Chinese New Year

Well, this is a first for me! I was invited to share the Christian message for group of Chinese at the New Year party very recently. They are celebrating the new lunar year of the Rat.

Clearly that was an invitation to use my rat trap - (mentioned in the last post) as a challenge to the chinese to trust God with the their New Year and my Rocky Raccon puppet made it's first ever appearance as Rocky the Rat!!

(A good magic show should always seek to contextualise to the occasion!)

The Chinese Linking Rings also perhaps inevitably made their appearance. I explained to the Chinese that their nation have invented one of the world's oldest illusions and went on to demonstrate the Rings. Illusions is a familiar metaphor in Chinese philosophy and some of the more Eastern forms of spirituality urges their believers to see all life as an illusion.

I went on to challenge that philosophy by pointing to a God who created our world as reality and who intends us to enjoy his created order in all of its fullness. I then shared my personal testimony with a handcuff escape and talked of how God helped me to be set free from my sin and freed me to be myself.

The this is where Rocky the Rat appears and goes through his routine of eating, drinking and sleeping. He is just a puppet though and is empty on the inside. Surely there is more to life than eating, drinking and sleeping. (The Chinese are an incredibly hardworking people and eating, drinking and sleeping really does describe their lives) . I introduced them to the Augustnian concept of a God shaped hole in each person and how we ask God to come and fill it with the presence of His Holy Spirit.

The Rat Trap illusion goes onto challenge the listeners that this requires a great deal of trust. We need to trust God in His Word and to respond to the message and work of Jesus Christ. As my volunteer trusted me by putting his face in a powerful springloaded trap, the same kind of trust is needed to step out in faith and follow Christ.

It was a fun evening. Lots of laughter and I felt the Spirit of God touch and move people's hearts through the messgae of the magic - or is that the magic of the message?

Happy New Year!

Blessings