"Girls just wanna have funnnn"

Just got back from a lovely evening with some of the girls who attend my local church. The two main organisers, E and K, went to a lot of effort, preparing food for about 15 girls, which is always a win, but what I really appreciated was the thought that went into preparing the conversations for that evening, as a Facebook message from K can attest:

Oh also E and i have been thinking how we could really make the night worthwhile. Cause as much fun as it is just sociallising girls often get into gossiping easily and we want to avoid that. So were thinking that often dinner we could have some cool chats and hear everyones opinions on some intresting subjects, such as modesty, guys, contentment, how should we as women act ect. gonna put all topics in a hat and pull out randomly to discuss. we wanting to make this very relaxed and chilled tho. just cool to hear peoples opinions about some subjects and what maybe people stuggle with ect.

And what a great night of encouragement, talking, sharing, wisdomising it was :) What a blessing it is to be in such a community where you can talk about similar struggles, identify with others, and really build each other up.

Yes, I think more of this must be done!

Listening

- just because I love this quote, and believe that skills in listening is going to go a long way in establishing healthy, growing communities -

"When I ask you to listen and you start giving advice, you have not done what I have asked. When I ask you to listen and you begin to tell me why I shouldn't feel the way I do, you are trampling on my feelings. When I ask you to listen and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem, you have failed me, strange as it may seem. Listen. All I asked you to do was listen, not talk or do. Just hear me. I am not helpless. Perhaps discouraged for faltering, but not helpless. When you do something for me that I need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and weakness. But when you accept as fact that I feel what I feel no matter how irrational, then I can stop trying to convince you and get on with understanding what's behind that irrational feeling and when that's clear, the answer will be obvious and I won't need advice." - Anonymous

PS - a thought on living in community

Discovered these wise words today, which are a useful illumination into my thoughts of yesterday:

The Gospel can only be witnessed to by a plurality of persons, because the witness to the gospel is something that happens between and among persons, not simply within them. One Christian can talk about the Gospel, but two or more Christians can enact its truth and power, namely in the way they treat one another. Individual righteousness is inconceivable in the New Testament apart from its expression in relation to others within the body.
- Tommy Givens

Helping.Helped - a thought on living within community

Yesterday, I bumped into a friend I hadn't seen in ages. We quickly caught up about a number of things, including my prep for England. Very excitedly, I shared with her how I was feeling so much more at ease about going over ever since some people there had gotten hold of me and expressed a warm welcome. She thoughtfully said, looking at me: "That's so great, especially 'cause it must be such a different experience for you. I mean, you're the type who prefers helping out, not being helped."

Her honest words made me pause. Sheesh, I'm as readable as a Jane and Dick grade 1 reader. I am very much a I-can-do-things-by-myself-yes-sure-I-can-help-you-but-no-I-don't-really-need-any-help-from-you-okay-maybe-I-need-some-help-carrying-this-1-ton-elephant-by-myself. It's something I've always struggled with, with manifestation in a prominent so-called Saviour/ Superman complex.

But I realized then that over the last few years God has slowly been changing me, and I'm much better than I used to be. I've come to realize that being so stubborn about not allowing others to help me is actually a barrier to forming community and to creating open, transparent, equal relationships. Mutuality depends on a give and take; not just a take - and by selfishly saying that I was beyond other people's help, I closed down their power to make rightful contributions to our relationship or to our broader community.

This is a lesson that had many iterations, many episodes, and a number of people contribute to its articulation, but here's one situation to illustrate:
Every week during Thursday night Bible studies, a different cell group is on duty, which means that they help serve up dinner, do the dishes after, serve coffee/hot chocolate. Sometimes I'd be standing with friends on duty, and would end up helping them instead of letting the groups serve. However, I was struck by the fact that me helping out every now and then robbed the group members of serving the church family, something which we were trying to encourage by creating this very opportunity. Fail? Yes, much. Rectifiable? Of course. And so it goes.

I now try to stop my first instincts to be like Me, Me, I can help, especially if there's someone else who's just as capable and can use the opportunity to serve. I also try to tell people when I need their help, instead of doing everything by myself.

After all, if the church is a body, the kidney doesn't stand by itself. Neither does the liver. They work together as a conduit of fluids/ particles/ stuff. [Biological knowledge breakdown right here.] And it is in this working together, with each part bringing its own contribution, that the body works so beautifully :)

The Chronicles of Packing - Worry #1: Friends

Unfortunately, all of my friends have experienced normal physical development so no-one I know weighs less than 30kgs. Which is actually rather good for them as they might have been stuffed into a suitcase, and chucked unto a plane for a 18hr flight. But this is rather sad for me, because I'm leaving behind many, many beloved people.

This brings me to worry #1 about leaving: friends. My concern is not so much about making friends - I enjoy meeting people and get along with most people, so I've rarely lacked a friendly face or conversationalist when I've wanted to chat to someone. Rather, my concern is those friendships that take longer to evolve; a relationship of trust between two people who've decided to walk along life together for a while. Despite my seeming openness and transparency in my blog, I am a very very (private) person, and there are few people in the world I really trust to share most things with. Hence the problem. If I can't pack these people into a bag with me, then the first few months, maybe even year, is going to be quite difficult, particularly because I will be in a new space, which I expect to challenge me in any ways, and I won't have deep, solid friendships to encourage, rebuke, hold me accountable, and to ask me the hard questions.

But I should've factored in God's hand over my life. Lo and behold, today, three people got hold of me in pretty much the space of 5 minutes, all of them in the UK, all of them members of God's family, and all of them saying 'Hello, we are here to welcome you, don't worry :)'. It's such a privilege to be part of a world-wide family :)

Reversing

So yesterday, after church, I hopped into my car, switched it on, put the gear into reverse, foot on accelerator... and my car went forward.

Not thinking twice about it, I put the gear into neutral, and then into reverse again. Again, the car rocked forward.

Now, really confused, I put it into neutral again and even more carefully into reverse. To no avail. Again, the car rocked forward. Every single gear that I put it in, reverse, first, second, third, made the car accelerate forward. My reverse gear had been eaten! [Which, I would like to point out, is a non-technical way of saying that my gearbox had obviously broken.]

At this point, C and M walked out of church, and seeing my car shift forward almost into a giant rock, motioned 'Reverse, reverse!'. Little did they know that a minute later, they'd be pushing my car sloooowly backwards, out of the parking lot, so that I could zoom off forward, ever forward!

As I was driving home, careful to stop with sufficient distance before all the stop streets and robots so as to avoid reversing, I suddenly realized what a great picture the car incident displayed of the necessity and power of community.

Sometimes, in our Christian walk, we get stuck. No matter what we do, it just seems as if we can't go anywhere. No matter how much vooma we have, the direction is all wrong. 'Stuck in a moment', as U2 sings. And it's only with the help of others that we are able to reverse/ repent/ get out of said tight spot. Without C and M, I wouldda sat there the whole morning long. There's much to be said about meeting with each other regularly, and being open and honest with our struggles, joys, and fears!

My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. - James 5:19-20

The Chronicles of Packing - kind words, soft words

A season of leaving tends to be accompanied by assessment, measuring, weighing up. What's been particularly lovely in these last few weeks is that many of my friends have made a point in telling me what I've meant to them, and how it is I've impacted them or made a difference in their life.

I've been humbled by their words and the way God has allowed me to work in so many people's lives. The reminder that what I do affects those around me (not in an arrogant sense, but a practical realization of the interconnectedness of community) has spurred me on to act more like what they appreciate me for, and to work harder on my selfishness, my unkindness, my general grumpiness.

These two verses on the strength of words sprang to mind:

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. - Ephesians 4:29

Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. - Proverbs 16:24

What I've come to realize though is leaving is too late to encourage someone. Encouraging someone and speaking words of truth and edification must come while you are with them, living life every day. So I've decided I'm going to make more of an effort to highlight people's strengths, their unique gifts to them while I'm with them. Yay :)

Struggling with pride

When I was younger, I used to be far more wotevva about what people thought of me. Now I've come to realize that I struggle with status. As I may have mentioned before, I really like people, which is both a blessing and a curse. The blessing is that life is far more interesting because people are so fascinating and I enjoy making friends. The curse is that I get far too worried about what people think of me.

Why I bring this up is because I'm going over to England at the end of the year because of a prestigious scholarship. Ever since people have started hearing the news, they look at me slightly differently, and treat me slightly differently.. as though I'm a big deal.

Not helpful, no no. And I've started noticing that in my thoughts and deeds, I'm starting to drink the Kool-aid of their praise.

I told Sophie I'm concerned I'm becoming arrogant and proud. That I'm starting to believe that I am all that.

Sophie, again, was very helpful in this regard: "Do you know the antidote to arrogance and pride? Keep humble by engaging in small acts of menial service for others. Are you washing the dishes? Are you packing out chairs?"

And if I have to be honest, I've stopped helping so much with that. My attitude at church has become one of 'oh I'm too busy doing this, or talking to this person, or sitting on this chair, keeping it warm' or 'someone else should have the opportunity to serve'. These are all valid points in themselves in certain contexts, but in my situation, I use them over and over again to get out of everyday drudge work. If I'm honest, sometimes my attitude has become: 'I've served enough already; it's time for other people to serve me'.

Ooh. When did church become about me, me, me. When did my response to Jesus' sacrifice become 'what more can I get for myself out of this?'

Back to washing dishes then :)

Insiders/ Outsiders, Belonging, Church

The number of Bible Studies I've been to this year have been minimal so far, though I'm still a regular Sunday attender. A number of things have come up on a Thursday, cycling things (oh yes, I've started cycling - more about that later), Toastmasters (yip, joined that too this year), so last night was my second time.

It's a bit weird, being so infrequent with my .. for lack of a word... visitations. Every so often at Sunday church, I feel like everyone's growing up without me. Friendships are formed through weekly and daily experiences, and as one of the 'older' ones, bumping into people between classes, or randomly in our food mall is a rare occurrence. It makes me feel a little detached at times, but gratefully so - I feel that I've served my time in many ways and it's good to know that things are functioning fine without me and will carry on like that when I leave.

Back to last night.

We started with some shared experiences about when situation where you'd felt like an outsider. A bit ironic in light of my confession before. The experience I shared, however, was one that never left me: I went to an Afrikaans church when I was younger. I clearly didn't fit in - struggled with the language, came in shorts and T-shirts (my mom heartily tried her best with me) when all the other girls were in pretty lady-like dresses.

No-one befriended me.

I'm sure they tried, but after so many times struggling with linguistic differences, there's only so much you can do. I probably wasn't the happiest of campers then, anyway.

But last night, while we were sitting there sharing our stories, and then studying the Word together, I was reminded that this is what church is about: belonging and acceptance.

I am happy as a pig stuck in mud at Bible Study

So this year, I decided not to lead Bible study. "Good", I thought. "I'll get a bit of a break.""Not so good", whispered my conscience. "You know that in the past you were under-stimulated and thus got highly distracting in bible studies."

So it was with a little bit of trepidation that I decided to join a Bible study group that was led with two good friends of mine. But last night, I realized it's going to be a WONDERFUL year of growth and learning!

Why? Well. Apart from the two leaders, there are only TWO members! (Actually three, but the one's going to England soon to have her baby there). And so, we have time to work through the passage thoroughly, and also to nut out practical applications. And because we all know each other quite well, it's a very comfortable environment within which to share and encourage and rebuke, if necessary.

Another lovely thing is that because all of us in the group have at one time or another led a group, it's also easier for the leader to lead, because our levels of exposure to the Bible are quite similar - we've all been Christians for a while, and there aren't any new family members etc in our group (which isn't a bad thing, it's just an easier thing in terms of practicalities: there aren't different levels of exposure to the bible in the group). And it's not really that we're being taught by one leader- it's that we're all teaching and leading under the facilitation of one.

So many 'ands'. This is a good thing :) Yay, my heart is happy. It's going to be a great year!

holiday snapshots from a f/Family album

Christmas

Eight children, seven adults, and one granny seated around a table piled high with food. We were three families if you looked at it according to the three key figures: my dad and two of his sisters. We were five families if you counted the number of couples there (two of my cousins had brought their husbands with). But most importantly, we were one family, for even though it had only been five days since my family had landed, it was clear that we all fit together and were accepted despite our idiosyncrasies, eccentricities, differences, similarities.

Halfway during supper, while chatting and laughing with my brother and sister and five of our favourite cousins, I suddenly felt a pang of nostalgia for something I'd never missed at home: the feeling of belonging to something more than just us five. I never missed it though, because I never got to experience family in its broadest, most encompassing sense, in a country where I lived with only my mother, father, brother and sister. It was only every five years when we returned to the Motherland, that we suddenly slotted into a wider picture of cousins, in-laws, uncles, aunts, extensions. And the older I get, the more I appreciate how wonderful the concept of family is - no matter that we have never watched them grow up, and they have no idea what our daily lives exist of - we are family, and that is all that matters. To be greeted with such affection and to be cared for with true emotion by people who, for all intents and purposes, are almost-strangers to us, is the most wonderful feeling in the world.

The New Year
We decided to attend my father's friend's church for the New Year's service. Feeling a bit spare, I watched the members of the church interact with each other. And slowly I started recognising little signs that made it clear that this too was a family: the genuine smiles that members greeted each other with, the care with which a man with muscular degenerative disorder was treated as he struggled down the church aisle, the powerpoint slide of key events that had happened in the year-that-was that was greeted with chuckles at the comical moments caught on camera... This was a church that knew each other and loved each other.

Another precious sight: during communion, one of the elders standing behind the bread dish, suddenly came forward towards the line of church members. Intrigued by this, I glanced forward to see the dignified old man dressed formally in a suit and tie, picking up a piece of bread to place it into the mouth of the man with muscular degenerative disorder. They then proceeded to walk, the old man in a stately manner next to a man who flip-flopped-jerked-in-one-direction-and-then-another because of the failure of his muscles, to the wine glasses. The elder then picked up a tiny tot glass and poured the contents into the man's open mouth, wiping his mouth clean gently with a tissue. This, I realized, was a true picture of the beauty of the church. And afterwards, as my family awkwardly stood up after my father's friend announced that we were visiting from Africa, to have the entire church sing to us a song of greeting, I felt a wave of welcome that only family can offer.

Home
As the plane started its descent into our home airport, I started to feel its presence: the tension that I'd been blessedly free of the whole time we'd been overseas. It wasn't as bad as before I'd left - a few weeks of not being attached to a computer or a phone, and just being told by my parents what to do and where to go, and sleeping and eating plenty, and of course, the thrill of travelling, had made my exhaustion from last year almost completely disappear. But as if the exhaustion had been left behind as a shadow caught in the African sun, I could feel it creeping over me again as I started thinking about all the things I had to do, the people I had to see, the decisions that had to be made..

Praise God, then, that I was given the opportunity to stay at a friend's place near the sea for a few days after I got back, for rest and restoration was just what I needed, and this was just what God provided through my friend. I was the most spoilt guest ever - my host talked to me when I wanted someone to talk to, ignored me when I wanted some quiet, and did all the cooking and washing up. And at some point during the week, I sat on his couch, watching the sea below, and thought back to the snapshot of the elder looking after his charge. It was then that it became clearer that I identified myself almost-always as the elder. But as my friend allowed me to take a proper break by serving me graciously and kindly, and by thinking back to other snapshots which had captured the love shown to me by Family, I realized that I too was the crippled one, the one who could barely move without looking like an oddity, the one who was unable to participate in the body of Christ without help. But, I have also realized that because of the love of Christ and his body, my shortcomings and failures are nothing at all.

Laugh out loud... or not? Thought 6

Oh wow, I thought I'd just written the last thought about this, but I just found the most amazing words from C.S. Lewis.

In his book The Weight of Glory, he writes:

There are no ordinary people... It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind... which exists between people who have from the onset taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.

Now THAT's food for thought.

Laugh out loud... or not? Thought 5

The last thought is left to a secular speaker I recently had the privilege of listening to, who spoke on how to give presentations. This speaker was amazing, someone who was able to keep a group of over-tired, partied-out group of students gripped to her every word through her amazing sense of humour.

"When giving presentations", she said, "use humour and not jokes". And what's the difference?

Jokes have someone or a group of people as the target point, humour is contextual and witty. Jokes alienate, humour need not.

Much to think about, eh.

Laugh out loud... or not? Thought 3

And then someone emailed me and said the following about joking: "I also think wisdom is needed, for example if you are wise enough to see that a person will not be badly affected by a "loser" joke and if it is said in a loving spirit, I think it's okay."

But I also had some thoughts on that, as I promptly emailed back. (Of course I had thoughts! This is my blog!)

1) How can a "loser" joke be said in a "loving spirit"? That seems like a paradox?

2) Why do we use loser jokes anyway?

3) And I also wonder about how we can know for sure if the person won't be badly affected. I would say I'm a pretty strong person, and it's pretty okay to joke around with me about anything. But God's recently been using people to make jokes at my expense at times when I've been at a emotional weak point to show me what it's probably like for people who aren't as emotionally strong. And it kinda sucks. And i know that the various people joking with me haven't meant to hurt me. but I'm not going to wear a huge sign around my neck that says: "I'm having a crappy day, don't make jokes at my expense!" How can we ever know for sure that we aren't hitting a sore point with other people's insecurities?

Laugh out loud... or not? Thought 2

Now why I'm titling these posts 'Thought's and not 'Parts', is because I've just been having random thoughts about this, not really parts that build up to a point.

How boring that sentence was.

Anyway.

To move on.

And swiftly.

Here's another thought from my friend DJ B:

It's not that every word that we speak must build each other up, I think it's the attitude that we speak to people in. Like when I ask a friend to pass the tomato sauce when I'm chowing down on a good steak. That doesn't necessarily build him up. But if I'm all rude about it and say like, " yo, you over there, yeah, give me that All Gold now.." then its a problem. I think its the same with our joking.

So basically, he's saying we need to really think through what our attitudes are behind joking in a specific way. Are we really joking because it's meant to be funny, or is it just to make ourselves look better?

Laugh out loud... or not? Thought 1

Q: Why does the bride wear white on her wedding day?
A: So that she can match all the other kitchen appliances.

Laughing is fun, tension-relieving, endorphin-releasing, friendship-building, enjoyable, a gracious gift from God. But at the same time, like all good things in this fallen world, it can also be used so harmfully.

Luckily, God's been teaching me a lot about the way I use my humour over the past year. I'm one of those who appear not to take that much seriously as I'm forever giggling at something or seeing the ridiculous side of something. However, I've been more and more rebuked about how often i use mean humour to get laughs. You all know what I mean: we call it 'ripping off' and under the disguise of it all being 'in good fun', we use words to break others down.

However, why do we distinguish between the way we speak when we joke from the way we usually talk about stuff. What makes it acceptable that we joke about coarse things or that we joke ungraciously when God commands us to be pure and gracious in all things? When we wouldn't even think about being ungracious or impure when we're being serious? I don't think this means the end to all joking. I think this means we must learn to use joking in a way that DOES build up and that perhaps will be much harder work cause it'll need to be more creative and different from the way the world usually works..

With friends like these...

I've become friends with this lovely immigrant from Malawi, who moved to South Africa a few years ago to find work, and more opportunities etcetc. He's doing well for himself, but having said that, he's not earning top mega bucks. And what really amazeso me is that he is so generous with the little he has. This was again displayed to me on Sunday, when he came up shyly to me and called me out of the group of people I was standing with. As I went over, he showed me a collection of books he had with him, a whole stack of books he'd gotten from his employer. "He's given me more than 30!", my friend exclaimed, obviously really excited at this amazing gift. "And now that I am being fed so well with these gospel books, I thought you guys must also have one!" And lo, and behold, he'd picked one book for each of the people that had worked with him at the Night Shelter, How cool :)

And what's even more exciting is how thoughtfully chosen and appropriate the books were for each person! I've been thinking a lot about relationships recently - how much time to give to them, how to conduct healthy relationships, how to be friends in a really meaningful way etc.etc.. I'm a bit of a people's person (even though I swear that deep down inside I'm a repressed introvert at times!), and to be honest, thinking about relationships drives me up the wall and down again. Especially 'cause I've also been thinking a lot about burnout recently as well - am I giving too much, am I too easily focused on other people etc.etc. And believe it or not, the book I'd gotten was one called: "Listening for heaven's sake: Building Healthy Relationships with God, Self and others". My brother got one on the balance between praying and doing, another friend who's about to become a dad got one on leading the family in a godly manner etc.etc. Yay, talk about God stepping in to give us just what we needed!

Burn out or rust out?... Part 3

Part 3: How do we keep ourselves?

We have a duty to keep ourselves and to keep each other.

What is the single best way to keep yourself in ministry?
1) Keep yourself a Christian
2) Keep yourself continuing in what you have learnt

We also have a responsibility to keep each other
- there is no such thing as privatized Christianity.

Umm. Yeah. This is a short one, 'cause I kinda got over taking notes at this point. Heehee.

Hmmm. I found it helpful to reconsider reasons for ministry etc., but I was expecting many more practical tips about burn out. Instead, I found that after these sessions, I felt obligated to get involved with more ministries, instead of trying to cut down on my own current number (which a person containing a measure of sensibility might suggest). So. Burn out, huh. Fortunately, a friend of mine recently went to see a Christian psychologist about this, who was apparently VERY helpful with practical tips, so once she has emailed me the notes, I'll post them up here. Till then, exercise, eat healthy, sleep enough, and laugh.

Burn out or rust out?... Part 2

Part 2: Organized ministry

We need to be emotionally committed to people. Note that apostle Paul never talked about ministry being fun - the Bible makes it clear that while serving in ministry he experienced hardship, emotionally and physically.
e.g. in 2 Timothy 1:15, Paul writes:
"You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes".

And so it is, that we will also experience hardship. So how can we be sensible about our ministries?


1) Keep thinking vertically, not just horizontally.
- one of the biggest faults in ministry is pride
- we make the mistake of wanting people's approval to validate our ministry
Why do we fall into this trap? Because people give immediate and visual feedback
BUT it is to God we are accountable

2) Think holy, and not just ministry
- don't compartmentalize areas of your life e.g. church life, work life, leisure life.. being holy should underscore all of these areas

3) Think personally (realistically), not just hypothetically
- acknowledge each other's differences
e.g. genders: girls might need a hour and half for 1-to-1 meetings to have good long catchup chats; guys might only need 45 minutes
- know yourself and who your colleagues are
e.g. find out which times of the day you work best, which times of the year you struggle with being motivated

4) think pastorally, and not just professionally
- it's not a job: we should work hard, love them, and not just be legalistic

Burn out or rust out?... Part 1

So a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I'd gone to a 3-part seminar on Burn out [seeA thought on burnout]. To be more precise, the sessions on ministry-related matters. I've finally found some time to type out some of the notes, so here you go!

Part 1: Motivation for ministry

Our motivation to be involved in Christian ministry is based on a God-centered theology, which can be outlined in 8 reasons. Why it's important to keep these 8 reasons in mind, is because we want to be asking ourselves: are our ministries in line with these things? Are we pushing our ministries in the direction that God is pushing his ministry?

1) Because of God's plan

Ephesians 1:3-10

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ,to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ."

2) Because of God's glory

Acts 17:16-17

"While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there."

3) Because of God's judgement

Acts 17:29-31

"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

4) Because of God's love

1 John 4:7

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God."

2 Corinthians 5:14

"For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."

5) Because of God's gospel

Romans 1:14-19

"I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

6) Because of God's promise of faithfulness

Matthew 28:18

"Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

7) Because of God's patience

2 Peter 3:8-9

"But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

8) Because of God's reward

1 Thess 2:17

"But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you—certainly I, Paul, did, again and again—but Satan stopped us. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy."