Challenge the Good News Paper

TM No. 383 THE GOOD NEWS PAPER NEW ACCEPTANCE Dr Saleh was on the verge of suicide in his personal crisis edical offi cer age and short stature had not seri- Dr Ashraf ously fazed Ashraf, but he recalls Saleh has a personal crisis began at age 13 endured when he pondered why his family’s Ma lifelong religious rituals “really did not have heartbreak- any meaning in my personal life.” ing confl ict between desiring Fearing repercussions from his to respect his parents and his parents, Ashraf quietly searched hunger for seeking the true for answers in his own mind, then meaning in life. began independently exploring how Ashraf’s parents migrated he could know God in a personal way from Egypt in the midst of after high school. declining political stabil- “It was important for me at that ity and settled in Sydney stage in life to be able to freely ask during the 1970s heyday of God to be in my life,” he continues. immigration, all the while “I had this innate desire to be at maintaining a careful adher- one with God, to be in a relationship ence to Islam. with Him. If there is a purpose [to School bullying due to his my rituals], I wanted God to show Arabic appearance, younger it to me.” INCREDIBLE FEELING: Ashraf Saleh, seated with his family, says, “I felt an amazing sense of peace that I had never felt before.” While studying medicine at uni- versity he took advantage of the open-minded learning environment and resolved to directly approach Great Aussie Dream is no surety God with his questions. “I said, ‘God, if you are real, you should show yourself to me. I am BY HADYN SENNITT tired of having to go through this life alone and not knowing what it is OWNING ONE’S HOUSE is all about. I feel emotionally numb.’” something that Australians have Many months passed without any long aimed for, and even expected. answer from God, leading Ashraf It is, for want of a better phrase, to angrily tell God, “You have done the Great Australian Dream. yourself a disservice by creating me Having your own house gives a and I really want to end [my life] sense of security and a sense of now.” community. Just hours before Ashraf planned Many, however, simply cannot to jump from a four story building afford a house and that is a bitter he was awoken by an extraordinary pill to swallow. In a world that is feeling. quickly becoming less secure and community links are weakening, “I woke at 2am, drenched in sweat, heart pounding, and felt an REALITY this issue is posing many problems. depend on the mood of the Reserve “One’s life does not consist in the amazing sense of peace that I had Our TV stations offer little solace: Bank and ‘market forces’. abundance of his possessions” (in never felt before. It reassured me, a few nights ago there was a pro- Even when you buy and pay the Luke 12:15). ‘You are at peace. You have peace Page 2 RULES gramme on British home renova- house off, it can be burned down, Nothing in or on this earth will because I am in you.’ No fi reworks, tions, followed by two other such broken into, and it falls apart. last because it is all made of mat- no big dream, just a sense of peace. I programmes in Australia. One of Upkeep and renovation is costly, ter! But what will last? Eternity knew that I couldn’t go on with that BACK PAGE those was a repeat of a previous laborious, and time-consuming. with Jesus Christ, and all who put [suicide] plan.” episode and all the ads concerned Worse, some families invest more their trust in Him. The well-known where to purchase home renovation in the condition of their homes than John 3, verse 16 tells us, “For God As Ashraf wandered through the AGAINST products. For those of us, like me, they do in one another. Instead so loved the world that He gave His streets of Parramatta, working out priced out of the housing market, of having community, they get only begotten Son, that whoever his next steps, he was approached THE it’s like waving a fi sh before a starv- absorbed in the house. believes in Him should not perish by a friendly man whose sense of ing cat. When Jesus walked this earth but have everlasting life”. Ashraf’s loneliness encouraged him All of this, however, poses the He offered a stunning alternative. To have this security we need to open up. GRAIN question about where we fi nd hope Profoundly and simply he said, “Do to seek forgiveness from God for After quietly listening, the man and security. Is it in bricks and not lay up for yourselves treasures rejecting Him and accepting Jesus said, “You’re going through stuff, mortar? Is it in a career, or family, on earth, where moth and rust Christ as Master and Saviour. He and we all have. But you have to or more, or all of the above? destroy and where thieves break in wants to give us abundant everlast- respect your parents, because that The problem with having security and steal; but lay up for yourselves ing life in Himself, but that can only is the right thing to do, and I think in a house is that the one owning, or treasures in heaven, where neither happen when we let go of our stuff you know that.” trying to own it, is victim to other moth nor rust destroys and where and allow Jesus Christ to control ● Turn to page 2 people’s behaviour. Prices rise thieves do not break in and steal” our life. ● and fall according to supply and (Matthew 6:19-21). Haydn Sennitt is pastor of a church demand; interest rate repayments More to the point, He said, in Georges River, Sydney www.challengenews.org.au 2 • Edition 382 YOLO and the House Rules YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, so make sure you know the Universe’s rules BY RICK LEWERS said he was a fool. He had forgotten the most important of house rules. I AM FASCINATED by reality TV. He built with no regard for God. Whether it be Renovation Rumble, With his plans before him, a glass House Rules or My Kitchen Rules, of wine in his hand, and some big it is clear that every contestant is dreams for his future he dropped trying to rule. When I was at school, dead, exposing this glaring mistake. and later with my sons, a ‘rumble’ A person ruled by their stomach had nothing to do with and their possessions often building but it did have “Those makes this mistake, for a lot to do with ruling. which there is no prize. I am very interested seeking the At least on MKR and in reality TV’s use of the House Rules, those seeking word ‘Rules’. prize never the prize never lose sight of There is a famous the judge. parable of a wealthy lose sight of First, there are the super and successful man who judges who are rather appeared to be ruling his the judge” despotic. Then comes peer MELBOURNE, 3 MAY 2015: Contestants from Reno Rumble (The Block) arrive at the life rather well. He was judgement by fellow con- 57th Annual Logie Awards at Crown Palladium. (Photo Ryan Pierse/Getty Images) so successful, he planned testants who deep down a complete renovation of his property don’t want others to succeed. Finally, temple or shrine then my debt will tianity is not about ‘do, do, do’ but Christianity is about God, who but this was not to provide for others’ there are the unseen judges like be cancelled and we can sit back, eat, about what has been ‘done’ for us through His undeserved love, seeks needs, no, his complete motivation myself, sitting in a living room some- drink and be merry. by the person of Jesus Christ. It is to decorate your life with everything was to satisfy his own stomach. where debating the merits of those Well, that is religion and the prac- not about a judge who picks away at that is beautiful, noble and honour- His prize when the renovation with whom we have no relationship. tice of the religious – people seeking our efforts but the Judge powerful able. It is about God’s invitation project was done would be the ability Why such religious effort on these to satisfy a judge or judges who do enough to repair them. Christianity to wine and dine with Him at the to sit back, eat, drink and be merry. shows? Why do they work like slaves not really care about them person- is about the God who builds a future greatest banquet in heaven. There’s You would be forgiven in our age for all week to satisfy judges who pick ally, and whom the person doesn’t for us that we could never build for the prize, not for your efforts, but for thinking that this man ruled his own their efforts apart? It is all about really know, in the uncertain desire ourselves. Christianity is about a the efforts of Jesus Christ. It is not life well. He appeared to have made the prize. And such is the prize, of attaining a better future. Saviour who makes right every life a prize for us but a gift, and the only a great assessment of his life situa- they religiously compare themselves Many people think that is what renovation bungle with forgiveness, judgement you need ever fear from tion, economically and in terms of with each other and even compete Christianity is all about – and they and repairs every failed recipe for life Him is the one reserved for those who his pleasure seeking.

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