4you Ireland Magazine VIII

Mind B ody God Life Hope

FACING DEATH

Plane Crash at Cork Airport Donal Walsh Walks Away from Nightmare Crash Landing Household Budgeting Solving the Ancient

MYSTERY of St.Patrick

ISSUE VIII

They Called Me the Child of the Milkman

Brenda Lawlor felt she didn’t belong p14>

Asking the BIG Questions

Free!

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4you.ie Magazine

4you.ie Magazine Issue VIII

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Published in Ireland

by AONTAS © MMXIII Editor Paudge Mulvihill

Contents

aontas

Page 3

Household Budgeting -Aaaargh! byIan Lynch

Page 4-6 God’s GPS Navigating this Life

Correspondence to: 4you Magazine, 72 Rowan Drive, Castlebar, Co. Mayo

Page 11

Mystery Man St. Patrick Who?

by Ruth Chipperfield

Page 12

Depression

Page 13

Hypocrisy Made Me Doubt

by Dr. Andrew Collins

by John Blanchard

Page 6-7 Books Section In:Sight

Phone: 094 9023702 Email: info@4you.ie Web: www.4you.ie

by Mark Loughridge

by Mark Loughridge

Design: OpenBook Ireland www.oscail.net Printer: Printbydesign Ltd. Publisher: www.aontas.ie

Page 8-9 FLIGHT 7100 Crash Survivor Donal Walsh remembers that awful day.

Page 10

Purgatory Treasury

Page 14

Child of The Milkman

Page 15

Free Offers & Resources

Brenda Lawlor’s Story She never felt she belonged.

Books, Bibles & Booklets

by Mary Hamilton

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4you.i e Maga z ine Issu e VI I I E d itor i a l

One of the issues raised in this edition of the 4you.ie Magazine is the important area of budgeting. During the ‘Celtic Tiger’ years in Ireland many of us lost sight of this and spent well beyond our means.

You might be surprised to know that God’s Word -the Bible gives a lot of wisdom & instruction on the issue of money & also greed, attitudes to riches & poverty, work and generosity.

A famous biblical quote is from 1 Timothy 6:10 - “For the love of money is a root to all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many troubles.” How true this is!

Here are some other quotes from the Bible about money & wisdom: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” – Luke 12:34 “Why spend money on what is not bread, and work for what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” - Isaiah 55:2 “He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich–both come to poverty.” - Proverbs 22:16 Read the Bible yourself to find many more words of divine wisdom.

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love

HouseHold Budgeting -Aaargh!

‘I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation’

Ian Lynch

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hink of building a budget and you’ll probably conjure up an image of spending hours crunching numbers and covering the kitchen table in five years’ worth of receipts and bills. We all know it’s important to keep a track of our spending and get on top of our finances, but it can often seem too complicated, confusing and much easier to put off. Fortunately, the reality of keeping on top of your money is actually very simple; it’s all about grasping basic principles and making sensible decisions. probl

So budgeting sounds great, but where do you start? The first step to taking control of your finances is to find out exactly where your money is going and what it’s going on. Simply listing all of the money you receive in a month and then listing everything you spend it on will give you a clearer picture of what is happening with your money. There are plenty of tools online to help you get your head around building your first budget, such as the MABs budgete m s ing tool on www.mabs.ie - but you can build just as effective a budget with a pen and paper. The important thing to remember is to list everything that comes in and everything that goes out and make it as honest and accurate as possible. You might be tempted to estimate how much you spend, or go on averages, but this won’t give you the clearest picture. You may be alarmed at how short your income list is compared to your outgoings, but that’s the point – with it all laid out, you can highlight problems you weren’t aware of, begin to resolve any shortfall and take control.

DEBT

Anybody can benefit from building a simple and effective household budget, whether you’re really struggling financially or feel you have it all together. John and Mary never had any real problems managing their money, but challenged themselves to do better. After putting together a budget they said “It just made the whole area of finances so straightforward, so approachable and really quite simple.” They took their summer holiday together in New York. By budgeting and saving effectively, they were able to pay for it all up front - and in cash.

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egardless of what position you are in financially, you can always improve it. If your situation is looking unhealthy, rest assured you can positively change it. If it’s already good, then you can make it even better! Taking responsibility and educating yourself on making the right financial decisions will help build a positive attitude towards money and in a society where debt is an ever-increasing problem, that’s important. The problem of debt cannot be understated – it affects more than just your bank balance, it impacts every part of your life. 55% of people struggling with debt visited their GP as a result of stress and 68% were prescribed medication. Debt destroys lives: 75% of people in debt said it affected their relationships, and more than one in three considered or attempted suicide. The statistics are scary, but you can take control. Katherine is a single parent who never knew quite where she was financially. Since putting together a budget and using it to make sensible spending decisions, things have dramatically changed in her life. She says, “When you have control over your money, you just feel like you’ve got so much more control over your whole life.” Now she can better provide for her daughter and make plans for the future too.

home economics

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here are many ways to cut out, cut back and reduce costs, and as you begin to balance your budget you might find yourself facing some difficult decisions. The Bible says: ‘I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.’ Philippians 4:12 Learning to be content may mean resisting a culture that says you must buy the latest clothes, gadgets and accessories, but you will find that living within your means and taking control of your finances make life far more enjoyable.

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“Ground Control to Major Tom” In the nineteen-seventies the United States Department of Defence created and developed the world’s first Global Positioning System (now universally known as GPS). Based on this, satellite navigation systems (satnavs) were developed in Germany in the nineteen-eighties and are now widely used in road vehicles and other machinery all over the world. Satnavs can be hugely helpful, but are far from perfect. In a 2012 survey taken in the United Kingdom eightythree per cent of drivers polled said that theirs had misled them at one time or another. The journey through life is infinitely more important than travelling to an earthly address and nothing is more important than finding the way to heaven. But we desperately need a reliable GPS, one that is certain to do so.

God has provided one! Some years ago I was in Jerusalem and needed to find a post office.

Deep in the confusing little 4

4you.ie Magazine Issue VII

streets and alleyways of the oldest part of the city late one afternoon, I had no idea where to find one. When I asked a shopkeeper for help, he began to give me directions, then shrugged his shoulders, locked up his shop and said, ‘Come with me, I am the way.’

Shortly before his death Jesus told his followers that he was going back to heaven and that when www.4you.ie

global

1978

Navstar 1 GPS LAUNCH

www.4you.ie

there he would prepare a place for them, so that ‘where I am you may be also’ (John 14:3). When one told him they were not sure what he meant, he replied, ‘I am the way, and the truth and the life’ (John 14:6). Read that again! Jesus did not say, ‘I know the way’, or ‘I will show you the way’, but that he was the way.

There is no other way! The Bible says, ‘There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death’ (Proverbs 14:12). Millions are on this way, sincerely believing that they will reach heaven if they lead respectable lives or are reasonably religious. But the Bible warns us, ‘All who rely on observing the law are under a curse’ because to get right with God they would need to ‘continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law’ (Galatians 3:10). But none of us does this and our disobedience places us under the ‘curse’ of being rejected by God. People hope that when they die God will turn a blind eye to their moral failures and accept their best efforts as being good enough.

But this would compromise God’s own moral character.

Trying to reach heaven under our own steam leaves us exposed to God’s righteous judgement and is an insult to a holy God, who will not be palmed off in this way, but says of heaven that ‘nothing unclean will ever enter it’ (Revelation 21:27). The way to heaven is not a principle or a performance but a person and four things about him tell us why Jesus is that person.

Firstly, his identity. In the musical Jesus Christ Super-

“People hope that when they die God will turn a blind eye to their moral failures” star, Mary Magdalene sings, ‘He’s a man, he’s just a man,’ but this is seriously wrong.

Jesus was not only human — he was also truly divine, God himself in human form. When Jesus came into the world he added human nature to his divine nature and from that moment has remained as fully God as if he were not man and as fully man as if he were not God. There is no other way to explain the Bible’s clear declarations that he is ‘our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ’ (Titus 2:13).

Secondly, his perfect life.

Someone who spent three years in his close company said he was ‘without blemish’ (1 Peter 1:19) and that he had ‘no sin’ (1 Peter 2:22). He was ‘in every respect… tempted as we are, yet without sin’ (Hebrews 4:15). He fulfilled the demands of God’s law so perfectly that God was able to call him ‘my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’ (Matthew 17:5), something he has said of nobody else in human history.

Thirdly, his death. The Bible says that death (physical and spiritual) is ‘the wages of sin’ (Romans 6:23) and links the two so closely that it speaks of ‘the law of sin and death’ (Romans 8:2).

Sin causes death and death is the result of sin. Then if 4you.ie Magazine Issue VIII

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Jesus never committed any sin, why did he die? The answer is that in act of amazing love he died in the place of other people, bearing in his body and spirit the appalling penalty they deserved. He died ‘the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God’ (1 Peter 3:18).

In his death Jesus was exposed to God’s holy anger against the sinners whose place he was taking and when he cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Matthew 27:46) his cry was met with holy, angry silence. In his death Jesus suffered all the punishment, torment, pain and agony that hell means.

Fourthly, his resurrection. What is unique about Jesus is that on the third day he came back from the dead and over 2,000 years later nobody has been able to overturn the massive evidence for this. His resurrection reveals at least five things. It reveals his deity; he ‘was declared to be the Son of God in power… by his resurrection from the dead’ (Romans 1:4). It reveals that his death paid sin’s penalty in full; God ‘sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins’ (1 John 2:2). An atoning sacrifice satisfies the one who has been offended by doing everything necessary to remove the offence — and Jesus met all the demands of God’s holy law, which we have all broken. It reveals that as he was not a sinner, death had no rightful claim on him; he ‘abolished death’ (2 Timothy 1:10), which means that he put it out of commission, rendering it completely powerless. It reveals that his victory over death is permanent; ‘death no longer has any dominion over him’ (Romans 6:9). Finally, it reveals that all who trust in him share in his victory over death; they have ‘a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead’ and have ‘an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading’ (1 Peter 1:3-5).

Jesus underlined his claim to be the only way to heaven by declaring, ‘No one comes to the Father except through me’ (John 14:6). Jesus is not one of many ways to heaven — he is the only way. He alone has provided the way by which we can receive the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Jesus is ‘the true God and eternal life’ (1 John 5:20), which explains why ‘Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life’ (1 John 5:12). Eternal life is not something that begins after death. A person trusting in Jesus receives it the moment they put their trust in him. If you have never done this do it now! You will then be on your way to heaven.

This article is an edited extract from John Blanchard’s booklet ‘Anyone for Heaven?’ published by Evangelical Press.

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’ve just finished Wilful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan—a superb book dealing with many of the factors which cause us to fail to see what we should see. It might be biases, an overloaded mind, emotional involvement, fear of change, money, the blind hope that a problem will just go away if we don’t look at it, failure to think outside the box—whatever the reason, there are many ways to miss the things we should otherwise see.

One of the most illuminating chapters was the final one entitled “See Better”. In it Heffernan seeks to outline steps we can take to counteract this tendency. Earlier she had told of Alice Stewart, a doctor who discovered a link between childhood cancer and x-raying pregnant women. Due to the medical establishment’s blind faith in this new diagnostic method they refused to accept her findings for 25 years, causing needless death and heartache to many. In the final chapter Heffernan identifies part of the strength of Dr. Stewart’s case: www.4you.ie

Books

in:sight EXAMINE YOUR UNBELIEF -Mark Loughridge ‘When Alice Stewart conducted her survey on childhood cancers, she worked with a statistician named George Kneale… What is most interesting is how Kneale himself thought about his job. “It’s my job to prove Dr. Stewart’s theories are wrong.

I am, in effect, trying to disprove her. Hence the strength of our long association.”’ effernan continues, ‘In his seeking for disconfirmation, Stewart knew that Kneale protected her from potential blindness in her own thinking… Kneale and Stewart understood between them that the risk of losing their theory was outweighed by the danger of being wrong.”

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We need to seek disconfirmation of what we believe if we want to guard ourselves from blindness.

I was struck by this recently as I surveyed my father-in-law’s www.4you.ie

bookshelves. He had recently passed away and had a strong faith in Jesus Christ. Yet his bookshelves displayed the most interesting range of books. About a third were to do with his faith; a third novels; but the remaining third were across a wide variety of topics—from history to politics to biography to science to mathematics. In this section were a host of books hostile to aspects of Christianity—from just about everything Richard Dawkins had written, to Christopher Hitchens, Stephen J. Gould, Stephen Hawking, the Gnostic Gospels, the Lost Gospel of Judas, and many others.

to seek disconfirmation. I find many Christians don’t actually know what they believe. And I find many sceptics equally guilty.

Ironically sceptics can be just as guilty of blind faith. Will you take time to examine your belief or disbelief, rather than persisting in wilful blindness? For one there lies the risk of a wasted life, and for the other lies the danger of a lost eternity.

Here was a man who actively sought disconfirmation—not because he didn’t want Christianity to be true, but because he wanted to be sure it was. His faith was not a blind faith, but an informed faith.

I suspect that there are many who naively believe—both in Christianity and in scepticism. You need 4you.ie Magazine Issue VII

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n 10th February 2011 I boarded a plane in Belfast airport. It was a morning flight that was heading to Cork and eleven other people were on board. Only six of us, however, would emerge alive at our destination.

Of course there was no sign that this flight would be different from any other. I took my seat at the back of the plane, away from where most of the passengers were sitting, as I felt tired and wanted to take some time to read the Bible and pray in preparation for my day’s work. Despite a short delay before taking off, the journey was largely uneventful for the first fifty minutes or so. Then the plane started to descend into Cork. We lowered into the clouds and into some fairly deep fog. The sound of the engine changed, no doubt preparing to land. But then, oddly, we went back up again above the clouds. We circled the area for a few minutes and then the same thing happened again. Surely, I thought, the plane seemed to be trying to land but could not.

After this second descent, the pilot appeared out of the cockpit. He explained to everyone that he had tried to land twice but could not do so, due to the dense fog around Cork airport. The plane would circle the area again for about twenty minutes - I was nervous, all the while worrying and praying for a safe landing.

Finally, we would descend into the clouds again.

All I could see was thick fog. But this time there was no sign of us ascending. Suddenly I noticed flashes of the ground next to me. I then felt a pull upwards, and then a very sudden pull to the right. There was a loud bang and all went out of control. It all happened so quickly. I crouched with my head in my hands for safety, realising that the plane had crashed.

I waited for the final blow as the plane rolled uncontrollably through the grass and the sound of the engine giving out drowned out all the passengers’ screams. Thoughts raced through my mind as I wondered, how could this be the day I would die, as young as I was; the day God had planned for me to see Jesus?

“There was a loud BANG and all went out of control.”

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ut it wasn’t this day. After a little while, the plane came to a stop. It took a few seconds for me to realise, and after taking some deep breaths I realised that I was still alive! The plane was dark though. Mud covered most of the windows and all I could hear were faint groans ahead of me in the dark. I released myself from my seat and went immediately to the back side window where light filtered in. Looking out I saw, to my horror that the wing was on fire! If it spread we were all doomed. I knew we had to get out fast. No one responded www.4you.ie

eyewitness accounts

Donal Walsh walked away with his life from the

Flight 7100 Plane Crash at Cork Airport

to my cries to people in the front of the plane. Even so, I was the only one mobile, so it was up to me to make an exit. I kicked one of the back windows as hard as I could.

But it was hopeless. Exhausted, I sat at the back of the plane. Amazingly, I had survived the initial crash, but sadly the flames would get us all.

But then I heard voiced from outside and people banging on the side of the plane. I roared back, along with one or two others who had gained consciousness at the front of the plane. A fireman broke one of the side windows, telling us they would come through the back of the plane. I walked out of the plane with the rescue team; elated to be alive but distraught to be leaving other passengers behind, not knowing how many were lost.

“Why specific things happen to specific people, only God knows.”

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he next few weeks and months were very hard.

I had never been brought through something like this before. I was raised Catholic but came to truly know God when I was seventeen, and so had been a fairly easy-going Christian for the past four years or so.

But this was the first time my faith had been really tested.

Yes, I survived and was grateful to God for that. But it was an awful tragedy and consoling the families of those who lost loved ones was a painful experience and I had few answers. I realised how fragile life was, and it shook my convictions about my own safety. I know I was not injured, and my suffering cannot compare to what those who lost loved ones went through, but remembering everything was not easy. I went through bouts of anxiety, grieving and physical, emotional, relational and spiritual breakdowns. I cried out to God many times after the crash and He seemed so far away from me, holding back answers as to why the crash happened and not consoling me in my pain. I felt like King David in Psalm 22, when he cried out ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me??’

But what I realised was that no one can fully grasp why suffering of any sort happens. Yes, we are in a fallen world that God is not happy with, but as to why specific things happen to specific people, only God knows. All I knew is that God is absolutely powerful and uses His power with absolute wisdom. But more than that, I realised also that God has a purpose in all suffering because He went www.4you.ie

through the worst suffering ever Himself, for a great reason. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and lived in this fallen world and ultimately went to His death on the cross, enduring the worst suffering. Here He cried, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me??’ God did, in Christ, perfectly experience the worst suffering, and the most inexplicable. You see when He hung on that cross, He was taking the full and awful wrath of God upon Himself. Not only that, but it could not be explained as He was God’s perfect Son who had done nothing wrong. But He did it for us, for sinners who had rejected God’s place in our life, a people who had desired everything and everyone but the One from whom we get all we have. By dying on the cross, Christ took the punishment we deserve upon Himself and because He suffered, we could escape God’s justice and eternal suffering. As He arose from the dead, we can likewise escape death by turning from our sin and putting our trust in Him alone and His work to save us. Without Him, we are doomed to suffer under God’s wrath forever, with no consolation of His presence here or in the hereafter. I realised that the fact that Christ suffered in a way that seemed so inexplicable, but yet had a great reason behind it, consoled me. I could trust that God had a purpose, a reason for my suffering and for the tragedy. He was not far off from Jesus in the worst or most inexplicable of suffering and was not far off in this tragedy or any other. What’s more, I realised that though I did not know what was going on, He had a purpose and He would deliver me ultimately one day to Himself. The amazing truth is that for all who put their trust in Him, He will deliver them from all suffering in the end.

“...Christ suffered in a way that was so inexplicable...”

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Religion

P U R G AT O RY and the G r e a t Tr e a s u r y o f M e r i t -Mar y Hamilton

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ccording to The Catholic Catechism, Purgatory is for “All those who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation, but after death they undergo purification so as to achieve the holiness necessary for heaven.” Who goes there?

It is for those whose sins were not dealt with after baptism, through the means of prayers, indulgences, penance, absolution, and the Mass. The idea is that these imperfect human beings need purging (cleansing) and that this happens after death. It may last a short period of time or a very long one depending on the lack of merit with which the person enters purgatory. Thus, purgatory has to do with a lack of merit.

What happens in purgatory? It is through suffering and pain that one accrues enough merit to get into heaven. However, purgatory is not for everyone. Baptised infants who have died before the age of accountability and Catholic saints who have lived extraordinarily holy lives will not experience the suffering and pains of purgatory. But the rest of us have this need to be cleansed. We sin – we do things that God says “don’t do” and we fail to do the things he says “do”. We lack merit.

What if our purging/cleansing could happen in this life, that is, that we could be completely cleansed from all our sins right now? That would be incredible, wouldn’t it? It would mean that we wouldn’t have to keep worrying whether or not we were good enough, or if we had enough merit to overcome our deficiency.

What if there was a work of extraordinary merit that resulted in an inexhaustible Bank of merit that you could tap into in this life that would cleanse you from all your sins? The good news is - there is! When the Bible speaks about purging/cleansing it is always in the NOW, in this life and not after death. This means that you can experience it right now.

In Ireland this inexhaustible Bank of merit has been kept hidden for hundreds of years. It was suppressed. Others have found the TREASURY and they are spreading the news. It is no longer being suppressed – it is out in the open. How can we tap into this great Bank of merit?

This treasury is filled with the merit of the Son of God alone.

Jesus, through His death on the cross, has filled the treasury with HIS merit. It is all there and it is available for anyone and everyone. It is for you. You don’t have to make yourself good in order to receive it. In fact you have to realise that you can never make yourself good enough in order to receive it. It is for spiritually bankrupt people like you and me, for people who are conscious that they have no merit. On the cross a great transaction took place. Jesus took our sins and our punishment and those who trust in His work get His merit. They are completely cleansed from all their sins, past, present and future. One of the Bible writers put it this way – ‘just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify (purge) our hearts from deeds that lead to death ... For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.’ (Hebrews 9:14).

A PERFECT SACRIFICE FOR SIN! In some ways this is like a cheque for a large sum of money. It is there and available for you, but it will not do you any good unless you cash it in. The great treasury of merit that Jesus has provided will not do us any good either unless we respond to His offer. How are we to respond? In two ways. Firstly, by admitting that you are a sinner without any merit of your own. Secondly, by trusting in and relying on what Jesus has done on the cross for our sins – not on what you have done. Then the treasure becomes yours. You will be completely cleansed from all your sins.

You then have spiritual credit in your spiritual bank account.

Your account is filled with Christ’s merit.

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4you.ie Magazine Issue VIII

MYSTERY MAN Who Is This Famous Person?

I’ll give you some clues: his favourite colour was green; his parents were wealthy; his head was full of music and poetry; he was a shepherd and swineherd; he wrote a famous poem which is sung in churches; he was afraid of spiders – but not of snakes; he sang to the sheep, not to the pigs; he visited Connemara; he had a collection of copes and mitres in many colours, and he wore a cope and a mitre every day; he was stolen from Britain when he was a teenager; he was vegetarian; he had dreams in which God told him what to do; and he died sometime around 460 AD. We celebrate his day every year, and buildings all over the world turn green, and quantities of a little scruffy plant are given as gifts between people.

I’ve jumbled up fact and fiction in the stories about Saint Patrick. There are no prizes – sorry! – for guessing which are true and which I’ve invented. Patrick lived so very long ago that a lot of what we think we know about him is simply myth. I can’t prove that he sang to sheep or swine. I hope he did! What historians believe is that he had Godly parents, and they taught Patrick about the Saviour, God’s Son Jesus Christ.

When he was a young boy, Patrick was stolen by raiders and taken to Ireland, where he lived in captivity looking after livestock, for about six years. He escaped, returned to Britain and began to learn more about the nature and person of God, and he grew to love and worship Him. In his dreams he heard God’s voice, telling him to return to Ireland. So he did.

Patrick came back to tell Irish people that God loved them. But it’s not really helpful for a preacher to announce, ‘People, God loves you!’ and leave it there. The baffled Irish farmers would respond, ‘So what? That doesn’t change anything. My life is just hard work, I have difficulties with harvest, my pigs are getting diseases, my children are giving me cheek, my wife is lazy – and then I die!’

The answer to ‘So what?’ is Jesus. I’ll explain, though maybe not as well as Patrick did. The former swineherd, now with a compelling message, told the people about God’s plan for them, for lazy wives, diswww.4you.ie

heartened men, harsh bosses, and cheeky children.

God, the Lord and Creator of the universe, knows what we’re like, all muddled up with bad stuff, dishonesty, greed, impatience, disappointment, even sometimes cruelty or murder. Patrick might have stood in front of the crowd and preached ‘Give up Yer Aul Sins’! But preaching does nothing to change sinful hearts.

Maybe you’ve heard about Jesus, and even tried to copy Him, by doing good, being patient, speaking with kindness ... dream on! The Good Resolution made at breakfast time is in smithereens by bedtime.

The truth is, you need a Saviour (that is, a person who saves), not just a moral example. Following Jesus springs out of a new relationship with Him and a renewed, clean heart. My ‘heart’ is the real me, the person living in my body, my mind, my spirit, my soul. So, what’s a ‘renewed heart’? Well, I’ll tell you first what it’s not.

It’s not Rules and Regulations! God hasn’t bound us round with rules that we must obey, if we want to follow Him. He hasn’t set up a series of ceremonies to keep us in line. He has most definitely not given some of us power over others, in the name of Christianity. Rituals feel good, but they don’t solve our problems, and how wearisome to be tied into ceremonies, trying to change ourselves enough to please God.

Solving the Ancient

MYSTERY of St.Patrick

The people Patrick spoke to couldn’t be doing with more ceremonial rituals! They had hungry hearts.

Maybe they had thrown themselves into lives full of rituals, and ended up no better, and with no time for their families and livestock, and then they wondered ‘What’s all the effort for? Is this all there is?

Nothing’s changed.’

I want to quote here from the Bible, which is God’s Word. I could fill pages about the beauty and grace of God’s loving plan for each of us, but let’s go to the source text. God puts it better than I could.

Before doing that, I can assure you that the Bible is rock solid. There is no body of ancient literature in the world which enjoys better evidence as to its reliability. The proofs of the Bible being genuine are overwhelming.

So, let me show you what the Bible says about us, and about God, and Jesus. Because I’m writing an article, not a book, I have to keep it short! So I’m going to quote Jesus’ own words.

Jesus said ‘God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life’. He said ‘Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest’. And Jesus said ‘Whoever comes to Me I will never drive away’. It gets better, and I’m running out of space!

The Bible is packed with stunning stories and teaching about God’s love and plans for people who follow him. Lots of the sceptical tough Irish families received Patrick’s teaching, and repented of their sins, and followed Jesus into ‘the glorious freedom of the children of God’, right there in the Irish fields and villages.

So, if you would like to hear more, ask the person who gave you this magazine, or write or phone or email the addresses inside. Nobody will pester you, but you’ve nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

www.4you.ie

Article by Ruth Chipperfield Bible quotations are from the Gospels by Matthew and John, and Paul’s letter to the Romans.

4you.ie Magazine Issue VIII

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HEALTH

EPRESSIO

Depression

“Day and night I have only tears…my heart is breaking as I remember how it used to be… why is my heart so sad…waves sweep over me…why must I wander around in grief?”

fellowship of God’s people. We’ve mentioned a preoccupation with guilt. A Christian who has had their guilt dealt with by Christ may still feel very guilty. You can imagine that all of this will rob a believer of their joy and peace. Poor conThe words of one sufferer who wrote of their centration and reduced energy mean that prayexperience of depression. But surely we all get a ing, Bible reading and worship are a struggle. bit down from time to time. How do we know it’s not just unhappiness?

Now, add all of these together and what kind of questions will it raise? Should a Christian What is depression? feel like this? Where is the evidence that I am a Christian? What’s the Devil doing to me?

Depression is made up of different symptoms And the outcome of all of that is - am I really that affect mind and body and if we have a Christian? enough of these, happening together and lasting for a few weeks or more we probably have What causes depression? depression. So how does it affect us?

So depression is much more than just feeling There can be physical symptoms. Commonly a bit unhappy. But what causes such a picture? people have sleep disturbance, classically with early wakening. The appetite may go down with Major life changes are thought to precede weight loss, though some comfort-eat. Depres- around 70% of cases. Bereavement, loss of a job, sion often produces exhaustion and may lead divorce, illness are some examples. It can run to poor concentration. This often presents as in families. Bad childhood experiences such as poor memory. Already we observe that it can abuse can make us more likely to get depressed. be quite a disabling condition.

Sometimes, physical illness can cause depression and it’s always worth seeing a medical docWe can also see changes in behaviour. People tor. stop activities, often things they enjoy. Losing interest in appearance, becoming withdrawn, Isolation can cause or worsen depression. The even self-harming can all be features. Self-harm loss of a sense of community in rural Ireland is, of course, something to be taken seriously. is placing more people at risk. Economic presIt may happen because of self-hatred, because sures and unemployment add to the picture. of suicidal thoughts, or even inability to cope Right now around 400,000 Irish people are sufwith distress. fering from depression.

Depression also affects us emotionally. Low mood may seem obvious, but not all depressed people get it! Typically it’s a sadness, or heaviness. There can also be anxiety, irritability or even apathy – we don’t feel anything. A central problem is the loss of a sense of pleasure or enjoyment.

Anything that affects how we feel will colour how we think. In depression we get very dark, negative thoughts. We become preoccupied.

We see ourselves as having no worth. ‘I’m useless’ is a common reaction. Life seems to hold no purpose. ‘What’s the point?’ we often think.

We brood over guilty thoughts that may have no basis. There’s no light at the end of the tunnel and everything seems hopeless. Depression pushes our thinking to extremes.

Hopelessness is important to highlight. Hopeless people can begin to think there is no way forward. And it’s then that suicide might become an option. A relatively recent survey in a single county of Ireland showed that 25% of young people there admitted to feeling suicidal.

Christians get depressed too Depression will also affect us spiritually. It affects our sense of fellowship with God. God seems far away. We want to withdraw from the

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4you.ie Magazine Issue VII

Dr. Andrew Collins Is there help?

What can be done to help? To start with, help is available. Talk to someone. This is a common condition. And it is treatable. Seek help. Visit your family doctor, especially if you feel a sense of hopeless. There is hope.

A look at your lifestyle Often it’s best to begin with some practical measures. Taking exercise and sticking to a healthy routine are helpful. Establish regular getting up and bed-times. Set one or two small tasks to achieve in each part of the day. This all helps motivation. Remembering that the feelings are sick can help us to push ourselves to do things we don’t feel like doing!

Regular eating times and winding down at night to help sleep have a part to play. Restarting some simple, enjoyable activities is important. These are often the first thing we give up.

Taking tablets Medication can be useful for some. There is evidence that there is depletion of some of the brain chemicals that regulate emotions. These are naturally-occurring, and antidepressants replenish them. Whilst there can be early sideeffects, they often disappear and the antidepressants take effect after 2-4 weeks. They aren’t addictive, but need to be stopped slowly with supervision from your family doctor.

Hypocrisy Turn Off

Talking to yourself!

But what do we do with all of those troubling thoughts? First of all, remember – the thinking in depression is largely driven by feelings that are not working well! So, although there is wrong thinking, we need to see it as the impact of illness.

This said, we can still work to change it.

Thoughts of worthlessness can be challenged by remembering how God sees us. Ideas that life is futile must be confronted with the reality that God has a plan and we are part of it.

Hopelessness must be met with the ultimate promise of life forever with God through what Jesus came to do.

How we talk to ourselves when depressed is of central importance.

A real life example

The gentleman quoted at the beginning of this article had written down his experiences in a song. How did he deal with his depression?

Listen to what he says

This song is found in the book of Psalms in the Old Testament of the Bible (Psalm 42:11). If you read this psalm, notice how he deals with the wrong thinking and the negative emotions. He counsels his own heart with truth.

He remembers his God (v. 6). He recalls God’s loving control over all that is happening to him, including the negative life events (vv. 7, 8). He finds a safe, secure place in God (v. 9).

He knows God is his strength (43:2).

Do you see his answer? God is where he finds his hope. In God he finds his true sense of selfworth, his purpose for getting up each day and a sure and certain hope for the future. In other words God is his Saviour.

In knowing this God through the Lord Jesus Christ there are real answers. Do you know Him?

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With the publication of various reports into child abuse in Ireland over the past few years and their horrific findings, many will no doubt add this to the list of reasons why they can’t believe in God. This is a perfectly understandable reaction, and one for which the guilty will have to answer to God. Jesus warned in Luke 17:2 that it would be better for such a person, “to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin”.

It is not simply these reports alone which give people reason to doubt Christianity—it is one in a long line of offences attributed to those who claim Christianity as their religion. Add to that list the Crusades, slavery, racism amongst the ‘Christian’ southern United States etc.

Several answers could be given. One is that disbelief in God fares no better—it has spawned the atrocities of Communism with its long list of human rights abuses all over the world, and the awfulness of Nazi Germany to name but two. Violence done in the name of Christianity is terrible, and must be addressed, but societies which have abandoned religion have been just as oppressive as those steeped in it. A deeper answer than disbelief in God is needed.

OFF

Identity. Worth. Purpose. Hope. Big issues.

What is it about us that one of the leading causes of disability in our world is a condition that raises these questions. What’s gone wrong? Where do we find a true sense of our worth and significance? What gives purpose to living? Is there such a thing as a certain hope for the future?

“Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again–– My Saviour and my God!”

I Can’t Believe Because of ... Religious Hypocrisy

A second strand to the answer is to recognise that there is a difference between real Christianity and what is often claimed as Christianity. If we looked at the ‘Christianity’ under which much of the hypocrisy is perpetrated and measured it against the Bible’s definition of Christianity, we would find gaping holes. There is much Christianity that is merely a cultural label or religiosity. Genuine Christianity is about a forgiveness from the penalty of sin and a freeing from its power. It results in a deep change of heart, and has been at the forefront of the righting of ills such as slavery and racism.

But there is also a counterfeit Christianity, one that deliberately or unintentionally hides behind a thin veneer of Christian appearance. Some may deliberately cloak themselves in apparent virtue to gain trust which they then abuse. Others mistakenly believe that surface level religious actions make them a Christian, yet their heart has never been changed and the old evils surface again and again. Neither are genuinely Christian.

God is no fool, He sees through the facades. He will be the judge of the hearts of those who claimed Christianity and carried out evil in its name—and there will be many who claimed Christianity to whom He will say “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:23).

God has far harsher words for the religious hypocrite than you will ever have. He calls them to a far higher standard than you ever will. It would be a tragedy to reject Christianity because of pious hypocritical frauds and yet to find yourself judged alongside them.

A third strand to the answer is to realise that the solution to these moral ills is not the abandonment of Christianity, but the embrace of it. The answer is to call the perpetrators to be more Christian, not less – to be genuine Christians. The Bible condemns such behaviour in far stronger terms than any human has. The Bible clearly calls people to live out what they believe.

Hypocrisy disgusts God as much as it disgusts you. Don’t let it keep you out of Heaven.

Mark Loughridge

4you.ie Magazine Issue VIII

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Child of the milkman Brenda Lawlor’s story

Child of the milkman”- that’s what

Brenda was called. Even as a child, she knew she didn’t belong. Finding herself pregnant at 17 only heightened her sense of failure and rejection. Brenda began using drugs to gain acceptance and ease her pain. By her early twenties, the Dubliner- now the mother of two- was addicted to heroin, cocaine, alcohol and pain pills. Brenda began the downward spiral. What could possibly be worth living for?

of shame. Her dignity as a person was altogether lost because of her lifestyle on the streets. Surely nothing could possibly be worth living for now.

Brenda had heard of Teen Challenge,

a drug rehab centre, on the streets and decided that she had nothing, literally nothing, to lose, so she contacted the women’s home. She entered Teen Challenge a gaunt skeleton, pale with hauntingly empty eyes.

renda heard about God’s love for her, Within a short space of time, she de- B how He sent His Son to die to pay for

veloped cirrhosis of the liver. Now with four children, the county realized Brenda’s lack of capability to care for them and took them away. Her despair intensified. What could possibly be worth living for?

W

hen it seemed life could not get worse, it did. Dublin gang members took revenge on Brenda’s live-in boyfriend by bombing her terrace home. She and her son stood on the sidewalk watching as all of their belongings burned before their eyes.

Speaking of that day, Brenda said, “Be-

fore that day I had no self-respect- no meaning in life. But at least I had material things. Now, even they were all gone up in the fire.” Homeless, she lived a life

her sins and how she could truly have a new life. Brenda knew the answer to her question immediately. She met the ONE worth living for!

T

wo months ago, Brenda went in for a regular cirrhosis check-up. The doctor told her that he had never seen such a miracle- that her healthy body and liver defied medical understanding. Her body had begun to heal “on its own!” Brenda began praising THE HEALER!!

“she developed cirrhosis of the liver. Now with four children, the county realized Brenda’s lack of capability to care for them and took them away.”

Ask us for a copy of this great little booklet:

Brenda

says that now, when she laughs, she knows that she means it.

When she cries, she knows that it’s healing. And she knows that now she can really love people, because she has been loved by the One worth living for.

8. How Can God Allow Suffering?

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4you.ie Magazine Issue VIII

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5. One Minute After You Die

4. Good Question

6. Did someone else die in Jesus’ place?

5. Prayers You May Wish to Pray

Reaping RACE Sports-fun comic strip

Apply it to life -Scripture Look up: www.4you.ie

6. Anyone for Heaven?

7. Nílim Ag Súil Feasta

“A cheerful heart is good medicine” -Proverbs 17v22

What can help us to be ready & fully equipped to do every good work? (See 2 Timothy 3:16-17) 4you.ie Magazine Issue VIII

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Search and you will find God hope meaning 16

O N L I N E From Ireland to Eternity