Marching Forth!

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-pre...

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.  ...

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...

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 sta...

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 holida...

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:...

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...

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 beli...

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 bl...

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...