Marching Forth!

Today we sang in church, " You make all things work together for my good ."  This is entirely biblical, yet it does not mean we always actually believe this is true.  If we believed this was true without fail, we would receive every trial and trouble in life as a gift from our good and gracious God.  There would be no angry venting over what frustrates us, bitterness over what grieves us, or complaining.  Fear, worries and anxiety over unknowns because of our God we know and knows us.  Like Paul's exhortation to the Philippians, believing God makes all things work together for good enables us to rejoice in the LORD always, even when we experience sorrow and pain. In the moment we cannot change the feelings or emotions that flood through our bodies or the thoughts that pepper our minds, but the born again Christian can build our entire lives upon the reality of God and His word.  God has revealed His goodness, power and sovereignty over all in His word, and ...

A new baby being born is a significant event because a new person has come into the world.  This addition will have a huge impact on parents and family members for a lifetime.  The existence of one person has the power to make a difference in the lives of others long after their lives on earth are over.  Just yesterday I opened a book compiled of journals written in 1738 by John Wesley and I was positively affected by what I read.  Even when a child is conceived and sadly miscarried shortly thereafter, the parents will always remember what happened. The teaching of Jesus to Nicodemus concerning the need of sinners to be born again to enter the kingdom of God is necessary and profound.  Being born again by faith in Jesus is a more incredible spiritual change as it is a physical change from a baby in utero to being a walking, talking adult.  Being born again is not gradual or progressive but in an instant going from being dead in sins to being raised to new l...

" They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them ." Ode of Remembrance Yesterday I rose early and went with many others throughout Australia, New Zealand and across the globe to an ANZAC dawn service.  There may have been well over a thousand people who lined the streets in front of the cenotaph, standing in the dark chill of the morning for the sober occasion.  25 April is the anniversary of the first military action of Australians and New Zealanders in the first World War on the shores of Gallipoli.  It is also a time to remember those who have served and died in war for our nation.  It is a longstanding tradition to gather at dawn to remember them, lest we forget. One thing that is always well done at the ANZAC dawn services I have attended is an explanation of what ANZAC Day stands for and why we gather.  The structure to the service...

" Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  32  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you ." Ephesians 4:31-32 Some are under the impression Christianity is little more than a list of "do's and don'ts" Christians themselves do not always live up to.  This view can be formed due to the personal experience of feeling condemned by professing Christians, the pricking of a  person's own conscience and the changes we observe in people due to personal convictions after receiving Christ.  This really does not begin to tell the story of what Jesus does in transforming a person from within.  It isn't a matter of doing but of being , and verses like this one in the book of Ephesians emphasise this continually. It would be a mistake to reduce Christianity to following a checklist, as the Law of Moses proved without a doubt man is incapable to ke...

I have noticed when I bring up the subject of personal discomfort or pain due to injury, illness or condition, people are very quick to offer suggestions of what I can (or should!) do.  Their input is vast and varied according to their own experience.  Remedies, treatments, exercises, physical therapists, specialists and diets only begin to summarise the array of options presented to reduce present pain and promote healing.   If we or others are in pain, our first response is to do whatever we can to reduce or eliminate it. While I believe the Bible teaches it is God's will to heal every illness (since Jesus healed all those who came to Him, thus revealing His power over all sin, sickness and spirit), we must leave the timing of our healing to Him.  God allows things that are not His will to occur on earth (like death) and by His grace He redeems pain or the ending of it.  Some are miraculously healed in a moment, and others will not experience freedom from...

A key theme in John 4 when Jesus met with the Samaritan woman and was met by the nobleman is sowing and reaping.  Whether Jesus conversed with an outcast woman or a nobleman, His truth convinced His hearers and bore spiritual fruit through faith.  After Jesus claimed to be the source of Living Water that gives everlasting life, He confirmed His statement with a word of knowledge concerning the woman being married 5 times and was living with a man she was not married to.  When she said she heard the Messiah was coming, Jesus told her:  "I that speak to you am He."  She immediately left her waterpot and went to the men of Samaria to bid them come and see:  "Is not this the Christ?" After the woman of Samaria went to tell the townsfolk of her discovery, Jesus addressed His disciples.  While they were thinking about food to eat, Jesus told them His food was to do the will of God to gather a harvest--not of grain but of souls.  He said in  John 4:...

On every piece of United States currency is written, " In God We Trust ."  Jesus said no man can serve two masters:  we cannot serve God and wealth.  Until we recognise God and all that comes from His gracious hand as the true riches, then we will struggle to surrender the use of our finances to Him.  This is one reason why regular financial giving unto the LORD is a valuable spiritual discipline.  It affirms God's provision, prompts obedience to the LORD to give, and fills us with gratitude to be able to support His work in a practical way. The use of our money is a touchy subject for many because it is ours.  We have worked to earn it, are careful to manage, save it and spend it according to our needs and desires.  A sense of entitlement often is connected with what is ours, and money is no exception.  Exchanging money for food, goods and services is common, and if there is not a set price our aim is usually to negotiate for the best deal--meani...

Numerous Western Movies include tense face-offs with cowboy hat wearing, cigar smoking men staring each other down, fingers tapping or hands hovering over a holstered revolver.  Sometimes the better gunman tries to goad the other into drawing his pistol by insulting him:  "You're a coward!"  Among these Hollywood depictions there seems a code of honour foreign to my experience, that even a cold blooded killer waits for his opponent to make the first move lest it not be a "fair fight."  To kill a man in cold blood before an audience that cowered behind curtains seemed more dishonourable than being "Wanted Dead or Alive" or hanged by a sheriff for murder. In school I read about people in the U.S. Civil War era who were literally branded on their face for deserting or cowardice.  Whilst armies defined this as deserting in the face of an enemy, being called a coward today is more an insult than a dereliction of duty.  It may be surprising to know the Bible...

Today I had a little project of re-routing air conditioning ducts at church.  Over the years rooms have shifted around and the hope is consolidating some branch lines will provide more even temperatures throughout the building.  As I worked, I was listening to a baseball game on my phone I carried around in my pocket.  I grew up using a trusty transistor radio to catch the games during baseball season so it feels quite natural. After I was done moving ceiling tiles around, I vacuumed the carpets.  While it was very easy to hear the phone speaker in a quiet office building, the noise of the vacuum deafened the audio completely.  If you had told me, I wouldn't have believed the app on the phone was still working.  But the second the vacuum was switched off, the voices could be clearly heard again.  It struck me how this was a good illustration of how the world is full of noise--whether it be voices from a phone or the mechanical drone of a vacuum.  ...

People of genuine faith in God are not immune from the blight of bitterness.  After Naomi returned to her inheritance in Bethlehem, she said to townsfolk who barely recognised her in  Ruth 1:20-21 :  " But she said to them, "Do not call me Naomi; call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me.  21  I went out full, and the LORD has brought me home again empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has testified against me, and the Almighty has afflicted me ?"  Naomi returned from Moab embittered against God, and her demeanor was the opposite of her name which meant, "lovely, delightful, pleasant and friendly."  Blaming her afflictions for her bitterness, she spewed it on anyone near her.  She suggested a more suitable name be Mara, which means "bitter." Naomi's name suggestion was a historical reference that went back to the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt.  While Mara seemed a fitting name for her bitter...

" But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.  11  To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen ." 1 Peter 5:10-11 As Peter wrapped up his letter, he warned how the devil prowls about seeking whom he may devour.  He told believers they all would experience afflictions and seasons of suffering, both of a spiritual and physical nature.  Jesus told His disciples they would hear of wars and commotions but not to be terrified, even when these proved to be more than rumours but the real thing.  There would be conflicts between nations, earthquakes, famine and pestilence.  Despite all these things, Peter said the God of all grace would be faithful to perfect, establish, strengthen and settle all who trust in Jesus.  When the lives of Christians are marked by fears, worries and anxiety, it is evidence we have stopped short o...

When God led the children of Israel into the promised land, He enabled them to have victory over their enemies.  At the same time there was a degree of personal responsibility required from each tribe to rise up and possess their inheritance.  This meant dispossessing the inhabitants of the land who were well-established there. God promised to give tribes and families land by lot according to their relative size.  Then He provided a sobering warning in  Numbers 33:55-56 :  " But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then it shall be that those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell.  56  Moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them .'"  I have learned that God never gives warning needlessly.  When He warns it is not to draw attention to what could theoretically occur but what will most certa...

In my reading and study of the Gospels I have learned to observe links between dialogue, action and the illustrations Jesus used in teaching.  A lot of valuable information and meaning can be lost when these connections are ignored.  Keeping the immediate context is of great importance to shed light not only on what happened but how the passage instructs us and why.  Observing these connections brings us right into the middle of the action, for teachings of Jesus to His disciples are instructions for us to take to heart. Luke 17 begins with Jesus warning people over offenses.  He said it would be better to have a millstone hung around our necks and be thrown into the sea rather than offend one of His little ones.  He said in  Luke 17:3-4 , " Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.  4   And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, sayin...

" And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures ." Luke 24:45 Until Jesus opened the understanding of His disciples, they could not comprehend the spiritual and practical truth of God's word--despite their familiarity of passages, rote memorisation, obedience to the Law of Moses and teaching by Jesus.  This opening of understanding correlated with the disciples receiving the Holy Spirit when Jesus breathed upon them ( John 20:22 ).  We must be spiritually regenerated before we can understand scriptures that are spiritually discerned. This morning I spent an hour metal detecting and it provided an illustration of the importance of having our understanding opened by Jesus.  By waving a calibrated detector over sand, metal objects can be sensed which cannot be seen.  After a bit of practice the user can determine what sort of target lies under the sand by the volume, duration and clarity of the tone.  Unless the metal detector is tur...

Resurrection Sunday is a glorious reminder of Jesus conquering sin and death.  During visits to Israel I have gone to the Garden Tomb as well as the Tomb of the Holy Sepulchre, purported by some to be the place where Jesus Christ was crucified and buried.  It is difficult to prove whether this or another site is the actual place where Jesus was buried because He is not there; He is risen!  Even if the place of Jesus' death and resurrection could be authenticated, it is not a place to be venerated:  the only One worthy of worship is Jesus Who was received up into heaven and sits enthroned. Many people witnessed the death of Jesus on Calvary, and hundreds of people affirmed the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.  For 40 days after His resurrection Jesus walked, talked and ate with His disciples.  During this period the empty tomb and corpse-free graveclothes could have been inspected by locals and travelers to Jerusalem.  The best evidence of the resur...

While it costs us little to say "Nobody's perfect," our pride takes a hit to say "I am a sinner."  Many people have grown up hearing and believing they are basically a good person, yet the Bible makes the case in the view of the holy God the exact opposite is true.   Psalm 14:2-3 says, " The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, t o see if there are any who understand, who seek God.  3 They have all turned aside, t hey have together become corrupt;  t here is none who does good,  n o, not one ."  Though mankind has been created in God's image, we have been irrevocably corrupted with sin.  Spiritually speaking, we are only fit for the fire. By itself this would be incredibly terrible news, yet this is only part of the story.  The Bible also teaches God loves all people and thus was not content for mankind to be doomed without hope or help.  God's compassion moved Him to action, even as the father in the parable Jesu...

In his book Renovation of the Heart , Dallas Willard made astute observations of humans concerning our reliance upon feelings to direct and govern our actions: " Often they cannot distinguish between their feelings and their will, and in their confusion they also quite commonly take feelings to be reasons.  And they will in general lack any significant degree of self-control.  This will turn their lives into a mere drift through the days and years, which addictive behavior promises to allow them to endure. Self-control is the steady capacity to direct yourself to accomplish what you have chosen or decided to do and be, even though you "don't feel like it."  Self-control means that you, with steady hand, do what you don't want to do (or what you want not to) when that is needed and do not do what you want to do (what you "feel like" doing) when that is needed.  In people without rock-solid character, feeling is a deadly enemy of self-control and will alw...

Since moving to Australia, my daily life has changed in many ways.  My family and I have adapted well to living in New South Wales despite not being born and raised here.  There is one thing, however, I am particularly hopeless at:  remembering to carry an umbrella in the car when rain is in the forecast.  Growing up in southern California, I never needed to plan for rain.  As an adult I have never owned an umbrella!  Perhaps this is one reasonable explanation why I do not think to bring a household umbrella with me, and when I do I am apt to leave it behind and lose it.  Living in Australia I still do not plan for rain--and thus am usually unprepared when the rain falls. Jesus called out the hypocrisy of people who were observant of the weather and took appropriate action yet were negligent of present spiritual preparation for the future.  They were like people who never were caught in a downpour without an umbrella, waterproof jacket and shoes....

" You give your mouth to evil, a nd your tongue frames deceit.  20  You sit and speak against your brother; y ou slander your own mother's son.  21  These things you have done, and I kept silent; y ou thought that I was altogether like you;  b ut I will rebuke you,  a nd set them in order before your eyes ." Psalm 50:19-21 God was faithful to address the sin of His people of sinning with their lips.  One aspect of their sin was their presumptuous belief God was altogether like them.  Their words spoken against their brethren were marked with deceit and slander, and God remained silent, observant and composed.  They sat in judgment and spoke with the authority of man, but God would rebuke them with unmatched power, wisdom and majesty.  The tendency for man to liken God to himself is an error repeated throughout scripture, and it was evident as people interacted with Jesus Christ--God in the flesh.  True to His word, Jesus gentl...

" You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,  12  to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever ." Psalm 30:11-12 David cried out to the LORD who heard, healed and helped him.  What happened in the past could not be undone, yet God turned his mourning into dancing.  By God's grace David's sorrow was turned by God into celebration and gladness.  It is important to recognise God's role in David's shift of perspective and feelings, for God brought his season of mourning and wearing sackcloth to an end. When it comes to grief and sorrow, it is a deeply personal experience.  There may be social norms concerning periods of mourning and appropriate clothing to wear, yet it is ultimately the choice of the individual.  Feelings of grief can extend beyond a funeral or memorial service, and what person has the right to tell...