30 December 2011

Make a Difference with Jesus

Our family is enjoying the privilege of hosting my parents who are visiting us from the United States.  It has been great to chat at length, share delicious food, and show them around our area.  Though we have been able to stay in touch via phone calls, skype, and email over the past year we've been in Australia, there's nothing like spending time in person.  Even while I type this, I can hear my folks singing praise songs to the LORD.  That's something I haven't heard in a while!

Today I went to wash my hands in the upstairs sink, the same place where my sons brush their teeth morning and night.  The sink was clean and sparkling.  I thought to myself, no doubt my mom has been here.  My boys are not slobs, but they are boys.  They still at times need to be told when sinks, toilets, and even their bodies need some attention with soap and scrubbing!  After they clean the sink, it is not long before it needs to be cleaned again of the ever-present toothpaste residue.  Seeing that sink my mom left cleaner than she found it was a good object lesson of how Christians ought to impact this dirty world through the influence of Christ.

Christians are called by Jesus Christ to go the extra mile, not just doing the bare minimum.  If our job is to put away the knives and forks and we notice the container is a bit grubby, we can wipe it clean before we put them away.  In a spiritual sense, we should seek to bless others with a joyful countenance and a good attitude.  If the conversation begins to drop into the gutter, let us speak wholesome words.  When we are treated unfairly or with animosity, we can respond with meekness, humility, and love.  If someone feels left out, we can greet them with a smile and engage them in meaningful conversation.  Christ is the reason why we serve and we rejoice in following His example of giving and giving some more - even doing menial, thankless tasks like washing feet or removing toothpaste residue.

No matter our situation, through Christ we can perform good deeds to bring glory and honour to God.  When my kids forget to clean their toilet I can grit my teeth and mutter in frustration:  "Those lazy kids!  When will they ever learn?"  Or I can use it as a moment to demonstrate the love and patience of God and use it as a teaching opportunity.  People think serving the LORD is when you volunteer at church, preach sermons, or hand out tracts.  Serving God is doing all things unto Him right where you are, meeting even the smallest needs around you as God leads.  There is nothing more fun or satisfying than labouring for the glory of God!  God wants to make a difference with His positive influence through you today!

26 December 2011

Christ: Giver and Gift

My first Christmas in Australia was memorable.  I can't remember the last time I had a fever on Christmas Eve and Christmas!  I am now feeling better after a bout of "gastro," which involved chills, fever, nausea, and overall feeling lousy.  At a point I was wondering if I would be able to deliver the Sunday message.  But I figured God had given me a message to deliver, and He wouldn't have given me the message without the strength to deliver it.  Preaching was very much an act of faith on a different level, and that's how I ought to live every day!

This morning in prayer I was struck by the truth of Psalm 23:6:  "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  God does not grant goodness and mercy to men because some are more deserving than others.  It is all through the riches of His grace.  Goodness and mercy were granted me both on a sickbed and in health.  Not only do born-again Christians have this promise in life, but also lay hold of the ultimate promise of living forever in the presence of God.  Wherever a person goes, the goodness and mercy of God follows them.  Christians are simply the ones who receive this goodness and mercy through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.  It is Jesus who opens our eyes to see.

Christ is both Giver and Gift.  He is life for all who trust in Him.  In the days following Christmas, millions of people will return unwanted gifts back to retailers for money or store credit.  For many, Jesus is tragically one of the most often returned, unopened gifts.  Yet there is no gift more valuable!  The story of Christ's birth, death, and resurrection is more than a curious legend we tolerate for one day of the year:  it is the miracle of love come down from heaven so all sinners could be saved.  God has given the greatest gift in Christ.  To think that some people keep their trinkets, games, and digital devices but return unopened the love, redemption, and reconciliation with God afforded man through Jesus!

Let us celebrate the joy of Jesus every day, regardless of the season.  Every day is the season of celebrating our Saviour!

23 December 2011

Way of pain - Way of Life!

With our boys enjoying holidays from both school and sport, over the last week we have spent much more time together as a family.  One of the things we did was watch The Lord of the Rings and eat popcorn made from a old-fashioned machine Laura picked up at the Salvos.  In Tolkien's classic Sauron, the dark lord and maker of the ring, threatened to take shape and cast the world into shadow.  Gandalf went to seek counsel from the leader of his order, Saruman.  Having been corrupted by Sauron, in the movie Saruman tried to convince Gandalf it would be wise to ally himself with the evil lord Sauron.  Gandalf refused.  After a brief wizard's duel, Saruman proved more powerful than Gandalf.  As he lifted him in the air Saruman shouts, "You have elected the way of pain!"  When Gandalf eventually escaped with the aid of a giant eagle, Saruman says almost to himself:  "So you have chosen death."

Saruman's sentiment was ironic, seeing that it was he who later died and Gandalf lived.  With Christmas right around the corner, I have been thinking about the miracle that God became flesh and dwelt among us as a man on earth.  Instead of coming in angelic splendour or on the wings of giant eagles, Jesus was born as a fragile baby, wrapped in swaddling cloths, and placed in a feeding trough because there was no room for Him in the inn.  He elected for Himself the way of pain.  He chose to endure life as a human being complete with emotions, bodily functions, weakness, fatigue, and need of food, water, and sleep.  Jesus was sent to His own and they did not receive Him.  He experienced grief, sorrow, and heartache like none on earth can know.

The life of Christ is described by more than simply the experience of pain.  He lived a flawless existence according to the Law.  Unspoiled by a sin nature, Jesus demonstrated the love the world could not and still does not fathom.  He taught people the wisdom of God, fed the hungry, healed the blind and deaf, cleansed the lepers, cast out demons, raised the dead, and called men from all walks of life to follow Him.  Jesus did not only choose a life of pain but embraced His own death.  It was through His sacrifice on Calvary that all who repent and trust in Him as Saviour find eternal life by grace.  It is by His stripes - painful lacerations - that we are healed (1 Pet. 2:24).  Jesus died to Himself daily before He was nailed to a Roman cross died in the sight of many witnesses.  Three days later He rose from the dead, proving His power over Satan, sin, and death.

Hebrews 4:14-16 reads, "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  No matter what pain we face in this life on earth, Jesus can empathize with our weakness, temptations, and hurts.  We are entreated therefore to boldly come before His throne of grace in prayer that we may "obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  In this time of year which often emphasises what we receive, God grants us grace so we might help.  God is our Helper, and we are to help others.  How awesome is our God and King, full of mercy and grace!

The life of a Christian is one who chooses the way of pain and death so we might experience abundant life through our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  It is a life of sacrifice, but it is not bitter.  Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28-29:  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls."  All people experience pain, but Christians have hope, help, and healing found only in Jesus.  These are gifts already given:  have you received them?  Rejoice in the One who has brought peace, joy, and salvation to men!

20 December 2011

Seeking and Saving

Have you ever misplaced something in your home?  You look in all the usual places and scratch your head.  "Hmm.  Where could I have put it?"  So you check the same usual places again with greater care.  Not finding the item, you now expand your search to very unlikely places.  Finally, sheer desperation causes you to search everywhere, thoroughly examining places you know the item should not or cannot be.  It is the value placed upon the item that drives us to drop everything and search until the thing is found.

Yesterday my wife and I had such a moment.  Of all things, we were looking for an important receipt.  At first Laura was the only one searching.  Before too long, I was knee-deep in the file cabinet searching carefully.  The search expanded through the office, bedrooms, closets, even the bathroom!  Finally, after looking for over thirty minutes, our search was rewarded with success.  Note to self:  avoid stashing receipts in shoe boxes.  That's a lesson I didn't think I needed to learn.  What was really funny is I was struck by how few places there were to look, and Laura was troubled by how much stuff we have!

Had it been a receipt from Hungry Jacks or Spotlight, our search would have concluded in mere minutes.  We would have shrugged our shoulders, resolved to put the receipts in the proper place next time, and moved on.  In this case, finding the lost receipt was critical because of specific information written on it, in addition to proving the cost and retail value of our purchase.  It reminded me of a parable Jesus told in Luke 15:8-10:  "Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?9 And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!' 10 Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

When the woman in the story misplaced one of her 10 silver coins, she did not wait for the light of morning to aid her.  When she first recognized her loss, the woman lit a lamp and searched carefully.  She swept the floor again and again.  She retraced her steps and checked pockets, looked in vessels, even examined under the furniture!  Her persistence paid off and she found the lost coin.  She rejoiced to find what was lost, and desired that all would rejoice with her.  Jesus summed up His point:  just like a woman searches for a lost coin and rejoices when it is found, so God and the angels rejoice over one sinner who repents.  The woman is not angry at the coin for rolling under the table.  She did not yell or threaten the coin with a time-out.  She was relieved and rejoiced because what was precious to her had been safely restored.

Our search for that dumb receipt yesterday has prompted the question:  how much value do I put on lost sinners?  I am willing to drop what I am doing to look for a receipt I feel is important, but how much effort do I put into seeking and saving the lost through sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ?  Is it possible that Christians could value misplaced items over lost souls of sinners?  If we value people lost in sin like Jesus does, we will expend much effort in seeking to have them reconciled to God through repentance and faith in Christ.  God used this receipt episode to show me I need to value people more like He values them.  When we value others, we will invest time, love, and grace in them.

I thank God that He rejoices over those who are found, and with those who are part of His restorative process of justification and sanctification.  Luke 19:1-10 relates a compelling story:  "Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house." 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, "He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner." 8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold." 9 And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."  What more can be said?  I want to be like Zacchaeus and Jesus, not like all the complainers who despised God's grace.  Today is the day of salvation!

19 December 2011

Silly Season?

In Australia the term "silly season" is often used as a reference to the Christmas season, where Christmas is associated with sun-soaked beaches, family barbies (BBQ), seafood, mangoes, and drunken revelry.  With kids and adults on holiday the potential for silliness reaches new highs or lows, depending on your perspective!  It is silly to go into debt for the whole year to purchase gifts.  But I think to gloss Christmas as "silly" goes way too far.  The commercialism of Christmas should not stunt our wonder or dull the glory of Christ's coming.  There's nothing silly about my Saviour.

Christmas is celebrated in different ways and for widely different reasons across the world.  Some may celebrate Christmas merely from family or cultural tradition.  It is an opportunity to gather with friends and family over special food and give gifts.  Others see it as a huge waste of time.  There are some who see it as a Christianization of a pagan holiday.  I see Christmas as an opportunity to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, the Messiah sent to seek and save the lost.  As far as I can see, Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season and all others.  Jesus is the Giver, and He has given Himself as the Gift:  providing forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life for all who repent and trust in Him.

The Bible describes a future event when the world will rejoice over the death of the two witnesses sent by God.  After their testimony is complete, Satan will slay them.  Their dead bodies will lie in the streets of Jerusalem and everyone will rejoice, refusing to bury them.  Revelation 11:10-13 reads, "And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them, make merry, and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. 11 Now after the three-and-a-half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here." And they ascended to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies saw them. 13 In the same hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. In the earthquake seven thousand people were killed, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven."

When the people on earth saw God's witnesses were dead, what was their response?  They rejoiced, made merry, and sent gifts to each other.  After three days, however, God will raise the dead men to life and ascend to heaven.  When Jesus came to earth, wise men brought gifts in worship.  If even heathen people rejoice over death by giving gifts, it is certainly not silly to rejoice and worship Christ - the Giver of Life to all who will believe - through giving gifts to one another.  It is not silly to give!  The end result?  May our celebration begin and end with giving glory to the God of heaven.

However you celebrate Christmas, may you do it as unto the LORD.  Romans 14:5-9 says, "One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it. He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks. 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord's. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living."  As long as we live, let us live as children of the Most High God!  Jesus is not dead, but alive!  He came to set the captives free, open the eyes of the blind, and deliver mankind from sin and death.  Sound it from the mountains, spread the Good News in the valleys:  "Joy to the world, the LORD is come!  Let earth receive her King."

Reign this Christmas, LORD Jesus.  Reign now and always!

15 December 2011

Blessings of God

When we talk about blessings from God, many times we think in temporal terms.  The material things we receive by God's grace are certainly blessings, but they cannot compare with the priceless gifts God has given all who repent and trust in Him.  Our homes, cars, food, and jobs are blessings from God.  But all of these things will pass away.  Psalm 32:1 reveals King David's perspective concerning blessings from God:  "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered."

What a blessing it is to be free from the condemnation, guilt, shame, and damnation due to our sin!  No amount of silver or gold is enough to post bail to escape the eternal destruction that sin demands.  But God, who is rich in mercy, has sent Jesus Christ to be the Saviour of the world.  We are not forgiven because we are sorry, but because Jesus has satisfied the righteous requirements of God's justice through His shed blood.  2 Corinthians 5:17-21:  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Not only have Christians received the blessing of forgiveness of sins, but of reconciliation with God.  Because of sin, every human being is estranged from God.  Our sin makes us active enemies of God.  But God revealed His love to us that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.  God the Father made Jesus Christ the Son, who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.  All who repent and rely upon Jesus are forgiven and have His righteousness imputed to us.  We are made co-heirs with Christ and made ambassadors on His behalf to those still in sin so they might hear and receive the word of reconciliation.

All the temporal "blessings" the world can provide cannot give us the peace, joy, and satisfaction of knowing God.  Jesus gives love which swallows all our fears, and we are given exceedingly great and precious promises out of the goodness of His grace.  What does it profit a man to gain the entire world and lose his own soul?  What a blessing it is to have assurance through God's Word and the testimony of the Holy Spirit that our souls are safe in Jesus Christ.  The entire world will pass away, but the Word of the LORD will endure forever.  Build on Christ, a foundation which cannot be moved!

12 December 2011

Risk Worth Taking

I recently read John Piper's book Don't Waste Your Life and was challenged.  It is easy to go through life being busy but not necessarily with things that count for eternity.  As a Christian, I know that I am called to walk by faith.  Faith is demonstrated through obedience to God without understanding the particulars of His plan from start to finish.  Abraham was called to leave his family and country and go to the land God would show him.  Without being able to tell anyone his goal destination on this side of heaven, Abraham trusted God and went.  Because God is worthy of trust and capable to act beyond the imaginations of my limited intellect, I am called to take the next step as God directs.  It is a conscious act of relying upon the character and ability of God to do what I cannot predict.  His ways are higher than my ways, and faith releases God to do His wonders.

Since Christians are called to walk by faith and absolute trust in God, the denying of the flesh to obey God will make my flesh uncomfortable.  The flesh is conditioned to walk by sight, not by faith.  The path of following Jesus Christ does not always appear to the eyes to be safe or even desirable.  But since Christ is both the means and the substance of my life, He is always to be treasured above all.  In his book, Piper voiced some excellent observations concerning the aspect of risk in following Christ.  He writes:  "Why is there such a thing as risk?  Because there is such a thing as ignorance.  If there were no ignorance there would be no risk.  Risk is possible because we don't know how things will turn out.  This means that God can take no risks." (Piper, Kindle edition, pg. 100)  God can take no risks, and any apparent "risk" from a worldly perspective a Christian takes by faith in God is simply a mirage.  The fact that I see risk is proof of my ignorance.  I embrace the fact of my ignorance that I might rest in God's wisdom!

You've probably seen the ads on television for investment firms who provide historical data and statistics to aid people in selling and trading stocks.  Based upon evidence, people invest money where there is the probability of lowest risk and highest yield.  Often the higher the risk, the higher the potential yield or loss.  When setting up investments, financial advisers recommend that investors diversify so all the money is not committed to a single fund.  The theory is while one fund may lose money another will remain stable, and the conservative funds will slowly build.  But Jesus tells us we cannot diversify our faith in this way.  We cannot put some of our faith in our business, a little in our savings and properties, and invest our faith in Him when it is time to pay the bills and taxes.  No, we must put all our faith in Him alone.  The following quote is often attributed to Jim Elliot:  "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose."  Jim Elliot risked his life to share the Gospel to unreached people in Ecuador and he was killed in the mission field by Waodani warriors.  But it was not a risk to follow Jesus on that path of the cross.  In dying a Christian gains what he cannot lose:  a glorious entry into eternal life with Christ, where we shall worship, glorify, and serve Him forever.

When we follow Christ in faith, inevitably we will be faced with what appears to be risk.  If there is no risk in our Christian experience, then we must seriously consider if we have experienced Christ!  God cannot risk because He knows all things.  This is not an invitation to be foolhardy or cavalier, assuming God will come to our rescue when we make foolish decisions because of pride.  But if God directs you to take a step of faith, there is no risk in obedience.  So take that step, believer!  God is able to accomplish all that concerns you today!  

11 December 2011

Your Daddy Matters

On Saturday my club baseball team played after a three-week hiatus.  When I slid into second base ahead of the throw, I bent my right wrist back.  I never used to be sore after playing baseball as a young person.  The only thing which experienced soreness was my throwing arm after pitching.  Now I have all sorts of lingering injuries:  knee, calf, hamstring, wrist, AND shoulder.  Getting older makes a person long for heaven!

As I grimaced and moved the wrist around, the second baseman said, "Injury?"  "Just aggravated an old one," I said.  Then she said something I did not expect:  "That's because you came from apes."  While I was sorting out whether it was intended as a personal insult based upon my appearance or sharing her views of the origin of the human race, the ball was hit and I was off to third.  I found the comment disturbing because I do not believe that any human being is a descendant of apes.  I believe that Adam was the first human being, formed by a loving God in His own image.

Her comment prompted me to ask the question:  how would my life be different if I truly believed my family tree branched off from apes in the distant past.  If an ape is my distant relative, than I was not created in the image of God.  Human beings then are no different than any other animal.  Ethics and morality become empty philosophies with no grounding in absolute truth.  As animals are driven by instinct without free will, so my highest purpose in life is to exercise my glands to feed the desires of my flesh.  There is no heaven, and certainly no hell.  There is no absolute right and wrong.  There is o future judgment but no future hope.  The only thing I could be certain of is disappointment, misery, and death.  Life is pointless, and the sooner it is over the better.

I don't believe in God because it is convenient for me to do so.  I believe and trust in Him because I am convinced the Bible is the Word of God.  Jesus came to earth, lived a perfect life in fulfillment of scripture, and rose from the dead proving the validity of His claims.  God created the order we see in the universe, established all natural laws, and created all plant, animal, and human life according to each kind.  The more the scientists investigate into the cell, DNA, and even blood clotting, instead of mastery the mysteries expand.  There has been an information explosion in the past 100 years.  What the increase of knowledge has done is enlighten us to more things we do not know!

Your family tree makes a difference in how you live.  If your great-great-grandpappy was an ape, you are no better than one yourself.  God has created man to glorify Him and to make Himself known to all people.  Sin has separated man from God.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and be saved from eternal punishment in hell - the just punishment for a single sin.  Jesus gave His life so all might be reconciled to God and experience the forgiveness, peace, and love only God provides.  I pray knowing personally the One to whom I speak when I say, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name!"  I know the One who designed apes, human beings, wrists, and knees.  God is my Father, and if you were to trace back my family line it would reach all the way back to Adam - not to some beast.  Jesus is the One who introduced me to real love, and that's the absolute truth.

04 December 2011

Don't Fly from God!

During the conference at Manly, we bought fish and chips and ate on the Corso.  The sea gulls in that region are amazingly well trained.  When the birds notice people carrying the white bags, they congregate with squawks in great numbers.  If someday you decide to sit on the concrete steps facing the surf, be warned that these birds will come up behind you and hover close over your shoulder until the second you lift the delicious chip to your mouth.  Swiftly they will swoop and snatch the chip from the hand.  I discovered that sitting at picnic tables with a person facing each other afforded protection from such thievery.  I'm sure there's a sermon in there somewhere.  True accountability is when we "have each other's backs" by remaining face to face with open communication, looking out for one another motivated by love.  But I digress!

While a group of us carefully ate our dinner, I noticed a sea gull whose legs were tangled with a length of black thread.  The bird was able to stand on one foot and fly, but was clearly hobbled.  The lack of the use of his bound leg would no doubt lead to atrophy or potential infection.  Someone suggested we attempt to catch the bird to free it from the cord which bound its legs together.  Being a wild bird, however, there was no way this bird could ignore its instincts to flee and trust that our intentions were simply to free it.  Whenever we came within six feet, it would fly away.  It was sad to see the bird in that condition, and harder still not to be able to do anything about it.

When people are hurt by life experiences, they can respond in a similar manner to the bird.  Perhaps they had once in their pain trusted well-meaning people to help them and were only injured more deeply.  That bird relied on its wings for safety, but they were powerless to free and heal.  As human beings we can build walls to insulate and protect ourselves from future hurt emotionally.  But in doing so we can deny loving people and even the healing power of God from restoring our joy, strength, and trust.  It is very sad when hurting people withdraw from the saving power of God because they don't trust Him.  Afraid that they will only be hurt worse or humiliated for their trouble they flit away, legs still bound with that dark thread.

Much more than we wanted to help that hurting bird, God desires to heal the hurting, hopeless, and helpless.  God allowed His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of the world who knew no sin, and made Him to be sin for us.  God's heart of compassion yearned to free Jesus from the weight of the sin of the world on the cross, but He knew the salvation that would be wrought by grace through faith in Christ's shed blood.  John 1:12 reads, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name...".  Jesus was willing to be bound to that cross, pierced with nails and thorns, being the perfect Lamb of God without blemish or spot.  What comfort we have in knowing Jesus has risen from the dead, the Good Shepherd, who anoints and heals us by His grace.  We must choose to submit to His healing touch.

I close with words which were not intended to be limited to memorial services, the words of David in Psalm 23:1-6:  "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. 3 He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. 4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. 6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  Trust God and never fly from His goodness and mercy!

02 December 2011

Envision Conference

This afternoon I returned from a four-day Calvary Chapel "Envision" conference in Manly hosted at St. Matthew's Anglican Church.  It was wonderful to meet with pastors and friends from all over the world, hailing from Australia, United States, the UK, South Africa, Scotland, the Philippines, France, and no doubt other places.  As we worshiped God through songs of praise, the teaching of His Word, the fellowship of the saints, and serving one another, it was a spectacle of God's grace and love.  How good it is to see brethren dwelling together in unity!

As we sang together, it occurred to me how wonderful it would be if we could stay together in Manly, day after day, night after night, praising God and ministering to all the people who wandered in.  When we lifted praise to Jesus people stopped, stared, and walked through the doors asking, "What's going on in here?"  There is no shortage of people who need Jesus Christ who walk past the open doors of St. Matt's sanctuary every day.  But as much as I have a heart to see salvation come to the people in Australia through faith in Christ, I caught myself.  It is good to gather together in one accord to seek God with all our hearts.  Yet it is God's design that His people would go out into all the world, preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all people!  God's power is revealed tangibly through His people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.  If all the Christians at the conference stayed in Manly, God would do great things.  But how much greater a work will He do through us when we walk with Christ out of the sanctuary and take Him into our homes, families, workplaces, cities, and nations, with the express purpose to introduce others to Jesus as LORD and Saviour!

The time spent at the conference was sweet, but sweeter days are yet to come.  God has a global vision for evangelism, salvation, and discipleship that would blow us away if we were to catch even a small glimpse of it.  There are times for joining hands in prayer and voices in song, and there are times to depart riding trains and planes.  All these seasons exist for the glory of God, so Jesus Christ may be lifted up and draw all people to Himself.  It's not the size of your church that matters.  One person walking in step with Christ is more effective in ministry than a thousand who lift their hands in unison and sing a song.  Whatever you do, do it with all your might for the glory of God.