning and growing.

    Finally, we should remember to ask the Holy Spirit to soften our hearts and keep aligning and realigning our lives with Jesus.  Loren Cunningham used to often quote a philosopher who stated, “Only the dishonest fear the truth!”  I want an honest, teachable heart that recognizes truth and embraces it, even when it is painful!

    Lynn Green