Marching Forth!

I was reminded of the film Silence  today, specifically how the persecution of Jesuit priests by the Japanese for the sake of the Gospel proved ineffective to stop their ministry.  The antagonists found their brutal tortures only seemed to goad the priests to further sacrifice to spread the Good News of Christianity.  In the film, the Japanese changed their approach and discovered they made inroads to hinder the ministry by making the congregants suffer.  This created a conflict within the priests who felt personally responsible for causing the pain, suffering and death of the local people.  Had those missionaries considered the teaching of scripture, it perhaps would have changed their outlook to realise believers are appointed by God to suffer and were never at the mercy of their enemies. Hearing this, some may see this appointment to suffering as a blight upon God's goodness and righteous character.  But how can one say this when Jesus went through suffe...

I have found gardening challenging in Sydney.  It feels like something is always against you, whether it be nutrient poor soil or clay, variety of turf or weeds, birds or extreme heat.  Grubs and insects also pose a problem that can go unnoticed until damage is done to roots or leaves.  The most recurring problem I have in our area is scale insects that attach themselves like barnacles to the top and underside of leaves as well as digging into the branches.  I don't know how long scale insects were on our lime tree until I noticed them by looking closely, and only then did I begin to realise the extent of the infestation and the damage they were doing. From what I have read, the scale insects draw nutrients from the tree and then excrete honeydew which attracts ants and causes sooty black mould.  The mould doesn't directly harm the tree, but when it builds up on the leaves it can inhibit photosynthesis and cause leaves to drop off.  Quiet and sedentary, sca...

When a person sees a need and puts a plan together to accomplish something good, it doesn't guarantee good results--even for kings.  King Joash noticed the temple was becoming dilapidated and in need of repair, so he commanded dedicated gifts and census tax brought by the people were to be received by the priests for the purpose of repairing the temple.  It seems years passed before it was evident the priests continued to receive money but no work had been done on the building.  The priests had plenty of responsibilities already, and I suspect not all of them were skilled builders who were able to address the disrepair.  After the king confronted the priests for their inaction on the repairs, they agreed not to receive any more money or be the ones responsible for fixing the temple. A new plan was put into motion in  2 Kings 12:9-12 :  " Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one c...

Today at Calvary Chapel Sydney one topic of discussed in the sermon was how God appointed Christians to affliction and also to endure with joy.  To believers who faced persecution and suffered for the sake of Christ, Paul said in  1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 , " And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,  13  so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints .  God had constructive and redemptive benefits for the appointment with affliction the Thessalonians and all Christians, to the end God would establish our hearts blameless in holiness.  We might not prefer or enjoy the process, but we cannot fault God or His results. When I think of dentist appointments, they are more of a "should" or "have to" rather than I "want to."  The only time I would welcome or gladly anticipate a dentist appointment is...

Under the Law of Moses, a minimum of eyewitnesses were required to sentence a guilty murderer to death.  This shows the weight God puts upon the words people spoke in testifying of a person's guilt or innocence.  The Law contained safeguards against false testimony in  Deuteronomy 19:16-19 :  " If a false witness rises against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing,  17  then both men in the controversy shall stand before the LORD , before the priests and the judges who serve in those days.  18  And the judges shall make careful inquiry, and indeed, if the witness is a false witness, who has testified falsely against his brother,  19  then you shall do to him as he thought to have done to his brother; so you shall put away the evil from among you ."  The result of carrying out justice against false witnesses was powerful motivation to only speak the truth. In conversation, when someone tells me the outcome of a rugby mat...

Whether riding a bike or driving a car, there are countless course corrections required as to navigate along the correct route.  Slowing for speed humps, avoiding debris, and changing lanes require minute adjustments to navigate roads safely.  Paved roads are often marked with bright and reflective paint so lanes are clearly delineated.  There can also be reflectors glued to the road that make an audible noise and physical sensation to notify a driver they are exiting their lane and entering another one.  On long stretches of highway it is not uncommon to have grooves cut into the bitumen that make a loud sound (kind of like a TIE fighter in Star Wars) to warn drifting drivers they are heading off the road. One thing I considered recently was how God established more boundaries that delineated crossing into sin as time went on.  Adam and Eve only had one prohibition, and that was not to eat of the tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden.  After the flood Go...

After some meetings I have attended I later thought to myself, "Now that was a waste of time."  A prayer meeting has never been one of those meetings.  Even when it was a struggle to arrive at the meeting on time or there were other pressing matters, meeting to pray with others or alone before the LORD is always a productive and encouraging blessing.  The Bible teaches us when we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us--and God never disappoints ( James 4:8 ).  We are easily disappointed and frustrated, but faith in God exercised by prayer brings sure expectation of good now and in the future. I was edified to read a couple chapters in Spiritual Leadership yesterday, and here is a highlight of what was included on the subject of prayer: " One of the most frequently quoted of Hudson Taylor's statements is his expression of conviction that "it is possible  to move men, through God, by prayer alone."  In the course of his missionary career he demonstrated ...

I was reminded recently of an interaction with a stranger in the car park of a Mexican restaurant near Point Loma in California many years ago.  After enjoying some carne asada burritos, an impromptu game of hacky-sack broke out in the carpark between a few university-aged friends and myself.  A man approached our circle, not to join in with our clumsy game, but to ask for money to buy a burrito because he was hungry. We looked at each other hesitantly because we weren't certain the man was telling us the truth.  So after a brief back and forth we agreed we would be happy to buy him the burrito he asked for.  He immediately began backpedalling on his initial request.  "I'm more hungry than I thought," he said, "and I'm gonna need something that really sticks to my ribs.  A burrito ain't enough.  I need money for the carne asada combo plate."  Ah, now the motivation became clear!  It seemed the man had a hunger a burrito could not satisfy....

Prior to God's overthrow of Jericho, the Hebrews were strictly warned not to take any spoils from the city.  Joshua warned the people in  Joshua 6:18-19 :  " And you, by all means abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.  19  But all the silver and gold, and vessels of bronze and iron, are consecrated to the LORD ; they shall come into the treasury of the LORD ."  Anyone who took of the spoil was robbing God of what was consecrated to Him and would bring an accursed thing into the camp.  History has shown that on every occasion God has established something as sin, someone will choose to transgress His command--and the fall of Jericho was no exception. There was a man named Achan who took gold, silver and clothing from Jericho and buried it in his tent.  No one but his immediate family was privy to this trespass until the children of I...

In preparation for a recent Bible study, I considered how not all smoke is the same.  When I was fitted as a tradesman for a half-face respirator to remove asbestos, we were told to breathe normally while our instructor sprayed irritant smoke all around the seal.  The concept was the irritant smoke would provide clear evidence the mask was incorrectly fitted when the person started coughing.  The irritant smoke was harmless--unlike the microscopic fibres we were trying to prevent from lodging in our lungs that could lead to cancer and death.  Our instructor, because he was a bit of a mean old fellow, insisted everyone take an unmasked whiff of the irritant smoke for his own amusement.  And for the record, it really is irritating. I have sat around many campfires that resulted in smoke blowing into my eyes that made them burn and water.  After blinking back tears and holding my breath, I moved from one side of the fire only to have the breeze shift and smoke...

Jesus Christ proved to be the answer to the longing in Job's heart.  When this God-fearing man suffered greatly in a trial, he mused in  Job 9:32-35 :  " He is not a man like me that I might answer him, that we might confront each other in court.  33  If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both,  34  someone to remove God's rod from me, so that his terror would frighten me no more.  35  Then I would speak up without fear of him, but as it now stands with me, I cannot ." ( NIV )  Job realised God is infinitely greater than man and he lacked a mediator or advocate between himself and God.  Job felt he was being unjustly treated, not realising God's intent to show Himself merciful, compassionate, and to doubly bless him in the end ( James 5:11 ). What Job observed God also acknowledged by the word of the LORD through the prophet in  Isaiah 59:16 :  " He saw that there was no ma...

Memes have their place in this world, but among my general rules of thumb is never to use them as source material for any Christian belief, nor should they be assumed to be accurate.  In the case of one meme I read recently, I was not able to verify the accuracy of the quote so I will not repeat it in full.  With an aim to support the extra-biblical concept of purgatory, the quote suggested it was impertinent to imagine an instant after dying any sinner could enjoy being in the presence of God.  An " additional divine operation " was required on the soul before entering into God's presence with joy, and to say otherwise was to " underestimate either your sinful nature or God's holiness or the gap between them ." When I read this quote a rebuttal came to mind:  "Or the author of this quote seriously underestimates the work Jesus did on the cross."  Jesus said those who receive Him by faith are born again, and this means receiving a new nature and to...

" This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success ." Joshua 1:7-8 After Joshua was chosen and called by God to lead the Hebrews into the land of promise, God commanded him to be strong and courageous in heeding God's commands written in the Law.  He was not only called to familiarise himself with God's commands but to speak of them, meditate in them day and night, and observe them faithfully.  If you are not aware, there were hundreds of commands and prohibitions in addition to the 10 Commandments detailed in the Law of Moses.  Observing God's Law was a huge, life-changing demand placed upon Joshua he was responsible to keep before God--in addition to leading the Hebrews like Moses before him. In observing God's command to Joshua, it is important not to reduce t...

During Friday night Bible study, we discussed how the divinity of Jesus is often more the focal point than whether or not Jesus was a person who lived years ago.  Though the modern date and year hearkens back to the existence of Jesus, John warned there were people in His day that denied this.  He said matter-of-factly in  1 John 4:2-3 :  " By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,  3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world ." Gnosticism was a heresy in the early centuries of the church whose adherents claimed to have secret knowledge of God, and it was believed through secret knowledge they alone comprehended one could be freed from illusions of darkness and "saved."  Gnostics would not have denied Jesus came to earth, bu...

Reading the Bible with faith in God works to change our perspective and outlook.  Being the word of God, the Bible is the upright standard by which all claims, assumptions and beliefs are measured by.  When I hear a cliche, read a quote or see the heading of a video, my immediate response is to consider if it is biblically accurate.  A heading that grabbed my attention yesterday was, "God will try to warn you."  While it is clear people do not always heed God's warnings, the Scripture is clear God does not "try" to do anything--as if He lacks the ability, skill or wisdom to do everything.  Job concluded in concerning God's ability in  Job 42:2 :  " I know that You can do everything, a nd that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You ." God does not "try" to warn people:  He warns them.  Whenever God says He will do something, His doing it depends entirely upon His righteousness and almighty power.  In the song of Moses God declared...

Whenever I gather with fellow believers in Christ, it is a small foretaste of heaven.  The kingdom Jesus rules that is not of this world and is eternal, and Jesus connected His kingdom with paradise in His statement to the thief on the cross:  heaven is a place that is perfect as God, where nothing can enter that defiles, where there is no sadness, sickness, crying or death.  While the Bible does not go into great detail about heaven--likely because we lack the capacity to comprehend the glory of it--we are comforted, encouraged and inspired by considering what has been revealed. Many Christians look forward to going to heaven to finally be free of the struggles, conditions and pains of our lives on earth.  Others eagerly await the prospect of uniting in fellowship and worship of God with saints we have never met in person and to reunite with loved ones who preceded us into glory.  These reasons, while perfectly good and reasonable, I do not believe can move the...

Those who believe the LORD is sovereign over all do not believe in coincidences that fall outside God's knowledge or power.  Everything that seems incidental can be employed for God's good purposes.  He can use things that seem even pointless and annoying--like being tired and being unable to sleep--to humble the proud and exalt the lowly. Haman the Agagite was a proud, arrogant fellow who held a privileged position of wealth and influence as a nobleman in Persia.  Other nobles and common people bowed before him--with the exception of Mordecai the Jew.  This greatly annoyed Haman, to the point he schemed to exterminate all the Jews because of honour Mordecai denied him.  Over the course of time, Mordecai foiled two eunuchs who plotted against the king, and the king's life was spared.  Mordecai honoured the God of the Israel and the king of Persia, but declined to honour a descendant of Amalek who hated the Jews and sought their destruction. After a banquet ...

While Nehemiah served as cupbearer to the king, Artaxerxes astutely recognised Nehemiah was sad and that it was due to grief of heart.  This was the first time Nehemiah had been sad in the presence of the king, and there were potentially serious consequences for Nehemiah as this was forbidden.  Yet the king's expression of concern was genuine for Nehemiah's welfare, and the LORD gave him favour in the eyes of the king, queen and his brethren in Israel he sought to assist in rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem to bring an end to their reproach. Artaxerxes desired Nehemiah to serve with gladness, and this is true concerning the God of Israel.  As our Creator, He has provided all things for us to thrive in this life and in the eternal state by His love, grace and goodness.  David sang to God with confidence in  Psalm 16:11 :  " You will show me the path of life; i n Your presence is fullness of joy;  a t Your right hand are pleasures forevermore ." ...

Because the end of all things is at hand, 1 Peter 4:8 tells believers to be sober, watchful in prayer and have fervent love among ourselves because " love covers the multitude of sins ."  Love keeps no record of wrongs and thus does not view others through the lens of prior offence, even when someone has done or said offensive things.  The love of God guides us to forgive one another without keeping track of all the times we have forgiven them.  We are enabled to love one another because God's love is abundantly provided by the Holy Spirit God has given us.  Christians are to be known for their love for one another that is demonstrated by more than words or feelings. Recently we had a built in closet installed in our house, and having observed builders over the years I have arrived at a maxim that is similar to what Peter said in his epistle:  "Builder's bog and caulk covers a multitude of flaws."  I would even say butchery , but I do not want to malign th...

" Look down from Your holy habitation, from heaven, and bless Your people Israel and the land which You have given us, just as You swore to our fathers, 'a land flowing with milk and honey .' " Deuteronomy 26:15 I was encouraged by reading this passage today of a prayer prescribed to those who obeyed God in giving their firstfruits according to His command.  What I love about it is it acknowledges God's sovereign rule and power over all, for He is able to see His people wherever they may be.  The people were to pray for God's blessing upon God's people and their land which He had given to them.  The request for blessing was not because they lacked blessing from God, but they prayed with the understanding that their land and their very existence were blessings from God.  Praying according to God's command demonstrated faith their expectation of future blessing would be found in Him. When we pray to God, it is useful to pray according to the revelation...

Over the years, I have observed people whose poor performance exposed an inflated sense of ability and self-confidence.  I played sport with guys who believed their routine plays belonged on ESPN SportsCenter highlight reels, and they were completely blind to their own shortcomings.  One fellow talked up his baseball skills so much I imagined he would be the best player on our team that season--until the moment he walked onto the baseball diamond.  In minutes I began to wonder if he had ever played baseball before, much less used a baseball glove.  There was a confounding disconnect between the claims he made about his abilities and the performance on the field. Rather than going through our mental archives to dredge up those who "talked the talk" but didn't "walk the walk," it is more profitable and constructive for us to realise we can and likely do this as well in aspects of our lives.  The children of Israel certainly did at times when it came to keeping Go...

People in Christian circles often make reading and studying the Bible a major emphasis, and rightly so.  It is by reading the Scriptures we hear God's voice and can know His will, and God alone has the words of life.  The exhortation Paul gave to Timothy is fitting for all believers in  2 Timothy 2:15 :  " Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth ."  Not only are we given the responsibility to read God's word and learn how to "rightly divide" it, but we have been given the Holy Spirit to help us to this end.  Jesus promised His disciples in  John 14:26 :  " But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you ." What is not emphasised as much as reading and study--yet remains indispensable for believers--is our need to also meditate on the Scripture....