Marching Forth!

How natural it is for us to value the gift over the giver!  When speaking about miraculous healings performed by Jesus Christ or Holy Spirit-filled disciples, we can miss the point of the exercise of spiritual power.  The healing of the body was not the end but a means:  a means to demonstrate the power of God so He might be glorified.  People can fall into the trap of seeing the exercise of spiritual power as the end, rather than the glory of God. When we focus on a spiritual gift as an end in itself, we miss the purpose God has in giving and the exercise of the gift.  We are like babies who chew on extension cords, not even comprehending there is power flowing between our gums for a better purpose than our teething.  When Jesus healed a blind man, His disciples asked "Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"  John 9:3 says, " Jesus answered, "Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed ...

I was listening to a Calvary Chapel Radio app and heard pastor Brian Broderson speaking.  As he recited a verse with which I was familiar, the LORD illuminated it in a fresh way.  Hebrews 12 begins, " Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God ." This verse illustrates the purpose and intentionality of the Christian walk.  It is not simply a life of sin avoidance, but of running the race set before each one of us just as Jesus did.  He endured, and since the Holy Spirit has regenerated and filled Christ's followers, we can persevere to the end.  If we skim through the passage, we might think the wr...

I love when God opens my eyes to catch glimpses of His plan in the Bible.  Through Old Testament prophets God spoke of a Messiah who would save His people from their sin.   The New Testament begins with the Gospels by hailing Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of this divine promise.  Because He came in humility cloaked in humanity, He was rejected by the very people He came to save.  The Jews were looking for one who would rule the nations with a rod of iron, yet that fulfillment is still to come when Jesus is revealed to the world the second time.  Jesus came as a servant of all, and died to set sinners free.  Jesus rose glorified three days later, proving He is exactly who He claimed to be, a message harmonised with the angels who announced his birth to disciples who followed Him in faith.  He is Immanuel - God made flesh - our Peace, my LORD and my God. In the opening chapter of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John addresses the letter to seven chu...

We are in a spiritually healthy place when our thoughts, words, and deeds are moved by faith in Jesus Christ.  In this day of relativism and theological revision, it is imperative Christians ground themselves in the Word of God to know truth from error.  Error is not always obvious and requires discernment through the Holy Spirit.  As someone who believes the Bible is the inspired Word of God to be taken literally whenever possible, the scriptures form my theology.  Even though God and His Word have not changed, I have changed over the years.  My understanding has expanded as I have worked to put the scriptures into practice by faith.  After being justified by faith in Christ, the sanctification process has been embraced in varying degrees in my life.  This means change, a transforming work of being moulded more into the image of Jesus.  This means a change of heart, mind, and life for the better! I cannot stress the importance of living our liv...

I have heard many people speak of revival over the years, and often it sounds something like this:  "What we need is revival."  "Do you know how long it has been since there was a true revival in our nation?"  "Wouldn't you love to take part in a revival?" As I have been thinking about "revival" in the last few days, there are a couple of misconceptions I feel important to clear up.  Revival starts with God's people, not with the world.  Revival carries with it the idea that something was once alive and has stopped breathing, or the heart has ceased to function, and revival is necessary to continue living.  When we see the deeds and hear the words of those who fear not God, revival is not what they need initially:  they need regeneration, salvation by faith in Jesus Christ, to be born again! For all the times I have heard people lamenting the lack of revival, not one time have I heard someone say, " I need revival."  This i...

Our identity dictates whose approval we seek.  Growing up, I was raised in a home by both my parents.  Because I identified Mark and Darla as my parents and I was their son, when they gave me tasks to perform I needed to ensure the end results met their standards.  I might have thought the bathroom was clean enough, but their approval is what mattered.  If I cleaned a window for half an hour, time spent did not grant me their approval.  Should the glass remain smeared and streaked, it would not be acceptable.  I sought the approval of my parents so I could move on to something fun! If our identity is in Christ, it is imperative we seek His approval and walk in the way that pleases Him.  History proves God's people often lose sight of their identity in Him.  It is often written of the children of Israel and certainly applies to God's people today, that they did what was right in their own eyes.  Though God brought them out of bondage in Egyp...

"No rest for the weary," goes the cliche.  Now wait a moment, Mr. Cliche maker.  Clearly when coining your phrase you did not consider the words of Jesus when He said in Matthew 11:28-30 , " 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. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light ."  No amount of physical rest will eliminate weariness or the certainty of future aches and pains.  But rest for the soul!  Life has a way of sucking the "life" right out of us.  When our souls become weary of the drudgery of life, the emptiness of religious activity, the pain of rejection, fear of uncertainty, weighed down with guilt and shame due to our sin, Jesus bids us come to Him.  The life Jesus offers to all who receive Him is abundant for eternity. The words of Jesus are ironic.  When we think abo...

In our day, the statement "It's not about you" certainly will raise eyebrows and hackles everywhere, both within and without the church.  I suspect this is because I have been raised in a cultural platform which says everything is about me!    In a society that stresses the potential and value of individuals, that I can be whatever I want to be as I follow my heart, even the suggestion that my life is not about me may seem repulsive, offensive, and ignorant.  But the scriptural truth remains undeterred, gleaming ever brighter in a world darkened with humanism.  God created all things for His good pleasure, and we exist by His grace for His glory.  Our existence is all about God. The greatest joy for a human being created in the image of the Almighty God is to know and serve Him.  Yet when we present the truth of the Gospel, it can be done in a way which emphasises personal benefits and gifts we receive from God more than the worthiness of God Hi...

The prophet cried out to the LORD in Isaiah 64:1-2 , " Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence-- 2 as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil-- to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence !"  Too long had the heavens been like brass - not because of the sins of the nations - but the sin of God's own people ( Deut. 28:23 ).  He acknowledged this in the following verses.  Isaiah 64:6-7 says, " But we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7 And there is no one who calls on Your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us, and have consumed us because of our iniquities ."  I wonder if we too live in such a day.  Without God's intervention, we have no hope in this world...

The cares of this life fade away when we realise and affirm God is in complete control.  What is unknown to me is finished from God's perspective.  During His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told His disciples not to worry about anything:  the future, the provision of daily necessities like food, clothing, or money, even their physical height or lack thereof!  God knows what we need and is able to provide out of infinite abundance.  It is easy for us to look at our limited resources, our circumstances, and the condition of the world around us and give place to worry instead of placing faith in God because He is in control. God desires to place in us an ever-growing comprehension of His love and goodness towards us.  He wants us to live according to the knowledge that He is in control of everything.  Abraham believed God, and his faith was accounted as righteousness even before the covenant of God's Law was established.  We live in a day of a New and ...

After we moved into our rental in Riverstone, I pulled out some of the overgrown seasonal plants which were dying.  In a cleared area of soil it was not long before a vine began to grow.  At first I thought it might be a zucchini plant, but after a month it became clear it was a pumpkin vine.  I knew this only because of the small green pumpkins the size of a cricket ball crowned with a golden flower.  The boys and I continued to water the plant along with our passion fruit vines.  Recently I went out to check on the growth of the pumpkins and to my surprise could not find a single one.  Upon further inspection, some animal (likely a possum or rat) had eaten every flower and pumpkin during the night, leaving only a small bit of rind.  That explained why the vine is growing massive.  With the fruit being eaten before it is mature, the vine keeps expanding.  The problem is, there's no fruit!  That's the only reason I didn't rip up the plan...

After sending the boys off to school, I walked past the kitchen to head to my office area.  When I walked by the empty kitchen sink, I celebrated a brief moment of happiness.  I made waffles for the family this morning and washed the dishes right away.  Seeing the sink empty of dirty dishes made me feel I had accomplished something worthwhile, something I ought to savour for a moment.  The clean dishes and empty sink was a victory worth celebrating. Washing the dishes may seem a very insignificant thing.  It does not compare with landing a rocket on the moon, climbing a mountain peak, or surviving a fiercely fought gunfight as a soldier.  Clean dishes seem even less important because dishes become dirty again.  Since the next meal will generate more dishes, it can be one of those thankless jobs that never seem to be done.  Consider this:  how would your life be different if you saw the little household victories like mopped floors, clean wi...

At Calvary Chapel Sydney yesterday, we began the study of Philippians.  Paul began by introducing himself and Timothy as bondservants of Christ and continued in verse 2:  " Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. "  The order of grace and peace is significant, for true peace is a product of God's grace.  There is no peace apart from the grace of God.  "Shalom" is the Hebrew word translated peace in the Old Testament and conveys peace, prosperity, and well-being.  Because the New Testament is translated from Greek, the transliteration is "eirene" which means " to join, by implication prosperity, to set at one again ."  A man alone without God cannot be at peace, because he has been cut off from God because of his sin.  By the grace of God we can experience union with God through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. On the heels of the sermon, I happened to read the back of a "Tea Tonic" chamomile packet.  It vi...