Marching Forth!

After being born again by faith in Jesus, Paul desired to know Jesus, the power of Christ's resurrection, and the fellowship of Christ's sufferings by being conformed to His death.  This was God's will for Paul and all believers, and Paul also acknowledged this sanctifying pursuit remained a work in progress in his life as he wrote in  Philippians 3:12 :  " Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me ."  As Paul pursued Christ by faith and obedience, the finish line remained ahead of him.  Paul did not speak as someone who had crossed the line and now had advice for fellow disciples:  he continued to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus by grace. As a Pharisee, Paul had arrived:  he had achieved in obtaining a rare position of honour and influence among the most respected elders in Jewish society. ...

" Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;  12  for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision ." Galatians 2:11-12 When things are wrong, our natural inclination is to determine what was the cause or who was to blame.  This can be done with various motivations:  to pin blame on others and excuse ourselves, in the aim to identify the problem to avoid repeating it going forward, to confirm what we predicted indeed came to pass, and the list goes on.  Because we often have vested interest in where blame is placed and insistent to avoid being blamed, we may blame others wrongly.  Adam attempted to shift the blame of his disobedience to Eve, and Eve sidestepped the accusation to blame the serpent.  I included Paul's testimony of Peter's hypocrisy because it demonstrates there are...

In his book Street Smarts on page 187, Gregory Koukl gives the advice to Christians, " Never read a Bible verse ."  His point is not to say you or others should avoid reading the Bible, but to emphasise one verse often does not provide necessary context to accurately interpret and apply God's wisdom.  Solomon said in  Proverbs 18:1 , " A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;  h e rages against all wise judgment ."  One can also observe a tendency of what happens when a single verse is isolated, for it can easily be wrenched from the context to undermines the message of the whole Bible.  Following the flow of ideas helps us safely navigate around sharp rocks of supposed contradictions. In the Bible study last night at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed the latter half of Matthew 12 when Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of Satan.  Jesus immediately refuted this falsehood logically, for a kingdom divid...

While on staff at a church years ago, I remember observing the way people vacuumed the carpet.  Most of the time people employed what I will call the "search and destroy" method, targeting bits of obvious rubbish that littered the floor--bits of paper or thread, food crumbs, or soils that dropped from shoes.  Since I was the one who emptied the vacuum bags, I knew the majority of the bag's contents were nothing that could be easily seen.  The full bags were predominantly filled with fine dust, sand and hair.  The purpose of the vacuum was not to make carpet appear clean, but to agitate the carpet fibers and remove soils one could not see beneath the surface. Knowing this principle of vacuum operation, I believed (and still believe) it is best to vacuum all the carpet and not merely target obvious debris.  I also observed people using an upright vacuum with an internal roll brush like one would use a lawn mower, walking behind it using a continuous forward pass r...

" My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience ." James 1:2-3 Verses like these demonstrate how profound our need is for God's word, for God's ways are often a stark contrast to our expectations and reactions.  Even though Christians have been born again by faith in Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, when we face trials and tribulations we see them as foreign intruders rather than friendly visitors ( 1 Peter 4:12-13 ).  Various trials are not in themselves good, yet the child of God can rest knowing God is able to redeem and use them all for good.  He can take troubling, pressure-packed circumstances to exercise our faith and work to make us more like Him. As the beloved family of God we can be joyful in the midst of various trials, and James explained one purpose of trials God allows:  the testing of our faith produces patience.  Blessed are those who endure  by fait...

" I was also blameless before Him, a nd I kept myself from my iniquity ." Psalm 18:23 In Psalm 18 , David affirmed the rewards God gives those who are righteous before Him, and Christians are accounted as righteous by faith in Jesus Christ.  No Christian is a perfect person.  By virtue of being a Christian, it is an public acknowledgment of being a sinner and needing a Saviour.  David said he was blameless before God, and he kept himself from his iniquity.  This dynamic is very insightful for God's people to understand--how we are drawn away by our own lust, and when we are enticed to satisfy lust it conceives and brings forth sin which results in death ( James 1:13-15 ) . Jesus has cleansed Christians by providing atonement by shedding His own blood, and though believers are completely forgiven of sin we continue to live in physical bodies that have been corrupted by sin.  We have been born again and given new hearts, yet living in a body of flesh in a falle...

A word that has increased in popularity and use lately is "triggered."  It suggests something heard, seen or experienced has stirred a strong response within a person, an arousal of memories or feelings from past trauma.  In keeping with mankind's tendencies that go back to the Garden of Eden, it places blame on what others do rather than taking personal responsibility for our responses.  It puts on the onus on others to avoid a minefield of our potential "triggers" because of the volatile reactions that will certainly result--and justify by blaming anyone but ourselves.  The idea is others are guilty of "triggering us," and we ought not be responsible for our reaction. Those who embrace the term "triggered" to justify violent outbursts do well to consider how triggers in firearms work.  When a live round is chambered, the safety is taken off and the trigger of a gun is pulled, an incredibly fast chain reaction begins:  the hammer strikes the...

" And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way ." Judges 2:19 A student of the Bible ought to be a careful observer of words and their meaning.  Since God has chosen to communicate with people through His written word, it remains a primary way of effectively communicating with others.  Confusion and consternation is caused when the definition of a word used does not agree with how others define it.  Over time the meaning of words can change and some of the intrinsic implications can erode, and it is beneficial to retain the original definition of words when they have been hijacked by modern sensibilities or through ignorance.  And I am not speaking about Hebrew or Greek, for the working knowledge of our own language lays a solid foundation of understanding that can be b...

The Bible has richness and depth as the living word of God that speaks to our hearts.   Psalm 12:6-7 says, " The words of the LORD are pure words, l ike silver tried in a furnace of earth,  p urified seven times.  7  You shall keep them, O LORD , y ou shall preserve them from this generation forever ."  When people slanderously claim the Bible has been corrupted, it is a direct attack upon God, His truth and His ability to do what all He promises.  Jesus said the heavens and earth will pass away, yet God's word will never pass away.  Even as God is holy and preserves His redeemed people forever, so he will preserve His word from those who try in vain to attack, dismiss or undermine it. In Amos 3 , the LORD through the prophet asked a series of rhetorical questions that generally all would be answered "no."  For instance,  Amos 3:5  reads:  " Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it? Will...

There is no book like the Bible, a book read, studied and discussed more than any other.  The profound revelations of God's word provokes deep thoughts, careful consideration and personal introspection.  Over the storied history of thousands of years, I can hardly appreciate the immeasurable, positive impact the Scriptures have had on the lives of people and nations.  Because God's thoughts are not our thoughts nor His ways our ways, there are difficult passages which are hard to understand.  By faith in God who has revealed Himself, when faced with verses beyond our understanding, our thirst for knowledge is satiated by returning to what we can know about God beyond doubt. In Yancey's What's So Amazing about Grace?,  he mentioned a persistent question many people have had over the years and ways people tried to answer it:  how God decided which foods were clean and unclean under Mosaic Law. "God's brief explanation allows much room for interpretation, and ...

When my dad lived in Michigan as a teen, he suffered a broken femur during a game of "king of the hill" in the snow.  The object of the game was to stand on a heap of snow and fend off everyone else who wrestled their way to the top.  People teamed up to overthrow the present "king," and when my dad fell in a tumble of bodies his leg snapped near his hip.  Because of the location of the break, he was hospitalised and in traction for nearly two months as his bone mended. Though an injury sidelined my dad, he came out of hospital much stronger than he went in.  There wasn't much to do with his whole leg in a plaster cast suspended in the air, but he discovered he could do pull-ups on the traction equipment.  He missed out on playing and working for months because of the leg break, yet his focus was not on what happened or that he wasn't able to be where he wanted to be:  he put in hard work through exercise because of where he was heading.  When he walke...

I am often amazed when I hear about pets that have been separated from their owners and manage to find their way back home.  I needed help from others as a kid finding my way to my parents when separated in a store!  Of all the dogs our family owned in my youth, I don't believe one of them ever escaped and voluntarily came back of their own free will.  We had to go after them, find them and bring them back to the safety of our spacious back yard.  Though they lived outside and were fed, watered and washed with care, they seemed to enjoy exploring outside the confines of our property.  It was always a chore to bring them back--especially when picked up by animal control and taken to the pound. In the book of Judges , at Calvary Chapel Sydney we have read how the children of Israel forsook the LORD God of their fathers and worshipped other gods--dumb idols fashioned by the hands of men.  By God's grace, He allowed their sinful, calamitous decisions to prompt ...

The Pharisees were very concerned about maintaining their religious image, and they viewed themselves as learned experts and teachers.  They were very wary when Jesus appeared on the scene and seemed to undermine their legalistic norms they followed and imposed upon others.  Yet Jesus was not like other men, for He taught with authority and did miraculous signs that led even some Pharisees to conclude Jesus was sent from God.  When Nicodemus met with Jesus by night, he divulged this to Jesus personally. What impresses me about Nicodemus is his willingness to be vulnerable and ask Jesus genuine questions to His face while others in his circle gathered behind closed doors to plot His murder.  They were weary of Jesus showing them up and dodging their accusations with wise answers, exposing their hypocrisy, calling them a brood of vipers, and comparing them to whitewashed tombs that appeared clean on the outside but were full of uncleanness within.  As the Light of...

Since I can remember, in western society doing all we can to increase self-esteem in people has seemingly been universally accepted and viewed as good without controversy.  The tendrils of this worldly wisdom have wormed their way into education, workplaces, government, media, parenting and culture.  There is a scene in The Matrix when Morpheus says of Neo, " He's beginning to believe ."  The quote referred to Neo's self-belief, that he could do things he once imagined impossible because he was "The One," the prophesied saviour.  The themes of self-belief and self-esteem has been emphasised ad nauseam, that the greatest inspiration is found within ourselves.  If we believe it we can achieve it, that we can be whatever and whoever we want, that the power to shape our destiny has been laying dormant inside us all along--and our self-esteem was the key to unlock it. The tenor and teachings of the Bible take a completely different approach, for it makes a stron...

I leafed through an old book yesterday titled Arrows and Anecdotes , a compilation of stories and sayings from the life and ministry of D.L. Moody.  I came upon one anecdote I especially liked titled "Faith and Feelings," and hopefully it will be useful for all who read it. " One night, when preaching in Philadelphia, right down by the side of the pulpit there was a young lady, whose eyes were riveted on me, as if she were drinking in every word.  It is precious to preach to people like that; they generally get good, even if the sermon be poor.  I got interested in her, and after I had done talking I went and spoke to her.  "Are you a Christian?"  "No; I wish I was; I have been seeking Jesus for three years."  I said, "There must be some mistake."  She looked strangely at me, and said, "Don't you believe me?"  "Well, no doubt you thought you were seeking Jesus; but it don't take an anxious sinner three years to meet a ...

I remember a book title concerning children which compared them to wet cement because they are very impressionable.  They are incredibly observant learners, and many times a parent has been appalled by their own foul language echoing from the mouths of their children!  Words have flowed from our lips with great ease that grated upon our ears when repeated by our little ones.  Without going to school or preparing for an exam, children can be greatly influenced by those closest to them for good and ill. God's design for parents is they would be responsible to teach their children of God and His ways.  This relevant principle for today was communicated by Moses in  Deuteronomy 6:6-7 :  " And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.  7  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up ."  Parents are ca...

" Let the peoples praise You, O God; l et all the peoples praise You.  6 Then the earth shall yield her increase; God, our own God, shall bless us.  7 God shall bless us, a nd all the ends of the earth shall fear Him ." Psalm 67:5-7 In our Bible study last night at church, we discussed how the psalmist illustrated how God's blessing of the earth leads to the praise and worship of God who will bless His people.  It is what I termed the "blessing cycle" of God that is continuous.  God blesses all people because He is good, and when His people praise Him God's blessing is multiplied so people shall fear Him to the ends of the earth. After God created the heavens and earth and established His divine order in the world, the water cycle has been a means of God watering the earth and providing for the needs of all living things.  Water on the earth evaporates by the heat of the sun, condenses in clouds, falls to the earth in precipitation, and gathers in streams,...

When we are awe-inspired by seeing something beautiful, majestic and breathtaking, in that moment we have no complaints or criticisms.  I have been on walks with windswept trees, waterfalls and amazing rock formations which cannot be adequately captured with panoramic photos.  The cry of birds prompted me to stop walking to observe them soaring high overhead.  The wonders of God's creation reveal themselves in the bush as well as near home.  In the latter weeks of summer, every day I awakened to find several fresh cicada exoskeletons perched on the bricks of our house and garage.  It is fascinating how these insects remain silent underground for years, crawl to a vertical surface, emerge from their exoskeleton, fly away and make their noisy summer music in the trees.  One can only marvel over the design and behaviour of living things--and God who created them. Today I read part of God's words to Job which involved a string of questions that immediately went...

I watched a show where a character aspired to be a "man of the people," one revered and well-remembered by the masses.  The irony was, the villain was a narcissist who did not love or care for anyone at all besides himself.  Others were only a means to achieve and receive what he wanted and felt entitled to.  It is a strange thing to desire honour from people he deemed disposable.  It also flies in the face of logic for God's people to serve in the hope of receiving honour from men when our lives are to be lived for God's honour.  It should not matter to us that our names be known or remembered, as long as Jesus Christ is honoured through our lives.  A child of God can be content to be anonymous if it means God is made famous. King Saul is a solid example of one chosen and anointed by God who became quite a somebody in his own esteem, and as a consequence he cared more about His own honour than God's.  When he was confronted for disobeying the prophet ...

Nehemiah is a person I highly respect and admire in the Bible because he feared God, was bold to take action for the glory of God and His people, and he was diligent to seek God--even in emotionally charged situations.  One such situation occurred when Nehemiah was appraised of how Jews were indebted and enslaved to one another in their fight for survival and had no means of paying interested charged them.  It was one thing to be enslaved or oppressed by enemies, but by their own people?  Nehemiah couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nehemiah was incensed when he heard of the oppression taking place in Israel in Nehemiah 5:6-7 :  " And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7  After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, "Each of you is exacting usury from his brother." So I called a great assembly against them ."  Rather than reacting and flying into a rage, Nehemiah's anger led him to think seriousl...

I used to watch boxing in my younger days, and I always enjoyed predicting who would win.  Both fighters talked a big pre-match game, but one of them would end up being the loser--sometimes in mere seconds.  What I observed is the fighter who appeared more heavily muscled often tired more quickly than the other.  This led me to conclude there can be a fighter who works out in the gym to look cut and fit, while others grow lean and strong by training and boxing.  More often than not, the fighter with better endurance was able to focus their strength with sound technique after the more ripped fighter was winded with fatigue. Today as I chipped away at an old stump, it dawned on me that working is the best exercise because it produces multiple benefits.  There are many people who "work out" today for personal health, yet there is not necessarily any "work" accomplished.  People sweat by running on a treadmill or climbing a stair-stepper but do not go anywhere;...

Our local shopping centre recently had a visit from a local member of parliament, and volunteers were out early putting up signs to advertise the one-hour event.  I even had someone come to the door with her flier that touted what the local MP was doing to "fight" for better mobile phone coverage in our suburb.  The repetition of militant phrases of "fighting" for residents and promises to "keep fighting" if elected again struck me as rather odd as a representative of a party that boasts the majority government at a local and federal level.  I would much prefer the Labour party (or any party for that matter!) to faithfully  work for the good of the citizens and residents rather than fighting. God's people have the assurance of Scripture the battle is the LORD's, and I trust Him to help us more than an arm of flesh, political party or politician ( 2 Chron. 32:8 ).  Secular government generally operates without acknowledgement of God, His wisdom or ...