Marching Forth!

When we moved into our current house, there was a sandy strip beside the driveway that evidently had become the communal litterbox for the neighbourhood cats.  Come to think of it, the first week we were living in the house (which had been vacant for some time) one of our neighbour's cats deposited an unpleasant surprise right in the middle of the pavers leading to the front door--as if to say, "You might be moving in, but this is my territory."  Living in this house has provided a crash-course of learning firsthand the tenacity of cats to mark their spot in vile, smelly ways. Shortly after the BBQ and smoker were set up on the back porch, I began to notice dirty puddles and spray marks on the covers.  At first I thought little of it, that condensation had dripped from dusty covers.  After I cleaned the mess from the BBQ covers and tiles, I was surprised that in a night or two there were even more marks--and that cats were the culprits!  It was then I declared w...

This morning's sermon contained a warning from God to the children of Israel who departed from God through idolatry without repentance.  Through the prophet the LORD said in  Jeremiah 27:14-15 , " Therefore do not listen to the words of the prophets who speak to you, saying, 'You shall not serve the king of Babylon,' for they prophesy a lie to you;  15  for I have not sent them," says the  LORD , "yet they prophesy a lie in My name, that I may drive you out, and that you may perish, you and the prophets who prophesy to you ."  False prophets were saying articles taken from the temple would soon be returned and they would not serve Nebuchadnezzar.  God said if His people believed the lie and refused to submit to the yoke He fashioned for them--to serve the king of Babylon--He would forcefully drive them from the land He gave them as an inheritance.  If they would not submit to God's word voluntarily, they would be driven to go where they did not wa...

Years ago when my family and I lived in Riverstone, there was an old derelict house on the corner of Garfield and Hamilton that had been condemned and fenced off.  I had no idea how old it was, but I would have liked to have explored inside to step back in time.  Exploring the house would not have taken very long, for it could be no more than one or two rooms with a dunny out back.  It could have been built before electricity and plumbing was available!  I expected the "fibro" siding to contain asbestos, and that would be expensive to safely handle and dispose of. As the land in Riverstone grew exponentially more valuable in recent years, clearly the uninhabitable house had become a liability when it was taken away.  I was surprised when I drove by and the house was gone, and all that remained was a bare spot of dirt.  In one day the house had been demolished and the materials carried away.  It was a bit disappointing to lose a bit of history and char...

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught what is commonly called the "Golden Rule" to His disciples in  Matthew 7:11-12 :  " If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  12   Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets ."  God is good and the generous source of all good things.  Jesus pointed out since sinners are able to give good gifts to their children, our heavenly Father is infinitely more inclined and able to give good things to those who make their requests known to Him. Because God gives good gifts to those who ask Him, Jesus said whatever we want others to do to us, we ought to do also to them.  The opposite of this can be true.  If there is something we do not appreciate, we avoid doing the same to them--even if it seems they deserve such treatment.  When I ...

" It is not good to eat much honey; s o to seek one's own glory is not glory ." Proverbs 25:27 Honey is very sweet, and it is a sweetener we can feel sick of eating.  Previously in the chapter it said in  Proverbs 25:16 :  " Have you found honey? Eat only as much as you need,  l est you be filled with it and vomit ."  Some people do not process fructose well, and that may be a reason for nausea or vomiting from eating too much honey.   The days of Solomon were long before pasteurisation was a thing, and eating raw honey can also potentially expose eaters to natural toxins bees pick up from poisonous plants or flowers they visit.  I read of rare cases of people being allergic to honey due to the pollen source used by bees.  The point is, we can have too much of a good thing. With this is mind, Solomon used synonymous parallelism to connect seeking the praise of people.  We likely all appreciate being recognised or complimented for a jo...

As I was driving the other day, I saw a family walking on the foopath parallel to my car.  I was stopped at a red light, and dad was leading the way.  What I noticed right away was the boy who followed behind his dad, imitating in an exaggerated fashion dad's normal gait with swaying shoulders and swinging arms.  The way he was walking did not look like his dad to me, but he clearly was doing his best to copy him.  His extra long strides, carefully timed to his father's steps, made his head bob up and down as he tried to keep pace with his shorter legs. It is natural for young children who look up to their parents to imitate them, to want to be like them.  This also ought to be true for those who are made children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.  John 1:11-13 says of Jesus, " He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.   12  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His nam...

Today I was doing a bit of painting, and one of the tins of paint had never been stirred or mixed.  When I began stirring, for awhile it didn't seem like much was happening.  But as I continued stirring, the colour began to swirl and become cloudy.  The paint reached a stage where it was nearly the correct colour of white, yet there remained thin, faint grey swirls that still needed to be incorporated.  Finally, the paint was mixed sufficiently and could be put to good use by applying it evenly to a door. My mind drifted back to when I was a child and my dad was painting something around the house.  He gave me a large brush and a bucket of water to "paint" the unfinished cedar fence in our back yard.  No mixing was required, so I could get right to "work."  It was satisfying to see the wood quickly absorb the moisture and instantly change to a darker colour.  Board after board was nicely painted, but it wasn't long before the effect of the water b...

 " To do righteousness and justice i s more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice ." Proverbs 21:3 God delights in His people who obey Him, who walk according to His righteousness and justice.  God was not interested to receive offerings from people who refused to seek and submit to Him as is written in  Proverbs 15:8 :  " The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD , But the prayer of the upright is His delight ."  The prophet rebuked erring King Saul in  1 Samuel 15:22 :  " So Samuel said: "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,  a s in obeying the voice of the LORD ? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,  a nd to heed than the fat of rams ."  Everything that is has been created by God, and all we have is a gift from Him.  God delights more in the obedience of His people to Him than the sacrifice itself. One might read these passages and assume because obedience and doing right...

Fulfilled prophesies provide strong evidence for the veracity of the Bible and demonstrate God's power to know and do all He has promised.  It is one thing to accurately predict the outcome of a game, whether a medical treatment will be effective, or how tall someone will grow to be, but it is entirely another thing to predict something that is obviously impossible.  Speaking of His physical body, Jesus said to those who questioned His authority:  " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up ."  The apostle remarked in  John 2:22 , " Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said ."  We observe Jesus and the Scripture foretold His death and resurrection, and the knowledge, promises and power Jesus displayed to do what is impossible moved people to believe in Him. This morning I read Ezekiel 37 when God used an illustratio...

My Bible reading in the evenings these days has been in the Legacy Standard Bible, a relatively new translation that seeks to " preserve the American Standard Version while incorporating recent discoveries of Hebrew and Greek textual sources and rendering it into more current English ."  The biggest difference from other versions I am familiar with is the heavy use of "Yahweh" in translating the Tetragrammaton rather than "LORD God."  Yesterday I came across another distinction, as the showbread in Exodus 39:36 was called, " the bread of the Presence ."  This refers to the 12 large loaves of holy and consecrated bread that were placed on the table of showbread on every Sabbath and were to be eaten by the priests in the holy place. The table of showbread was one of three articles in the holy place in the tabernacle along with the altar of incense and the lampstand (Menorah).  As I thought about all these articles, each one required maintenance:  ...

" I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean ." Romans 14:14 This revelation God gave Paul cut deep against the grain of his upbringing, traditions and perspective.  As a man raised in Judaism who was a devout student of Gamaliel and in time became a Pharisee, there were many things deemed unclean in the law of Moses.  Paul could prove what was clean and unclean in black and white.  Yet after being born again by faith in Jesus, over many years Paul knew and was convinced by the Lord Jesus there is nothing unclean of itself.  I imagine this teaching directly confronted Paul's long held beliefs, judgments and outlook--and perhaps ours as well. I have observed in myself and in others a tendency to assume many things are unclean in itself.  For instance, I have spoken to people who rail against materialism as a great evil to the point they feel guilty for...

" And he made fifty clasps of gold, and coupled the curtains to one another with the clasps, that it might be one tabernacle ." Exodus 36:13 The Bible contains many lists of people in genealogies, offerings brought by leaders of tribes, and items made for the service of the LORD in the tabernacle.  It may be tempting to skip or gloss over such passages, but God can still speak volumes by verses that seem obscure or mundane. When I read about the offerings people brought daily for the tabernacle, it struck me how God employed a combination of materials He created that were freely offered by His people to build it.  God created gold, silver, trees, every variety of precious stones, olive oil, goats with hair and rams with wool, as well as naturally occurring dyes.  God's people brought these articles which were skillfully weaved, cut, carved, beaten and shaped into the desired size and shape to fit together.  Fibres of wool were twisted into yarn, and the yarn was dy...

I recently led an Inductive Bible Study course at church aimed to help reading and Bible study to be more fruitful.  A similar course I took many years ago had a profound impact to help me develop the skill of careful observation, more accurate interpretation and personal application of God's word.  Familiarity with the Bible can cause us to skim or gloss over critical information, to fall back on what we already know as if it is all there is to know, and never take definite action in light of one specific thing God has said. When I put together an itinerary for board meetings at church, each director has a slot to report on notable things that have occurred since our last meeting.  Before we launch into "New Business," we read through "Unfinished Business," and these are projects which have yet to be completed.  Once I was a board member of an organisation that always put "Unfinished Business" at the end.  These important tasks and projects were rarel...

As a little kid at church, I remember hearing a lot of adults express a desire to preach in front of the congregation.  During the "Jesus People Movement" in southern California (I didn't know was a thing at the time), it was common for people to be saved and in some cases relatively quickly move into serving in pastoral ministry because of the volume of people coming to faith in Jesus.  For years I observed men regularly attend church for a season and become involved in serving, but when it seemed there were no openings or opportunities to be a pastor, they moved on.  I do not judge or condemn anyone for doing their best to follow God's leading.  People came and went, and I continued to encounter the perspective that to be most useful and profitable in a church, being a "full-time" pastor was the prime position.  Perhaps this calling would provide validation and respect people craved.  If that's what they hoped for, I suggest they would have been disapp...

Shortly after the death of Aaron the high priest, the Hebrews were discouraged as they took the long way around the land of Edom rather than passing through.  They spoke against God, Moses and said they loathed the food God provided daily.  Moses said God sent venomous snakes among the people that bit them, and as a result many people died.  Finally the people came to Moses and admitted their sin in the matter, and asked for Moses to pray God remove the snakes from them.  God gave a curious answer to Moses' prayer in  Numbers 21:8-9 :  " Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live."  9 So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived ." The people asked the snakes be taken away, yet God directed people to look upon the bronze serpent crafted by...

During my Christian walk and time in ministry, I can recall a handful of occasions where times of corporate worship were disrupted by people doing their own thing.  I remember when there was a decorated Christmas tree in the back of the church and a mother removed a functional bell ornament from the tree and handed it to her fussy child who rang it for the remainder of the worship set.  On another occasion, ribbons were handed to children in the back of the church who ran around with them as an impromptu activity.  In both of these instances, there had been no discussion with the worship team who was leading the congregation and practiced and prepared for the occasion.  Though the bell or ribbons were not loud in volume, the disunity revealed by those activities was louder to me than a clanging cymbal. The first problem that came to mind was the message sent by giving bells and ribbons to children.  It immediately puts the emphasis on the item given and what the...

I recently received a large, colour brochure about an upcoming performance of Shen Yun which is an outreach funded by the religious group Falun Gong.  As a follower of Jesus Christ, alarm bells start ringing when I read of this group and how all spiritual authority is vested only in teachings of Falun Gong's founder, Li Hongzhi.  While the dance performance looks to be very colourful, performed by skilled dancers and accompanied by orchestral music, going to a show does not interest me in the slightest because of the clear connection with a group whose teachings are not of Jesus Christ. The flier contained a quote that grabbed my attention more than the vivid colours which encouraged people to see the show:  " Go see it to believe it, because otherwise, you are going to miss the most important thing in your life ."  This is a very interesting thing to say as it runs absolutely contrary to the revelation of Jesus who was born of a virgin, died on the cross, rose from ...

Under the Law of Moses, God commanded to keep the sabbath day holy ( Exodus 20:8 ).  After creating the heavens and earth in 6 days, God rested on the seventh day, blessed it and made it holy.  Later in the book of Exodus, God explained how the sabbath was a sign to the Jewish people, not only that He created the heavens and earth in 6 days but that He made them holy, sanctified as His people.  Exodus 31:12-13 ( LSB ) says, " Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,  13 "But as for you, speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘You shall surely keep My sabbaths; for this is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I am Yahweh who makes you holy ."  Even under the Law of Moses, it was God--not the keeping of ordinances--that made them holy, set apart and sanctified. God's people were made holy by God, and they were also commanded to be holy--to sanctify themselves unto God by keeping His commands, doing what is right in His eyes.  Th...

In 1 Corinthians 13 , Paul spoke of God's love being the most important thing in the life of a believer--which must have been a shock even to the believers to whom it was addressed.  Paul began the chapter with examples of radical personal sacrifice and supernatural power, yet without God's love it such acts were empty and worthless.  Let us consider Paul's claims one at a time to see how exquisite and amazing God's love truly is above what is commonly valued in the world and church alike. 1 Corinthians 13:1 says, " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal ."  In Paul's day, the Greeks were known for their famous orators who were masters of the "persuasive arts."  In public speaking, they utilised the pillars of credibility, emotion and logic to develop persuasive arguments to sway men to their side.  For all their skill in rhetoric these men did not speak in the ...

Because we are people with needs and desires, we need to be intentional to express thankfulness to God.  If we are primarily focused on what we lack, we might not consider how God has always been faithful to meet our needs--regardless how we feel at the moment.  When we focus on what others have and we do not have, we can become bitter and without gratitude for all God has done for us.  Should we focus on what we have, we are easily lifted up with pride when our possessions exceed others or we can feel down when we have little by comparison. I was reading through ministry material today that reminded me how thankfulness is worship.  When we worship God, freely giving Him the honour and glory He is due, it works to humble our hearts before God.  Those who humble themselves with thanksgiving and gratitude to God are those He will lift up.  We do not express gratitude to God with the aim to gain but with contentment and joy for who He is, all He has done and ...

Have you ever given thought to what it would have been like to have lived during the season Jesus walked through Jerusalem and Israel with His disciples?  They were blessed to have heard Him teach, see the miracles He performed and know He was the promised Messiah and Son of God.  It would have been interesting for Joseph and Mary to have Jesus grow up as their son, and for your older brother to be the anointed One of God and to hear Him speak of repentance for sin and the kingdom of God. After Jesus cast out a demon and gave insight concerning the spiritual realm as God who knows all things,  Luke 11:27-28 says:  " And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, "Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!"  28  But He said, "More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it !"  Mary was blessed to be the mother of Jesus, for the angel G...