Busy Week!

On the blog I enjoy sharing occasionally on a personal level what is going on "behind the scenes" as our family serves the LORD in Australia.  Nearly six months ago, our family moved to Sydney.  So much has happened in that time!  It has been exciting to see God's faithfulness in establishing us among amazing friends and family in Christ.

Laura has been homeschooling the boys and things have been going well.  Yet when a wonderful door of opportunity for our sons opened at Norwest Christian College (a local private school), we decided to go for it!  This week has been very busy in meeting for interviews, gathering the paperwork for enrollment, and Zed sat an exam for a scholarship.  Today we are meeting with a staff member to discuss enrollment and finances. We are thankful to have a God as a Father who knows our spiritual, practical, and financial needs.  We are also grateful to many who have financially aided us through donations.

As far as the church goes, it seems like things are gaining momentum in a hurry!  I was able to do some physical work at church this week which is a great blessing, enabling me to dust off some gifts and feel a sense of accomplishment.  I did some painting and assembled a new BBQ, a must for a proper Aussie church fellowship.  We plan to start hosting a BBQ lunch after service around once a month for starters, and hope that it will be a blessing and encouragement to those at our church.  With a ladies clothing exchange tonight, upcoming men's retreat and church conference, and a mid-week Bible study in the planning stages, there is no shortage of work to be done.  Pray for us!  We are very excited as we see God's plans unfold.

I have also continued service work outside of the church with the Pyjama Angel Foundation.  It is a volunteer organization focused on mentoring and promoting literacy with kids in foster care.  For one hour a week, my role is to go to the child's house and read with him, help with homework, and be a consistent positive role model.  I am pleased to say I have been placed with a 10 year-old boy in a local suburb and will pick up games and books next week in preparation.  Needless to say, I am very excited to start.

I recently (this Tuesday) began a workout routine from the book "Workforce Warrior" given me by my dad.  I bought a barbell and 70 kilos of weights off eBay.  Although I did my first workout three days ago, my body feels like I just finished!  I am ridiculously sore, but in my twisted mind that means it must be really effective.  What I like about the program is that it requires a relatively small amount of time and focuses on building strength and an intense cardio-workout at the same time.  The workout was not enjoyable by any means, but no doubt I will enjoy physical benefits if I stick with it.  Since I stopped working in construction and spend more time at the computer, I feel a commitment to fitness as a positive step to overall mental and physical health.

Thanks again for reading the blog and posting comments.  Feel free to browse through the old posts and read what catches your eye.  I pray that God ministers to you powerfully through the Holy Spirit, and that Christ would be your all in all!

Limes and Mandarins

When we first moved into our home in Australia, I didn't notice there were fruit trees in the back yard.  Because of their small size and the lack of fruit, they more resembled bushes than trees.  After a month or so, I examined the shrubs more closely and realized someone had planted two citrus trees in the corner of the yard.  One turned out to be a lemon tree, and the other seemed to be a lime tree. For several months I monitored the progress of the bumper-crop of limes and wondered how I could best use them.  Then seemingly overnight, much to my shock, the small green fruit turned bright orange.  I had misjudged the tree by its fruit.  I didn't know it at first, but my lime tree was a mandarin tree (tangerine for you American readers)!

 As I sampled a mandarin this morning (very glad it wasn't a lime!), I thought about how Jesus says, "By their fruits you shall know them." (Matt. 7:20)  The works of the flesh are very distinct from the fruit of the Spirit.  Fruit takes time to develop and grow.  When I first saw the tree, a cursory glance did not reveal any fruit.  But it was there.  And after a while I saw the fruit and thought it to be a certain variety.  But time and the miracle of growth proved that I again was incorrect!  Though I was wrong from start to finish, now I am the beneficiary of delicious fruit.  I didn't plant the tree, I didn't prune the tree, I hardly watered the tree, but now I enjoy God's results.

How true this is of our spiritual perceptions at times!  We look according to appearance and make judgments based upon what we can see or understand.  How wise we would be not to make such judgments concerning others!  Sin in scripture is clearly defined and must be seen as such.  But speaking for myself, I have misjudged fruit even as I have been blind to the hearts and intentions of others.  I am learning to leave all judgments to the LORD.  God grants time for fruit to ripen to maturity.  I think mandarins are more useful than limes, but God makes limes, lemons, grapefruit, and oranges too - different flavours, different colours, but all of the citrus family.  God has made us all different with unique personalities and ways we communicate.  A mandarin is no better than a lime:  both have been designed and crafted miraculously according to God's will.

Praise God Christians are part of the Body of Christ and Jesus is the Head!  He has saved us, forgiven, and purified us, ordained, called, and equipped us to serve Him and others.  Instead of judging, let us commit our ways and the ways of others to the righteous Judge, Jesus Christ.  Isn't all the fruit made by Him and for Him anyway?

More than Dawn Watchers

At Calvary Chapel Sydney, we have a weekly prayer meeting which begins at 6am.  When I visited Calvary Chapel Santee in the USA, I was pleased to hear they also have a weekly prayer meeting on the same day at the same time!  They call their time of seeking the LORD the "Dawn Watch" prayer meeting.  A great name, I thought.  Since we're on the other side of the world they won't care if we use the same name for our prayer meeting, right?  Prayer is intended to be a great privilege and delight for every believer.  While others might be sleeping, I want to be one who is watchful and expectantly waiting on the LORD.

A scripture association which comes to mind with the name "Dawn Watch" is Psalm 130:6:  "My soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning-- yes, more than those who watch for the morning."  Who are those who watch for the morning?  One example is seen in Job 7:4:  "When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise, and the night be ended?' For I have had my fill of tossing till dawn."  Job grieved the loss of his children and health, and spent his nights in sleeplessness.  He had been afflicted by the hand of Satan and could find no comfort even among his wife or friends.  Another example is seen in the book of Acts when Paul endured a storm on the sea.  For many days no one had eaten food and their chance of survival seemed slim.  After Paul shared a word of encouragement from the LORD, the words in Acts 27:29 well-describe the watchfulness of the crew:  "Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come."  These stories share the same themes:  intense suffering, lack of rest, and counting on the new day to bring fresh hope and consolation.

These examples of those who wait for the morning add force to what the Psalmist says:  "My soul waits for the LORD more than those who watch for the morning..."  This is the kind of intensity which should mark our praying.  We should seek God with more fervency than a man who has tossed and turned in agony all night.  We should desire to enter into the presence of God with more urgency then desperate men fighting for their lives.  When we take our eyes off Jesus, it is easy for us to despair.  It is natural for us to be overwhelmed by circumstances out of our control.  Our lack of entering into God's throne room of grace with prayer compounds our struggles.

But praise be to God, who has given us an advocate in Jesus Christ!  No matter how the wind and seas might rage, He is able to calm them with a word!  I love the story when Jesus slept through a fierce storm as His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee.  Panicked, they woke up Jesus and screamed, "Jesus!  Don't you care that we are perishing?"  In their minds they were thinking, "Do something to help out, Jesus!  Grab and oar, control the rudder, help us get these sails down!  Give us a hand!"  But Jesus did something so unexpected, so divine, that they were dumbfounded.  Mark 4:39 reads, "Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm."  They wanted Jesus to grab an oar:  Jesus planned to still the storm.

Out of the depths of suffering comes great hope in God.  The lamentations of Jeremiah contain the gut-wrenching consequences of sin.  Even in the midst of darkness, God's promises and truth shone bright.  If those words were written in times of ease and plenty, they would not hold half the significance they do, being spoken out of suffering few have endured.   Lamentations 3:21-26 states, "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. ²² Through the LORD'S mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. ²³ They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ²⁴ "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "Therefore I hope in Him!" ²⁵ The LORD is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him. ²⁶ It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

Do you seek God more than those who watch for the morning?  May we be numbered among them, for great is God's faithfulness!

Counselor or Companion?

"Ahithophel was the king's counselor, and Hushai the Archite was the king's companion."

1 Chronicles 27:33

There is a difference between a counselor and companion.  Ahithophel and Hushai both played important roles in David's life, and the stark contrast of their relationships occurred when Absalom usurped King David's throne.  Ahithophel gave counsel to Absalom even as he had done with David.  He was loyal to whomever sat upon the throne in Israel.  Yet Hushai remained loyal to David and gave counsel to undermine that of Ahithophel so David might survive and regain his rightful place on the throne.  When Ahithophel saw Absalom and his men favored Hushai's advice over his own, he set his house in order and hung himself.  If you are interested to read the biblical account, it can be found in 2 Samuel chapters 15-17.

As Christians, we find a counselor and companion in our Saviour, Jesus Christ.  When we are justified by grace through faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit takes up residence within us.  He guides us into all truth not as a paid informant, but as the closest friend.  As a good husband encourages and loves his wife faithfully and sacrificially, so God tangibly reveals His love for us.  No woman simply wants counsel from her husband:  she desires a companion.  God counsels us as the closest companion.  Most people are happy to give counsel, but few are willing or able to walk the long road of a lifetime commitment to God and one another sound marriage requires.  God's love is infinite, and it never fails.

Amazing as it sounds, this is what God desires from us too:  communion and companionship.  God needs no counsel from us (a good thing to remember in our prayers!), but He desires us to be faithful companions to Him.  He wants us to remain loyal even if the entire universe were to attempt to dethrone Him.  Interesting that the word "companion" is translated as "neighbor" 102 times and "companion" five times (KJV Old Testament).  Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind.  The second is like it, to love our neighbor as ourselves.  Because of the love God has shed abroad in our hearts, we are to love God and all other people with this same love, the love of a companion.  What a revolutionary thought for us people who ration out our love depending on feelings and familiarity with someone!

Jesus says in John 15:12:  "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."  The question then must be asked:  how does Jesus love us?  Completely, eternally, sacrificially, faithfully, graciously, without prejudice or partiality.  How can we love one another like this?  We must first receive of Christ's love and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  No man can love like this, but through the power of the Holy Spirit Jesus can love others through us.  We must be willing to be a companion to those who are lost, a close friend to our neighbors, and a lover of the unlovable.  Everyone has opinions on how other people should live their lives.  It is the love of a companion which often is completely missing.

Let's be willing to grow in the gracious love modeled by Christ:  2 Peter 3:18 says, "...but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen."

The Victor Gives Victory

"Some of the spoils won in battles they dedicated to maintain the house of the LORD."

1 Chronicles 26:27

One attribute of God's character is described in His name "Jehovah-Jireh:"  the LORD will provide.  God provided bountiful, rich land for His people whether they were employed in the fields or serving in the temple of God.  People were commanded to bring a tithe of their increase to the temple so priests and Levites who were not able to work the field or raise cattle could be sustained.  This passage also reveals spoil kings and fighters obtained from victories in battle was also brought to the house of the LORD.  It was the spoil from victory that provided the necessities to maintain the building.  It is an interesting thought, that victories and losses on the battlefield had a direct impact on temple maintenance.

As I mused over this fact, I thought about the various conditions which existed concerning the temple of God.  King Solomon built a gorgeous temple with gold, precious stones, and bronze that was razed to the ground by Nebuchadnezzar.  Even when it was later rebuilt, it did not have the same glory.  There were seasons when the doors were actually sealed shut and the inside was filled with so much rubbish no one could enter!  During the reign of some kings the book of the Law was read, and at other times it was misplaced for years!  Many factors went into the good or poor maintenance of the house of God:  wicked or righteous kings, the negligence or devotion of the high priest and Levites at the time, and sometimes the people were more preoccupied with their own houses and ceased to give.  Other times the giving was so abundant that the people were told to please stop!

My mind carried this thought another step further because the Bible teaches that Christians are now the temple of the Holy Spirit.  As it was true for the physical temple made with hands, so it is true for us spiritually:  how greatly can spiritual condition vary from person and person and season to season!  Though we have been given the victory through Jesus Christ, we need to personally appropriate and maintain the good condition of our hearts, minds, and lives.  Some seasons are filled with joy, strength, and courage.  But even after being delivered from our sins and embracing the victory affording in the person of Christ, we can become battle-weary, fearful, self-focused, and beaten down.  We can be the ones being spoiled!  We can be robbed of our joy and be deceived and influenced through the lies of Satan and our flesh.

Over time (and speaking for myself), this temple of the Holy Spirit can fall into physical and spiritual disarray.  We grow weary of cohabiting with Tobiah and his filth (Neh. 13:7), and try our best to ignore altars to idols set up in the most holy place.  We plug our ears at the annoying cries of the moneychangers and give up trying to clean up after all the animals the Pharisees are hawking.  Sometimes we are content to close up and bar the doors because we are so fed up with the cacophonous confusion!  But by God's grace, He gently reveals it is high time to make a whip purge the temple of the Holy Spirit by the authority and virtue of Christ's blood.  Because of the victory Christ has won, we are to be purified, sanctified, and consecrated wholly unto God again.

Were we unfaithful yesterday?  It matters not, long as we repent and are faithful from now on.  Love keeps no record of wrongs but rejoices in the truth without failing.  We are the temple of the Holy Spirit if we have repented and trusted in Christ.  The spoils Christ has won He gives to us that we might present ourselves as living sacrifices, holy, and acceptable unto God.  God will sustain us, but we also have a responsibility to maintain a life marked by holy, righteous, good works all to the glory of God, who has purchased us with His own blood (Acts 20:28).  Christ is victor, and freely grants us the spoils of victory:  He gives Himself according to the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 1:30-31 reads, "But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--³¹ that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."

The Promise for your Children

When I returned to my seat at a recent conference, pamphlets titled "A Revival Promise" written by C.H. Spurgeon were placed upon each chair.  According to the back of the publication, this is a sermon taken from Volume 20 of The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit.  There was a paragraph I though particularly relevant for all those who have children.

"I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring."  Parents, lay hold greedily upon these points of the promise.  I am afraid we do not think enough of the promise which the lord has made to our children.  Grace does not run in the blood; we have never fallen into the gross error of birthright membership, or the supposition that the child of godly parents has a right to Christian ordinances.  We know that religion is a personal matter, and is not of blood nor of birth; we know also that all children are heirs of wrath until the grace of God regenerates them; but still there is some meaning in that gracious saying, "The promise is unto you and your children, even to as many as the Lord your God shall call."  Paul was assuredly not wrong, but sweetly right, when he said to the jailer, in answer to his question,  "What must I do to be saved?" Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."  Lay hold of those words, Christian parents, and do not be content to get half the promise.  Pray to God to fulfill it all.  God to Him this very day, you mothers and fathers, and implore Him to have pity upon your offspring.  Cry to Him, and say, "Thou hast said, 'I will pour my Spirit on thy seed, and my blessing on thine offspring:' do it, Lord, for Jesus Christ's sake."

Guts to Trust

As I reflect upon my recent trip to the United States for a pastor's conference, I have a renewed appreciation for the Bible.  It is the divinely inspired, living and authoritative Word of God.  No man could ever exhaust the wealth of wisdom contained within those pages.  There is always more for us to learn and obey.  Though God's Word does not change, it changes us and remains relevant still.  To every person in whom God has breathed a living soul have these words been written.

A danger grows from our familiarity with passages, phrases, and events in the Bible.  When we listen to a sermon or read the Word, we can fall into the trap of simply confirming our current beliefs.  Instead of reading for the purpose of entering into God's presence and listening for the still small voice of the Holy Spirit, we read only to stroke our spiritual pride.  There is a big difference between agreeing with God's Word and believing it.  A man might agree that a course of action is good and right, but that does not means he will actually work toward that end.  In Aesop's fable called "Belling the Cat," a group of mice agree their safety would be greatly improved if a bell was attached to the collar of the cat.  The ringing of the bell would alert them to his presence and give them advance warning so they might escape.  A venerable mouse stood up and said, "This is a great idea - but who is going to bell the cat?"  Everyone agreed in the plan, but it didn't mean they would actually have the guts to put it into practice.

For us the question is not of guts but of faith.  Do our lives reveal we actually believe what God has said in his Word enough to obey?  Another danger is we would limit God according to our limited understanding of scripture or theology.  Yesterday I began to work on a poem about a man who was shackled by sin and was imprisoned awaiting a death sentence.  Jesus appears to Him and offers salvation:  "If you repent and trust in Me, I will free and grant you eternal life!"  The man places his trust in Christ and the chains fall from his hands.  For a while, he delights in reading the Bible as he grows in knowledge and the wisdom of God.  But as time passes, he becomes rigid in his theology and limits God according to what he can understand.  He builds himself a safe, predictable house fortified with his personal experience and theology.  He bars the door to make sure no heretics could possibly enter.  Sadly, the man dies in this prison of his own design because of his pride like so many Pharisees before him.  At the beginning he was chained in sin:  after being freed the poor man used his knowledge to confine God with shackles.  The moral of the story?  Faith frees both God and man.

Jesus couldn't do many miracles in His hometown because of unbelief.  If I refuse to believe what God says in His Word, I limit His work in my own life.  The children of Israel were not able to enter into the land of promise because of their unbelief.  Asaph writes in Psalm 78:40-41: "How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, and grieved Him in the desert! ⁴¹ Yes, again and again they tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel."  How tragic that I would limit God by my unbelief!  When I walk by sight and not by faith, I hinder the miraculous work He desires to do.  How sad that the ones who God delights in can grieve and provoke Him even after He has paid the price of our deliverance and atonement!  God's Word says He makes all things new!  God's Word says that nothing is impossible with God!

What grace God gives:  even after we construct a little box where we give Him permission to operate, He opens our eyes and hearts to trust Him.  He frees us from our spiritual pride and rigid unbelief.  He softens us to yield to the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  May we never read the scriptures to remind ourselves of what we already know, but so we might grow in ways we once never thought possible by grace through faith in Christ.  May God give us the guts to trust!

Fire from on High

"And David built there an altar to the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and called on the LORD; and He answered him from heaven by fire on the altar of burnt offering."

1 Chronicles 21:26

It's easy to gloss over a passage like this and miss the significance and personal application for us.  I confess I have missed it many times!  It is beautiful when God by grace removes the scales from our eyes and we see clearly something we never noticed before in His Word.  I pray today this is true for you and me.

David chose to number the people of Israel and the thing displeased the LORD.  After admitting his sin, king David was given three choices by God:  three years of famine, three months of being destroyed before their enemies, or three days of divine pestilence.  David chose to fall into the hands of God for three days "for very great are His mercies."  A grievous plague broke out and seventy thousand of the children of Israel were slain.  1 Chronicles 21:15 reads, "And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it. As he was destroying, the LORD looked and relented of the disaster, and said to the angel who was destroying, "It is enough; now restrain your hand." And the angel of the LORD stood by the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite."  After purchasing the threshing floor from Ornan, David set up and altar to the LORD.  He made ready the sacrifice and prayed to God in heaven:  God answered Him from heaven with fire upon the altar!

When I was a little boy, I read the story of Elijah calling down fire from heaven to prove that God was the true God, not Ba'al.  I gathered some stones and piled them up in the shape of a small altar I had seen in my picture Bible.  I didn't have a sacrifice, but I balanced some pine needles from our tree carefully on top.  God didn't answer me with fire that day, but I knew He could have.  In scripture many times God answered with fire to show His divine approval.  God used fire as a revelation of His presence and power, both in leading His people and in judgment.  When King Solomon dedicated the temple, 2 Chronicles 7:1 records what happened:  "When Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices; and the glory of the LORD filled the temple."

I built an altar to the LORD as a boy not understanding the sacrifice of Jesus Christ has made the offering of animals obsolete for atonement.  Jesus once for all died to save and atone for sins of all who repent and trust in Him.  The covenant of the law has been fulfilled and we live in the days of the new covenant of Christ's blood.  The temple also was rendered unnecessary for worship, for those who are regenerated with the Holy Spirit are now themselves the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19).  The only time we see fire come down from heaven in the New Testament by a person is when the false prophet deceives people by performing this particular sign which will convince many:  Revelation 13:13 says, "He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."

When I read the 1 Chronicles 21:26 passage, I immediately thought of when the Holy Spirit fell upon the believers on the day of Pentecost who appeared as tongues of fire over their heads.  Should we sacrifice an animal on an altar and pray that God answer with fire from heaven, we should expect nothing to happen.  God desires that the Holy Spirit fall upon His people who are called to be living sacrifices!  It is written in Romans 12:1:  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."  Jesus has been made a sacrifice for sin, and as receivers of His forgiveness and love we are to be living sacrifices unto Him.  May we expect such an outpouring of fire from on high as we pray and seek the face of our Saviour!

What would you rather see:  fire from heaven devouring the carcass of a dead animal, or the fire of the Holy Spirit consuming you as a living sacrifice?  A person filled with the Spirit of God is better than all the animal sacrifices offered from the beginning of time until now.  Let us prepare ourselves to see the LORD, breaking up our fallow ground as we seek His presence.  May God set His church afire for His glory!

READ the Bible!

I attended the Calvary Chapel senior pastor's conference for the first time in Murrieta, California.  The week was marked with great teaching and a tremendous time of fellowship with other pastors.  Another highlight for me was searching through the old volumes at the used bookstore.  Among the books I purchased is the Bible pictured here, printed by Samuel Bagster and Sons in London around 1860.

When I pulled this Bible off the shelf, a huge smile spread across my face.  As I turned it over and over in my hands, I was struck by the craftsmanship of the volume.  The gilt pages were etched with beautiful designs and the leather cover was also decorated with intricate patterns.  As I opened the book to examine it further, one thing became apparent:  this book had never been read!  There was no staining of the pages, no oil residue left from fingers, and no marks of any kind.  Apparently it had been a gift given to Reverend Benjamin Darcus who laboured in the Irish parish of Tullyaughnish in 1860.  It is an amazing, well-preserved bit of history.

This beautiful Bible testifies to two facts.  The first is that the Bible has not changed from 1860.  The inspired Word of God has not been changed since it was penned thousands of years ago by men inspired by the Holy Spirit!  Translated from original texts before and after Christ, the Holy scriptures are the same today as they have ever been.  Unlike other religious sects whose texts are edited and changed within a hundred years of being first printed, the Bible remains true and authoritative.  It has endured the most exhaustive scrutiny of both science and history, and remains true and unchanged!

The second fact to which this volume testifies is not good:  for over 150 years, this book remained unread.  It was more of a relic or trophy than actually employed for the purpose it was carefully transcribed over the centuries:  the Bible is to be read, believed, and obeyed.  I would contend that most Bibles remain mostly unread.  This is a terrible tragedy and an affront to God.  Over the years I have loaned out many good books to friends.  It is not uncommon for me to receive a loaned book back many months or years later unread.  How disappointing this is!  People are happy with the concept of gleaning wisdom or truth from a book that might do them good, but are not willing to put in the effort to mine it for themselves.  God must be grieved that His Word is so often neglected and unheeded even by those He has redeemed.

Is reading the Word of God a priority for you?  Is your Bible a trophy on a shelf or food for your soul?  Though it might reduce the resale value of this classic Bible, I intend to read it cover to cover.  The Bible was given by God to be read by men so we might receive His truth and share it with those willing to hear.  Jesus has the Words of life!  What a treasure we have in God's Word!

God the Merciful

I recently arrived in San Diego and am preparing to head north to the Calvary Chapel senior pastor's conference in Murrieta, California.  I'm looking forward to catching up with friends, meeting fellow co-labourers in Christ, and seeking God through times of study and worship.  I don't know how free I will be to blog, but as I was reading this morning I came across a fresh passage I thought I would share.

It is no secret that a tendency in people exists to elevate men because of their wealth, fame, or abilities.  Unfortunately this can be common in the church as well.   Men are praised and revered for their preaching or their gifts as musicians and singers.  Sometimes we think people are chosen to serve God in a particular role because of their unique and special talents.  A verse which shatters this misconception is found in 1 Chronicles 16:41.  When David brought the ark of God into the place prepared for it, the writer explains why certain men were called by name to lead others in worship:  "...and with them Heman and Jeduthun and the rest who were chosen, who were designated by name, to give thanks to the LORD, because His mercy endures forever..."

Men were called by name to play musical instruments and sing - not because they were amazing singers - but because God's mercy endures forever.  It is not about the men who praise, but all focus is placed on the praiseworthy God whose mercy endures forever!  We sometimes choose men to serve or lead because of their talents or gifts, but it is God who calls and deserves all the glory.

Some have been chosen by name to preach and teach because God's mercy endures forever.  Some are called as apostles or deacons because God's mercy endures forever.  Men and women are called as prophets or gifted in helps, administration, and faith because His mercy endures forever!  All people everywhere are called to glorify and praise God through their lives because God's mercy endures forever!

As it is written in Romans 9:16:  "So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy."  A well-known pastor might be very honorable, but God deserves all honor and glory.  God is the one who shows mercy, and He is the one to receive all glory!