I joined the Landman family on a special trip up north of Brisbane to "The Big Pineapple." I put together a video about the trip, where you can see everything from the inside of the Big Pineapple (and no, we did not find Sponge Bob!), the Nutmobile, and you can even learn how to grow your own pineapples like a real Aussie!
They also have some terrific animals on exhibit, including koalas and kangaroos. Follow this link to see us feeding and interacting with some of Australia's most famous wildlife!
17 October 2009
16 October 2009
New Construction
When I was working in the shipyard for PCI, work was divided between "Repair" and "New Construction." When many people come to Christ, they come to Him for repair. They would be happy for their life to be smoother, easier, with promises of peace, joy, and fulfillment. Before people trust in Christ, they spend their lives building upon the eroding sands of worldly philosophy from a secular vantage point. A man without a relationship with God does what is right in his own eyes. God never takes over a work in progress. The old way of life must be completely discarded so the new may begin. God does not repair the works of the flesh: He makes new in the Spirit.
Imagine you have been invited over to a friend's home for a housewarming party. He excitedly shows you around the place, pointing out the expensive chandelier on the vaulted foyer, the state-of-the-art kitchen with all modern conveniences. Your friend had spent his life savings on this home for himself and built it from the ground up. But as you walk through, you notice a lot of structural problems. Upon further examination you lift a rug and see that the house is built upon sand! Cracks have already begun to form at the corners of the windows, and ridge of the roof has begun to sag, and walls are clearly out of plumb. What would you say? You know your friend has poured his life into this house, and built it with the sweat of his brow. The house wasn't built properly without a solid foundation, and before long it will simply collapse.
All people without Christ are like those who have built a house without a foundation. Regardless of the superficial beauty, the house would be condemned. God is not interested in shoring up the condemned lives we've built to this point. He wants to start completely fresh and new. He will lay a new foundation of Christ, the Chief Cornerstone, that we are to build upon according to His plans. We find God's "set of drawings" in scripture, and the Holy Spirit is the foreman who directs us in building after supplying all the material.
I'm seeing that this can happen in a Christian's life as well. In California, people build what is commonly called a "California Room," a room addition that is often built without permits with the city. As a follower of Christ, we can begin to build on a foundation other than the original foundation of Jesus Christ. We can begin to follow preachers whose ministry is not founded in the Word of God. We can follow after commentators who tickle our ears and provide no spiritual nourishment. We can become side-tracked from building a structure on Christ and be more into building our two-story shed outside for our toys, our pet-doctrines we love to play with.
Now put yourself in the position of the friend who built a house from scratch without a foundation or someone who built his California Room or shed without authorization. What if it was brought to your attention that you've been building without the foundation of Christ? What if God told you that your whole life needs to be completely torn down and dismantled because He wants to start new? God must tear down all the works of our flesh so He can sanctify us with His Spirit. Would you be willing to have God raze your life down to the ground so you can start again, building by His set of plans? The rich young ruler was not willing that God should ask him to give away his money, the thing he treasured most. He went away sad, empty, and rich with money that perished with him.
It's your choice! Sometimes only a moment, a day, or a month's work must be undone so God can do it right. But other times, the whole house or room additions have to be destroyed. Are you willing to ask God to inspect the foundation of your life? If Christ is your eternal foundation, you will never fail. But if you have built your life upon any other foundation, doctrine, tradition, denomination, motto, philosophy, or conviction other than Christ, it must be destroyed and all that is fixed to it. Allow God to reveal to you as the Master Builder what you must do, and be obedient. Your amount of loss will give room for more gain than you could ever imagine!
Imagine you have been invited over to a friend's home for a housewarming party. He excitedly shows you around the place, pointing out the expensive chandelier on the vaulted foyer, the state-of-the-art kitchen with all modern conveniences. Your friend had spent his life savings on this home for himself and built it from the ground up. But as you walk through, you notice a lot of structural problems. Upon further examination you lift a rug and see that the house is built upon sand! Cracks have already begun to form at the corners of the windows, and ridge of the roof has begun to sag, and walls are clearly out of plumb. What would you say? You know your friend has poured his life into this house, and built it with the sweat of his brow. The house wasn't built properly without a solid foundation, and before long it will simply collapse.
All people without Christ are like those who have built a house without a foundation. Regardless of the superficial beauty, the house would be condemned. God is not interested in shoring up the condemned lives we've built to this point. He wants to start completely fresh and new. He will lay a new foundation of Christ, the Chief Cornerstone, that we are to build upon according to His plans. We find God's "set of drawings" in scripture, and the Holy Spirit is the foreman who directs us in building after supplying all the material.
I'm seeing that this can happen in a Christian's life as well. In California, people build what is commonly called a "California Room," a room addition that is often built without permits with the city. As a follower of Christ, we can begin to build on a foundation other than the original foundation of Jesus Christ. We can begin to follow preachers whose ministry is not founded in the Word of God. We can follow after commentators who tickle our ears and provide no spiritual nourishment. We can become side-tracked from building a structure on Christ and be more into building our two-story shed outside for our toys, our pet-doctrines we love to play with.
Now put yourself in the position of the friend who built a house from scratch without a foundation or someone who built his California Room or shed without authorization. What if it was brought to your attention that you've been building without the foundation of Christ? What if God told you that your whole life needs to be completely torn down and dismantled because He wants to start new? God must tear down all the works of our flesh so He can sanctify us with His Spirit. Would you be willing to have God raze your life down to the ground so you can start again, building by His set of plans? The rich young ruler was not willing that God should ask him to give away his money, the thing he treasured most. He went away sad, empty, and rich with money that perished with him.
It's your choice! Sometimes only a moment, a day, or a month's work must be undone so God can do it right. But other times, the whole house or room additions have to be destroyed. Are you willing to ask God to inspect the foundation of your life? If Christ is your eternal foundation, you will never fail. But if you have built your life upon any other foundation, doctrine, tradition, denomination, motto, philosophy, or conviction other than Christ, it must be destroyed and all that is fixed to it. Allow God to reveal to you as the Master Builder what you must do, and be obedient. Your amount of loss will give room for more gain than you could ever imagine!
15 October 2009
Not Good!
After God created man He said, "It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him." (Gen. 2:18) I agree with this wholeheartedly. It is not good for me to be alone, separated from my wife. I did not decide that I wanted to be separated from her, nor did she want separation from me. In this instance, it was God who made the call. Both of us have been learning lessons we could not have learned together. Though it was God's plan, it has not been easy. The narrow path can be filled with obstacles and temptations, luring us from focusing on Christ. Today it was like a Gethsemane experience, just laying on the ground before the LORD. I did not sweat blood, but I took shelter in His!
I'm putting together a message concerning Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. Here is an excerpt from it:
It is not good for man to be alone. We need to be united with Christ, abiding in Him. It is He who gave us breath and redeemed our souls. When a man is separated from God by His sin, that man is truly alone in the world, though he may have a wife at his side. We are not good, but we serve a God who is! As David concludes Psalm 23:6 followers of Christ can say: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
I'm putting together a message concerning Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane before His arrest. Here is an excerpt from it:
No man can write on the subject of temptation without a real sense of unworthiness and failure. I feel I am the least likely candidate to hold forth God’s Word when it comes to temptation. Who has not or does not fall into temptation? How many of us have willfully entered into temptation? Our flesh cannot get enough of it, and our hearts do not loathe it enough. Jesus is the only man in the history of the world who has resisted and denied every sinful temptation. Believers know what temptation is, and it is often what the world calls “opportunity.” Temptation is the appetizer to a sinful main course. But we always walk away from the table empty, and wonder what we were thinking. When we succumb to temptation, we always get stuck with a costly bill: shame, guilt, anger, depression, feelings of worthlessness, and separation from God. It is a vicious cycle only Jesus Christ can break.
The strongest human cannot handle the weakest temptation. The Bible says that we are born into sin, and we have a huge appetite for it! Our body wants nothing more than to satisfy itself with the unholy trinity of wickedness: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. Job 15:14-16 says, "What is man, that he could be pure? And he who is born of a woman, that he could be righteous? [15] If God puts no trust in His saints, and the heavens are not pure in His sight, [16] how much less man, who is abominable and filthy, who drinks iniquity like water!" We live in times where many people refuse to accept that man’s nature is evil. The scripture is clear that man is steeped in wickedness, and is guilty of breaking God’s Law. His Law is a schoolmaster who leads us to Christ, the only means of salvation from sin and the penalty thereof: death.I praise God that I need not be a slave to sin no longer. I need not be driven by Satan the cruel master of fleshly desires and led from sin to sin like a chained beast. I serve the God who has claimed the victory over sin, a God who withstood every temptation without fault. If I am obedient the path of victory has been blazed and illuminated for me by Jesus. Like in warfare, we do not win every skirmish. It may seem that we lose more than we win! But let me encourage you to not allow the enemy to convince you that you are defeated, for the blood of Christ is able to cleanse you from all sin. His strength is available, and our histories of failure and weakness need not dictate our future. Romans 12:3 says, "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith." When are lifted up in pride, we think the strength to resist temptation rests in us. God will allow us to fail and fall that we might highly regard Him and become our all in all!
It is not good for man to be alone. We need to be united with Christ, abiding in Him. It is He who gave us breath and redeemed our souls. When a man is separated from God by His sin, that man is truly alone in the world, though he may have a wife at his side. We are not good, but we serve a God who is! As David concludes Psalm 23:6 followers of Christ can say: "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
14 October 2009
Debtors to mercy
Today I was studying Psalm 103 and verses 8-11 caught my attention: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. [9] He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. [10] He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. [11] For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him." God is so abundant in His mercy towards us. Because of His plenteous mercy, all mankind has greater debt towards God.
To illustrate, suppose that there was a kingdom ruled by a righteous king. He was fair, just, and held people accountable to the law. In this kingdom there lived a rebellious young man. Instead of abiding by the laws of the land, he turned to a life of crime and murder. He made an alliance with the enemy of his king and was furnished money for the killing of innocent people. An inquiry was made, and the king sent soldiers to arrest the young man for murder and high treason against the crown. After seeing the young man was sorrowful for his actions, the king was moved with compassion and stayed the execution of the convicted killer. "Mercy has been granted unto you today, young man," said the king. "Show yourself prudent and I will consider you for a position in my court."
But the king's mercy and grace did not change the young man's heart. Instead of breaking off his relationship with the king's enemy, he agreed to assassinate the king who had shown him mercy for a great sum of money. Upon arrival to the castle, the young fool was caught and his intentions were made known to the king. Should it have been a common criminal or a senseless beast it would have been more tolerable to the king than the one to whom he had shown mercy. Would not a righteous king be angry by such conduct? "I offered you mercy, not treating you according to your own wickedness," the king spoke soberly. "I granted you a potential seat of honor in my court, and you have repaid me with violence as an enemy. For this you will certainly be put to death, since you refuse the mercy I have freely given and choose to add to your guilt."
It occurred to me for the first time today that because God's mercy is infinite and everlasting, all people add to their sin by refusing it. If the justice of God was doled out immediately according to our sins none could be saved, for all have sinned. But because God is long suffering and merciful, not willing that any should perish, He has given us opportunity to respond by receiving of His mercies. To reject God's mercy is to sign your own death warrant. Had God not shown us mercy, it would be bad enough: but since His mercy has been given to all, how damned we are to reject Him! Praise God that His mercies are new every morning, "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him."
To illustrate, suppose that there was a kingdom ruled by a righteous king. He was fair, just, and held people accountable to the law. In this kingdom there lived a rebellious young man. Instead of abiding by the laws of the land, he turned to a life of crime and murder. He made an alliance with the enemy of his king and was furnished money for the killing of innocent people. An inquiry was made, and the king sent soldiers to arrest the young man for murder and high treason against the crown. After seeing the young man was sorrowful for his actions, the king was moved with compassion and stayed the execution of the convicted killer. "Mercy has been granted unto you today, young man," said the king. "Show yourself prudent and I will consider you for a position in my court."
But the king's mercy and grace did not change the young man's heart. Instead of breaking off his relationship with the king's enemy, he agreed to assassinate the king who had shown him mercy for a great sum of money. Upon arrival to the castle, the young fool was caught and his intentions were made known to the king. Should it have been a common criminal or a senseless beast it would have been more tolerable to the king than the one to whom he had shown mercy. Would not a righteous king be angry by such conduct? "I offered you mercy, not treating you according to your own wickedness," the king spoke soberly. "I granted you a potential seat of honor in my court, and you have repaid me with violence as an enemy. For this you will certainly be put to death, since you refuse the mercy I have freely given and choose to add to your guilt."
It occurred to me for the first time today that because God's mercy is infinite and everlasting, all people add to their sin by refusing it. If the justice of God was doled out immediately according to our sins none could be saved, for all have sinned. But because God is long suffering and merciful, not willing that any should perish, He has given us opportunity to respond by receiving of His mercies. To reject God's mercy is to sign your own death warrant. Had God not shown us mercy, it would be bad enough: but since His mercy has been given to all, how damned we are to reject Him! Praise God that His mercies are new every morning, "For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him."
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