Jesus
said, "...nor do men put new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the
wineskins burst, and the wine pours out, and the wineskins are ruined; but they
put new wine into fresh wineskins, and both are preserved." Novo's
spirituality writers, Nick Walsh and Mark
Hall, believe God desires young people to hold his 'new wine', bringing
about a revival of vision, creativity and purpose to a culture which is
apathetic and bored.
With this in mind, Nick and Mark discuss current issues with an eye on how they
relate to God's word and how being a fresh wineskin requires us to be open to
God's renewal of our lives, our agendas, our beliefs, our actions, our attitudes
and more.
Foundations
Word
Count: 500
Once upon a time there were two men who each decided to build a beach house.
The first man got together all the materials and started to build by excavating a hole and laying a reinforced concrete foundation, to bear the weight of his house. Over the foundation, he built his house, just the way he wanted it.
The second man decided to build his house straight onto the ground after levelling and compacting the sand. The result was a very different house, but just as spectacular in its own way.
These two beautiful beach houses stood next to each other and over the years were witness to many happy holidays, lazy barbecues and lavish parties.
One night there was a huge storm. Winds blasted the dunes and massive waves savaged the coastline. Rain bucketed down and the estuary burst its banks.
The sun rose over a battered house. Gutters were hanging off and a window was broken where a tree branch had fallen through it - but that was just the first house…
Next to it lay a pile of tiles and rubble. Barely discernible walls lay against each other, crisscrossed with fractures. Roof trusses stuck out of the roof where the tiles had fallen away. The main damage wasn't done by the wind, but by the floodwaters, which had eroded the sand foundation away, and with nothing to support it, the house had simply fallen in on itself.
Jesus told this story to a crowd of people to demonstrate the importance of having a foundation in life. There are three important requirements of a solid foundation. It should be broad enough to support the entire house. It should be whole and unbreakable. It should be solidly anchored in the ground. If any one of these requirements is not met, the house is in trouble. The same is true of a foundation in life. It should support every decision we need to make. It should be internally consistent. It should be stable.
We have all made a start on building our own lives and whether we realised it or not, we laid (or mislaid) our own foundations. On these foundations we have made many decisions and evaluations that have shaped our lives to date. Whether our lives today are beautiful or ugly, functional or dysfunctional is largely dependent on our foundations.
But what's visible to our acquaintances is only part of the story. An apparently spectacular life may in fact be built on a very shaky foundation and just ripe for a fall. Conversely, a more modest and unassuming life may be rock solid. Now here's the big question - what foundation have you built your life on? You may not have made a conscious decision, so make a quick building inspection. What assumptions underpin the decisions you make? What values determine the way you evaluate life? After a crisis, what will be left of your life to rebuild on?
Mark Hall
You are welcome to e-mail Mark on "agonis@fcmail.com"
to discuss any aspects of this article.
