#185 The generation gap (9may08)

"escape the fate - there is no sympathy for the dead"

This is not a verse from the Bible, nor is this the way the Lord would want us to put across His message of love. Even if it is true that to reject the love of God is to continue to deprive ourselves of that inner peace that God promised to all who believed. For hell is the absence of God in our lives.
And that it is also true that if the Word of God is true, which it is, then to reject Him is to lead ourselves down the slippery road to eternal damnation, where death of the physical body will not end the present torment of the soul.

'And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments……'
Luke 16:23

But God wants all of us to be saved. God has promised that everyone will hear of the gospel of salvation, of love and peace and then our Lord Jesus Christ will return. Our hearts will be touched, but the response is still yours. All are forgiven but not all will be desirous of being made ready for the return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

'In the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unbelievable and unreproveable in His sight.'
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven…..'
Colossians 1:22-23

"Escape the fate" is the name of this till now hithertho(at least for me) unknown rock group, whose titled album is the almost callous sounding "there is no sympathy for the dead.". This is a CD that my daughter asked me to get for her friend's birthday. This is not just a generation gap but a very wide chasm in terms of choice of music. But then, that perceived difference in taste is not new. In our time, it was the Rolling Stones, Cat Stevens and Rod Stewart. The guys are still around, but a little passe.

'And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed….'
Luke 16:26

The Strait of Hormuz is a very narrow but strategic waterway. Yet, through it is a key lifeline through which a significant portion of the world's oil requirements passed through, fresh from the oilfields of the volatile Middle-East. Iran straddles a large part of the land that borders the Gulf. With relationships at best strained between the Iranians and the Western world, it is cold comfort for the crude oil thirsty world to know that love is not exactly the 'catchphrase' for the mullahs of modern day Persia. Oil at US$200/barrel? It was at US$12/barrel not too long ago.

'We will not hide them from their children, shewing to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He hath done…'
Psalm 78:4

If you were a Bedouin in the arid desert two hundred years back. You will not be too thankful for being placed in this furnace with hardly a drop of rain, and the only green was the color of envy for the cooler and definitely more lush temperate countries of your Western colonisers.
Fast forward to present day and thank God for letting you sit on this wonderful sand covered, but oil filled land. Money can turn mirages of a snow filled land into reality.
On that basis, should not the present day Israelites, the chosen people of God be the accursed souls compared to their half brothers, the Arabs, for only in Israel is oil a rare commodity compared to most of the Middle East. Should not God have moved the promised land a little bit more down to where the gravy train is?

'That they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments'
Psalm 78:7

Yet, like the Israelites, if we start to look at the fuller side of the half empty glass, as a believer, we are indeed so blessed in many ways. For the Israelites, to just survive as a nation in the face of an overwhelming and hostile neighbourhood, to be able to be the agriculture and technology powerhouse of what was an arid region is a testimony of God's grace rather than man's ability in the face of adversity.
I believe that the founding fathers of modern day Israel spent more time seeking God in their times of adversity than most present day Israelites where the tide of secularism has risen in tandem with prosperity.
I believe the same applies to those of us who today still desire to live a life that is determined to be with the Lord every moment of our lives. Life has never been more challenging, yet it has never been better in terms of the peace, the joy and the knowledge of the very real presence of God in our lives. The thankfulness of experiencing God's grace in the undulating landscape of life's joys and angst is truly suffice for the day.

Being blessed, our children are also blessed as well for God will blessed our descendants. Yet, in the midst of plenty, it is often difficult to have the same hunger and desire for that faithful relationship with a God Who remains faithful, even as we falter in our faith. Our children in the land of plenty has hardly experience deprivation. Do they not sometimes put us through great angst by their insolence, by their sense of bravado and self-centred ways and their self-belief in themselves. By their not appreciating the concerns and thoughtfulness of us parents. Yet, are they not mirroring the very same behaviour that we might have exhibited with our parents when we were their age? Are they not mirroring our very own relationship of disobedience with our Father in Heaven?

'When He slew them, then they sought Him; and they returned and enquired early after God'
Psalm 78:34

Strong foundational values has to come from the home. Prayerfully it will be reinforced and not eroded by the school, friends, and whatever external confluences our children are exposed to as they progress in life. Exasperated parents we sometimes might be, it is also good to remember that we are also imperfect just like our children do have shades of imperfection rather than total imperfection.
Maturity of thought and living the 'right values' ie love, kindness, patience, selflessness, patience, perserverance, integrity, hardwork that most of humanity used to count as what makes us different from the beasts, are usually clarified and ingrained in our lives, when we go through storms in our lives. When basic goodness will resurface that long dormant humility and humanity that God has placed in all of us, but that has long been submerged in the distractions and desires of the sinful world.

'For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they steadfast in His convenant'
Psalm 78:37

Like gold that is being refined. It has to go through the fire many times. Being a recent admirer of the beautiful lacquer work by the Japanese, I can attest to the great skill, hard work and the need for coooperative efforts of many in producing a good piece of exquisite lacquered work.

How does one move from being a non-believer, to a cursory believer and then to a reluctant follower and finally closer to a committed, compassionate and faithful child of God?

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment…'
1 John 4:18

As parents, we are "privileged" to have almost absolute control over the formative years of our children. Authority comes with responsibility and accountability and many a 'good' parent measures the successful exercise of their responsibilities by the ways of the world. That is, good provisions of physical comforts, good education, good social networks and maybe, good values. It is no wonder all of us come to some degree of grief, for we are using imperfect standards to deal with the imperfect and to compound it, it is being implemented by the imperfect us.

The chasm of relationships can only not just be bridged, but solidified on the common platform of a God centred life.

'For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the Lord'
2 Chronicles 28:19

Spiritual leadership has to come from us, parents. But it must not be based on the Tree of Knowledge(the fruit that Adam and Eve ate from and from there led men to a life of sin and disobedience by basing on their own understanding). But rather, it must start from the Tree of Life, ie God Himself.

'For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.'
Ephesians 2:10

God must be Sovereign in our lives. As we live a life that places God as the main and only focus in our lives, we allow our children to see that love, obedience, and grace fully reflected in their own lives and relationship with us. Just like our own relationship with God, the imperfect us including our children with us,will go through periods of storms and disobedience. But God is the perfect Sovereign and He will make right our many wrongs, He will refine us, if we are willing to do the only right thing He commands us to do.

That is, to seek Him with all our heart, soul and mind. And to acknowledge Him in all our ways. And to love others as we love ourselves.And like what our Lord Jesus Christ showed us by example

'Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus'
Philippians 4:6-7


God Blesses

Eng Hieang
(9May2008)