Category: faith

Lord of Creation

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

Biblical Truth

First this: God created the Heavens and Earth—all you see, all you don’t see. Earth was a soup of nothingness, a bottomless emptiness, an inky blackness. God’s Spirit brooded like a bird above the watery abyss.

  God spoke: "Light!"
      And light appeared.
   God saw that light was good
      and separated light from dark.
   God named the light Day,
      he named the dark Night.
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day One.

  God spoke: "Sky! In the middle of the waters;
      separate water from water!"
   God made sky.
   He separated the water under sky
      from the water above sky.
   And there it was:
      he named sky the Heavens;
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Two.

  God spoke: "Separate!
      Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place;
   Land, appear!"
      And there it was.
   God named the land Earth.
      He named the pooled water Ocean.
   God saw that it was good.

  God spoke: "Earth, green up! Grow all varieties
      of seed-bearing plants,
   Every sort of fruit-bearing tree."
      And there it was.
   Earth produced green seed-bearing plants,
      all varieties,
   And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts.
      God saw that it was good.
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Three.

  God spoke: "Lights! Come out!
      Shine in Heaven’s sky!
   Separate Day from Night.
      Mark seasons and days and years,
   Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth."
      And there it was.

  God made two big lights, the larger
      to take charge of Day,
   The smaller to be in charge of Night;
      and he made the stars.
   God placed them in the heavenly sky
      to light up Earth
   And oversee Day and Night,
      to separate light and dark.
   God saw that it was good.
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Four.

  God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life!
      Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!"
   God created the huge whales,
      all the swarm of life in the waters,
   And every kind and species of flying birds.
      God saw that it was good.
   God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean!
      Birds, reproduce on Earth!"
   It was evening, it was morning—
   Day Five.

  God spoke: "Earth, generate life! Every sort and kind:
      cattle and reptiles and wild animals—all kinds."
   And there it was:
      wild animals of every kind,
   Cattle of all kinds, every sort of reptile and bug.
      God saw that it was good.

  God spoke: "Let us make human beings in our image, make them
      reflecting our nature
   So they can be responsible for the fish in the sea,
      the birds in the air, the cattle,
   And, yes, Earth itself,
      and every animal that moves on the face of Earth."
   God created human beings;
      he created them godlike,
   Reflecting God’s nature.
      He created them male and female.
   God blessed them:
      "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Earth! Take charge!
   Be responsible for fish in the sea and birds in the air,
      for every living thing that moves on the face of Earth."

  Then God said, "I’ve given you
      every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth
   And every kind of fruit-bearing tree,
      given them to you for food.
   To all animals and all birds,
      everything that moves and breathes,
   I give whatever grows out of the ground for food."
      And there it was.

(Genesis 1, The Message) Continue reading “Lord of Creation” →

Arise, Shine

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

Biblical Truth

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth and think darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

Isaiah 60:1-3 (NIV) Continue reading “Arise, Shine” →

7 Promises of Peace

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

Biblical Truth

Ascribe to the LORD, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the LORD is over the waters;
the God of glory thunders,
the LORD thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the LORD is powerful;
the voice of the LORD is majestic.

The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars;
the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

He makes Lebanon skip like a calf,
Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the LORD strikes
with flashes of lightning.

The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the LORD twists the oaks
and strips the forests bare.
And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood;
the LORD is enthroned as King forever.

The LORD gives strength to his people;
the LORD blesses his people with peace.

Psalm 29 (NIV) Continue reading “7 Promises of Peace” →

Respect your Mother and Father

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

Biblical Truth

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were “unclean,” that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with ‘unclean’ hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

” ‘These people honour me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”

And he said to them: “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honour your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’ But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: ‘Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban’ (that is, a gift devoted to God), then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

Mark 7:1-13 (NIV) Continue reading “Respect your Mother and Father” →

Thinking Material

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

Tonight I attended 2Love Training – divisional Youth Leadership training with the Salvation Army. It was interesting to see how it differed from my past training experiences with the Anglican church. In the Anglican training I’ve been to, there had been maybe 20-30 participants, which would be representing maybe 25-30% of the congregations in Perth. At the Salvos training, there were again about 20-30 participants, which would represent perhaps 75-85% of the congregations in Perth. Obvious size difference there – and something I’m still getting used to. Of the 20-30 participants at the Anglican training, I might know 2 or 3. At the Salvos, they all knew each other. Connections, networking and relationships are of a higher significance in a smaller denomination.

In the Anglican training, they were introducing us to a new program that they were bringing in from the Eastern States, a form of running youth group that would build up the youth in the parish, and then hopefully they would bring their friends, all while preventing burn-out in the leaders. In the Salvo training, we just focussed on leadership – no specifics of what to do, but ways to find out what to do.

Now, of course, it’s far too early for me to be able to say whether one was better, or not, for in reality, they were both incredibly useful. Just different. But this training I’ve just received gave me far more to think about to help develop my personal leadership style, while the Anglican training was teaching me about a program that could work in a certain situation.

One thing that I did pick up was that identifying your strengths, weaknesses and passions is an essential part of being a leader, and identifying who has different passions is essential in building up a leadership team. You need a mix, in order to cater for all possibilities.

In our corps, we feel we’ve got a good balance between the youth leaders (though lacking in the actual youth), but our main lacking is cultural knowledge. All living outside of the corps area, we lack that local knowledge to know where the youth are, to know what the issues are. If we’re going to experience growth, this is something that we need to address.

In my blog, I also want to experience growth. For the last little while, I’ve not known what to do with my blog. In the past, I have written about my music, and my life at uni. Now that I’m no longer performing all that often, or even playing violin all that often, I need to refocus. I need to rediscover where my passions lie, where the direction for this blog will go. It is important to identify your passions, strengths and weaknesses in order to be a good leader, but it is also important to reflect upon them often, to see if they have changed over time. This might be a little bit of a challenge for me, as for the past 5 years, my passion has been classical music – though at the moment I feel that slipping away from me as I get interested in other things. Confronting as this may be, letting it go and focussing on my passions will eventually lead to growth – growth in my leadership abilities, growth in my blog, and growth in my personal self.

Big shout out to Captain Collo, who was running the training tonight. Big pleasure to meet the writer of a blog that I’ve been reading for some time now. Not exactly as I’d pictured in my head – though I have no idea why the image in my head was what it was – but great to meet him, and was encouraged by what he had to say.

Food for the mind

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith
Credit: thaidup at sxc.hu
Credit: thaidup at sxc.hu

I went for my walk today, as part of my kick to get healthy. A nice, hour long walk around my suburb. What a blessing to be able to live in a suburb and feel safe going out for a walk, but not only that, but going for a walk where there are nice hills to test you, but not so tough that you’re dead by the end of it.

I put on my phone (my ipod died, and I’m yet to get a new one) a few podcasts that I wanted to listen to. The first was from Mars Hill Church, the first of a series by Pastor Mark Driscoll on 1st and 2nd Peter. I got onto Mark Driscoll a little while ago, when he did a series on Song of Songs. The teaching he gave helped me develop a deeper understanding of a Christian relationship, and I’ll be revisiting them closer to my approaching wedding. Next, Hack – Triple J’s Current Affairs program. A great program that deals with issues mainly aimed at young people (it’s the National Youth Radio Station), and isn’t afraid to deal with tough issues. In the past, it’s had weeks on Crime, Mental Health, sexuality, and more. Finally, there was a short podcast from the Salvos Southern Division called Salvos Out There.

It got me thinking that this was a wonderful mix of what Christians should listen to. If I was to change it, I would add in some worship music. As Christians, we need to surround ourselves in what is good and holy. Our soul needs nourishment, and that comes from worshipping, from studying the bible, and from being in contact with God through Prayer. For me, that came through the Mars Hill Church podcast, and the Salvos out there. I listened to Pastor Mark Driscoll take me through 2 verses of 1st and 2nd Peter, learning about the context, what it meant back when it was written and what it means to us now. I listened to John Cleary and Greg Morgan talk about Spiritual Hunger, and the sorts of struggles we can face.

But also as Christians, we can’t live in a bubble of Christianity. While spending every waking moment worshipping God, and learning more and more about him, we need to actually do something with what we’ve been given. Through listening to the Current Affairs in Hack, you get a snapshot of what everyone else is going through. YOu can hear about injustices in the world, or items such as Climate Change, Abortion, Social Networking and you can think about how it relates to you as a Christian, and more importantly, how you as a Christian relate to it. People who don’t know God may come to you looking for answers, and it’s up to us to know about and have thought about such things, in order to give them an answer that might bring them closer to God.

I might not be able to get it all listened to every day, but I shall certainly be trying to keep up to date with my spiritual and worldly affairs, so that when the worldly affairs come to battle me, I am knowledgeable about their tricks, and can draw strength from my spiritual reserve.

I Believe

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith, Life

Biblical Truth

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13

Musical Offering

Ben’s Offering

I’ve spent the better part of a week looking for this song. When your music collection is quite large, and not all of it is correctly categorised, it can be hard to find something that you’re looking for, if you can’t remember the title or the band. For this week, I’ve wanted to post on 1 Corinthians 13, that famous reading about Love. And While I could have chosen my old school hymn “In Faith and Hope and Love” – it’s rather quite boring, where as this song by Third Day is much more interesting.
Why did I feel a strong need to write about this passage? Well, On Monday I drove my (then) girlfriend out to Northam. After taking her for a walk around the Avon River, we climbed a lookout that overlooks the river, and while standing on there, I got down on one knee and asked her to marry me. Thankfully for me, she said yes!
There were times in my life where I honestly questioned if I’d ever find anyone that would want to spend the rest of their life with me. Yet just when I’d stopped looking, and become comfortable with myself where I was, God brought this incredible girl into my life. A girl who made me laugh, made me be silly, made me nervous when I was going to see her, yet be completely comfortable when I was around her. God has given me more than I could have ever dreamed of, and I’m so incredibly happy that I will be able to spend the rest of my life with her.

Holy Spirit, Rain Down

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

Biblical Truth

For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith on God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it

1 Thessalonians 1:4-8a

Musical Offering

Ben’s Offering

Have you ever had one of those moments where you were planning on doing something, but it was going to make for a rather busy day, but when the time came you did it anyway – and were so glad you did? I had a moment like that today. Having been in the city all day for my WA Youth Orchestra concert, I had originally planned to head from there to the Salvation Army Divisional Meeting, being held at Floreat. I’d pictured the concert finishing around 5.30pm, and with the service starting at 6, it would be tight getting there. I ended up saying to people that I probably wouldn’t make it – it was just too complicated, making my life too busy. However, when the concert finished closer to 5pm than 5.30pm, I figured I could get to the Corps with plenty of time to spare. So I did.

It was a fantastic service, with the Floreat Songsters singing a couple of songs, the Perth Fortress Brass Band and Contemporary Worship band providing the rest of the music, and a fantastic message. It was based on the reading above, and spoke wonderfully to me. And when we sang Holy Spirit, Rain Down as a prayer after the sermon, I was just filled with the Holy Spirit, to overflowing. A wonderful, encouraging embrace, sent by my Lord to let me know that he has chosen me – and that he has big plans for me. And while sometimes I may not be able to see those plans, when I know that they’re in his hands, nothing can go wrong. All I have to do is have the courage to follow him.

Tomorrow I start a challenge – To read the Bible from cover to cover in 90 days. This will be a challenge for me – I have never read the bible like this before, and there are books of the bible that I’ve never looked at. There will be parts that are going to be challenging – I know I will find Leviticus tough, and all the x begat y business will be a struggle to get through, but there will be other parts that will challenge me through their message and I look forward to that. But I know that in this, God will bless me richly – as he has done my entire life. It’s not too late to join me, sign up!

My Redeemer Lives

by Ben Clapton, posted in Archive, faith

Biblical Truth

Now Naomi had a relative on her husband’s side from the clan of Elimelech, a man of standing, whose name was Boaz. And Ruth the Moabitess said to Naomi, “Let me go to the fields and pick up the leftover grain behind anyone in whose eyes I find favour.”
Naomi said to her, “Go ahead, my daughter”. So she went out and began to glean in the fields behind the harvesters. As it turned out, she found herself working in a field belonging to Boaz, who was from the clan of Elimelech.
Just then Boaz arrived from Bethlehem and greeted the harvesters, “The LORD be with you!”
“The LORD bless you!” they called back.
Boaz asked the foreman of his harvesters, “Whose young woman is that?”
The foreman replied, “She is the Moabitess who came back from Moab with Naomi. She said, ‘Please let me glean and gather among the sheaves behind the harvesters.’ She went into the field and has worked steadily from morning till now except for a short rest in the shelter.”
So Boaz said to Ruth, “My daughter, listen to me. Don’t go and glean in another field and don’t go away from here. Stay here with my servant girls. Watch the field where the men are harvesting, and follow along after the girls. I have told the men not to touch you. And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have willed.”
At this, she bowed down with her face to the ground. She exclaimed, “Why have I found such favour in your eyes that you notice me—a foreigner?”
Boaz replied, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother–in–law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
“May I continue to find favour in your eyes, my lord,” she said. “You have given me comfort and have spoken kindly to your servant—though I do not have the standing of one of your servant girls.”

Ruth 2:1-13 (NIV)

Musical Offering

Ben’s Offering

A wonderful reading, full of meaning in our lives. We could take a look at Ruth, but she has a whole book devoted to her, so I’m going to look at Boaz. What a wonderful example for us in our world. We read that he’s a land owner — a boss, you might call him — and he treats his workers well. He comes out to greet them and says “The LORD be with you!” and they greet back “The LORD bless you!” He treats his workers well, and they treat him well.

But there’s more. He notices this foreigner working behind the men. Not just any foreigner, but a foreign woman. She deserves no attention according to the culture of the day, and has less standing that one of Boaz’ servant girls. Yet not only does he seek out who she is, but offers to treat her as one of the servant girls, well above her standing.

There’s a lesson here. Keep an eye out for those we might forget, those we might normally look over, and treat them with a care and love that puts them above what they would expect. And do this not for gloating, not to share in any blog, or newspaper, but do it for the glory of God.

The musical offering today is one of my favourite songs — My Redeemer Lives — performed here by Hillsong. Personally, I preferred the version played by a group of my mates, but this is pretty awesome as well. Would love to hear your comments.