Going Down Under

15 thoughts on “Going Down Under”

1. Dear Philip Yancey,

   Have a Blessed and Safe Trip.

   Regards,
   Annie

2. I’m sure this will be a wonderful trip for you… looking forward to reading about it when you return. May God bless you and keep you in His care.

3. Dear Philip, I am just reading your book what’s so amazing about grace, and was loving it. then I got to page 163 where you start addressing homosexuality, and you kind of lose it there. I don’t consider myself a good christian by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know my christ. here’s where you are lost. Jesus chose to work amongst sinners, however he did insist that they SIN NO MORE. he did not say to the prostitute “go right ahead with your promiscuity and your sin, you are loved” NO. he said “sin no more”. So your rather weak pro homosexual stand just because you “mate” Mel turned out to be gay, and suddenly your chanting “god loves all homosexuals too”, well yes, god loves all. but he WILL judge sin and he DOES expect you to STOP sinning. The point about homosexuals and what I think is VERY WRONG with your stance is that you are trying to say “they can’t help it, so it’s nor REALLY sin” and so. god loves all the church and the good christian must accept them.
   to accept the wrong is to be a part of the wrong. I have sinned plenty in the past. most of my sins are private, but when I sinned and was sorry I rejected the sin,I repented, I accepted forgiveness and I NEVER committed that sin AGAIN. that is my love to myself & to my christ. like I said you are confused and confusing your mostly sheep like christian readers. The way you mislead other as a preacher is firmly on your shoulders. I am sad to say, I am putting your book away, good luck with selling bucket loads of books to your gay market though!

4. Dear Philip
   I am reading your book ” What good is God” and it has been a blessing. I happen to be faculty at the Christian Medical College, Vellore, where I have worked as a family physician in the unit for the poor for about 10 years. Currently I am in Melbourne for a break of 3 years with my family after which we plan to return to Vellore. I have been associated with Christian Mission work in India since 1993 and have some questions which have been troubling me over the years
   -Where do I draw the line in meeting the needs of a country where millions live without adequate medical help?It is obvious that no one can meet all the needs, but that can be very difficult for the people and the Christians who provide care for them
   – Where do I draw the line in balancing my work, family, personal faith, involvement in church, mentoring of students etc? I am reminded of the two great commandments which Jesus mentioned- to love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind , all your soul and all your strength, and to love your neighbour as yourselves. What would be the value of whatever I do for the poor if that results in not having time to love God and people? I saw my soul losing its passion for Christ and His ministry – what does it profit -(if I serve the poor) but lose my soul?
   -How do I handle criticism when others accuse me of not doing enough, when my family cries out that they do not have enough of me?
   I have about just more than 2 years before I return to my work- and these questions trouble me. I have seen sincere Christian friends of mine who laboured in the mission hospitals of India and then fled them because it was killing them. How do I stand in the face of the needs of India- to serve, but yet to love God and people? Added to these pressures are the challenges of building the academic speciality of family medicine which is so new to India, but is so vital to meet the health needs of the country.

   I am sorry this has become a long one. I wish I could meet when you come to Melbourne next week. I live 35 km away from the city and will not be to able to attend your talk at 7 30 pm

   Thanks again for your book, it is a challenge to a world that is increasingly critical of the relevance of the Christian faith

   Blessings

   Sunil

   Oddly enough, I am in Melbourne right now, on the Australia tour! Too bad we can’t meet. I have such fond memories of my visits to Vellore with Dr. Paul Brand. The hospital there is one of the very few which strives to incorporate Christian principles into their medical care. I’m glad to hear they have someone with your sensitivity and commitment on the faculty.

   As I read your comment I thought of Mother Teresa, who replied to a question by saying she sought to treat each person one by one, not bearing the burdens of the entire world, but rather seeing each person she helped as a form of subtraction: one less person left homeless in the street. It seems to me that’s the only way we can approach a place like India with such manifold needs. Medical care is care for a person, not a streamlined dispensing with statistical measurements. And we can only give away what we have. I think of my friend Ajith Fernando in Sri Lanka who found after a frantic week helping victims of the devastating tsunami that he was short with his family and colleagues and never had time for prayer or personal devotions. He had to restore a sense of balance to be able to respond to the true human needs of the moment. Or I think of Jesus who would get into a boat and row across a lake even though crowds of needy people were begging for more. Again, you can only give what you have.

   One more scene from Mother Teresa: her sisters get up early in the morning and spend an hour in the chapel in worship before moving out to address the needs around them. They rely on that time as fuel and nourishment equipping them for their important work. The kind of work you describe is best done in community with others who shoulder your burdens and fill in as you need help; very few can tackle such a mission alone.

   Frankly, though, I love your sensitivity. Doctors who never ask such questions, missionaries who never struggle with competing priorities, busy people who don’t worry about their family’s needs–these are the ones I worry about. I’m confident you’ll find the balance you need.
   Philip

5. So you don’t sin these days, Maria?

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