Status Update!

Throughout my recent trip to Australia my mind wandered to what I might do when I arrived back in the United States.  I knew for certain that the chapter at my life on staff at Calvary Chapel El Cajon was finished.  If you're in the middle of a great book, there's no turning back to "re-live" a chapter you were particularly fond of.  The enjoyment of the finished chapter urges you to anticipate the next.  That is how it has been for me.  The time I spent at Calvary was the greatest chapter of my life, but that chapter is closed.  Now I am looking forward to the next chapter but I'm not capable or allowed to skim to the end.  Page by page the story unfolds, and every page more interesting with unexpected twists and turns.

The moment came last Thursday (11/19) when I stepped onto the tarmac of the commuter terminal in San Diego.  That surreal moment was 60 days in the making as I toured and preached in churches and houses throughout Australia:  Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra.  But it wasn't just a preaching trip:  it was a learning, growing, connecting with people trip.  It was a great opportunity to have a real taste of Aussie culture and process through a wilderness experience with God alone, who guided and sustained me.  At the moment my feet hit the pavement, I had no idea what I would be doing on Tuesday (11/24).

The day I arrived home (Thursday), I spoke to my brother Mat about work.  During my trip it was affirmed constantly the best way to enter the country would be through a permanent working visa through my trade, mechanical insulation.  I chose not to pursue this potential while in OZ because I believe God did not desire that I run around seeking sponsorship at that time, for He had prepared places for me to preach, minister, and help.  I asked God to open the doors He wanted me to walk through.  He has certainly done that!  The following day (Friday) my brother called me and offered me a job with the company he works for, Far West Insulation.  Believe it or not, Sunday I talked to the superintendent at church and he said it's a  go.  I called the union today, was placed on the out of work list, and tomorrow I go in for work!

Within five days of arriving home, I have a full-time journeyman level job in a trade that will be a great asset to me in securing a visa to Australia.  It is truly nothing short of miraculous.  Trades tend to slow down during the Christmas holiday season, yet I have an opportunity in a tough economic period to support my family and save money for our family to be established in Australia.  I praise God for His provision and I can say that it is really the story of my life.  What do I have that God has not graciously provided?  He has given me hands to labor, and a mouth to witness of His greatness.  Let us use all our assets and all the time He has allotted to glorify Him.

When God closes a chapter of your life, look forward to God's future.  Don't attempt to recreate the past or dwell on past success or failure.  Look to Jesus, for He will always lead us according to the Father's perfect will.  It is our God who works in us both to will and do His good pleasure.  God has done miracles in my life, and to the common eye they seem natural.  Through eyes of faith, however, His supernatural hand is seen!  May we sing with those who stand in victory as written in Rev. 15:3:  "They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:  "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty!  Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!"  As God is our Provider, may we provide Him abundant praise for the marvelous things He has done!

Unfathomable wisdom of God!

I came across an interesting verse during our family's Bible reading after dinner.  It's a verse that has struck me before, but I couldn't escape it even as I went to bed.  Let me give a little background:  Jeroboam was king of Israel and had led the people into idolatry.  He had a child named Abijah (meaning father, i.e. worshiper of God) who became sick.  Jeroboam asked his wife to disguise herself and visit the prophet of God named Ahijah (meaning brother, i.e. worshiper of God).  God spoke to Ahijah who was blind and told him that the wife of Jeroboam would come in disguise.  Interesting, isn't it, that the one who was blind would be so spiritually perceptive?

Ahijah pronounced a stern judgment against Jeroboam and all his descendants since he had done more evil than all the kings before him through his idolatry and casting God behind his back.  Concerning the child Abijah, the prophet said these words to Jereboam's wife:  "Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die. [13] And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam." (1 Kings 14:12-13)  The Hebrew word "child" used here is used for the range of age from infancy to adolescence.  This is a stunning passage for those who think they have the ways of God figured out.  Here was a lad in whom was something good towards the Lord God from the house of Jeroboam, but God would permit his death.

Some might trip up over this passage, saying that it would be unfair for God to allow the child to die seeing as there was some good towards God in Him.  Jeroboam had placed his family under a curse for his gross sin, and the most righteous of his family would perish as a result.  All Israel would mourn the lad, for his heart had a loyalty towards God.  He did not perish for his father's sin, but as the result of sin entering into the world through Adam.  Sin separated man from God, and the wages of sin is death.  Because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, sin has passed to all men (Romans 5:12).  As a consequence of Jeroboam's wickedness, his house was cursed like many after Adam:  the house of Eli (1 Samuel 3:12-14), Joab (2 Samuel 3:29), Ahab (1 Kings 21:21-24), and Gehazi (2 Kings 5:27).  Adam doomed not just his household to a curse, but all humanity after him.  The first thing this teaches me is a single action can have extreme consequences not just for me, but for my children as well.

The second thing this passage teaches me is God's wisdom is better than man's wisdom.  We would spare the righteous son out of pity.  Yet God in His mercy, allowed His own Son Jesus Christ become a sacrifice for all people that we might be saved from the curse of sin and death brought into the world through Adam's sin.  Can you fathom what it cost God to allow His only begotten Son to perish at the hand of sinful flesh for sinful flesh?  What pain and suffering God endured as Jesus Christ was torn apart by the whip, battered with fists, and pierced being the perfect Lamb of God, without blemish or spot?  It is a horrible thing to lose a son who has faults:  how unthinkable to lay down the life of the One whose heart was only good towards God, being God incarnate?  God does not deliver man from sin because of pity, but out of his mercy, love, and justice:  1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ satisfied God's justice while His love was gratified as John 3:16 teaches us:  "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  God is willing to sacrifice the good so the wicked might repent and live.  God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.  Jesus did not remain in the grave, but rose again on the third day and remain alive to this day!  Abijah perished because sin had entered the world, even though there was good in him towards God.  All men who walk the earth physically perish, some earlier than others.  But God has made a way for us to obtain eternal life through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, so we might glorify God on earth and live with Him forever.  Jesus says in John 11:25-26, "...I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. [26] And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"

Now there is a question!  It is not how you answer with your mouth that determines your eternal destiny.  Anyone can mouth the words, "I believe."  When God looks inside your heart, does He see something good in you toward Him?  Paul says in Romans 7:18:  "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find."  My friends, there is nothing good in any of us. Philip. 2:13 says, "...for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure." The only way that God can find good in a human being is if His Holy Spirit has regenerated our hearts through faith in Jesus Christ!  No amount of positive thinking or good deeds can cleanse us from sin.  There is none good but God, and He is able to transform us from sinners to saints through His grace and mercy.  Let us stop looking to ourselves, but look unto Jesus and be saved!

Evidence of Life

I am the first of three children born to my parents.  My mom told me how horrified she was when a group of medical students walked by when she was giving birth and someone yelled out, "Look, she's crowning!"  and they looked in with their clipboards in hand.  I can't remember if it was me or one of my siblings, but my mom was very annoyed at one of the nurses because right after birth the nurse strongly flicked the newborn's feet with her fingers to make the baby cry.  Strong crying ensures that the lungs are clear of fluid and that life-supporting oxygen is reaching the brain.  Although crying is not desirable in a baby at 2am, it is almost a comforting sound to a mother and father to know, "He's breathing.  He's alive."  How devastating is silence at birth!

I know many people close to me who have suffered miscarriages or given birth to stillborn children.  How horribly painful and depressing to have a baby forming in the womb with all the excitement and potential of new life, and the first breath of oxygen is never drawn.  That is pain enough to break the heart, and depress the soul in sadness.  As terrible as it is to give birth to a stillborn child, there is a spiritual parallel.  James says in James 2:26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."  As a body without breath is lifeless, so faith without works is dead.  When we are born again of the Holy Spirit, God gives our souls dead in sins new life.  God removes our heart of stone and gives us a heart of flesh.  A stillborn child is no more alive than a stone, but those who place their faith in Jesus Christ and are cleansed with His blood and rejoice in abundant life.

Like a baby arrives crying into the world, no one comes to Christ until they have cried out to Him!  Thomas Watson says:  "Are there pangs before the birth?  So before Christ is born in the heart, there are spiritual pangs; pangs of conscience, and deep convictions.  "The were pricked at their heart." (Acts 2:37)  I grant in the new birth all have not the same pangs of sorrow and humiliation, yet all have pangs.  If Christ be born in thy heart, thou hast been deeply afflicted for sin.  Christ is never born in the heart without pangs.  Many thank God they never had any trouble of spirit, they were always quiet; a sign Christ is not yet formed in them." (A Body of Divinity, pg. 199)  We are not called to make others cry through violence, but to make sure we have had those violent cries.  We tend to focus on the pain the mom must endure in childbirth because of the intense severity, but consider how child is squeezed and forced into the world with intense pressure.  Spiritual birth is no easier than physical birth, but is as fundamentally simple.

There is more to life than just breathing, however:  there is also eating and drinking.  When a baby is first born, one of the first things the nurse will do is put the baby to the breast of the mother.  When a person is born again by the Holy Spirit, he will crave and desire the Word of God.  Watson writes, "The word is like breast-milk, pure, sweet, nourishing; and the soul in which Christ is formed desires this breast-milk.  Bernard, in one of his soliloquies, comforts himself with this, that he surely had the new birth in him, because he found in his heart such strong breathings and thirstings after God.  After Christ is born in the heart, there is a violent motion:  there is a striving to enter in at the strait gate, and offering violence to the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 11:12)  By this we may know Christ is formed in us"  (A Body of Divinity, pg. 200).  As a midwife looks to the breathing, cries, and appetite of a baby as evidence of good health, so there are physical indicators that enable us to consider our spiritual life and health.  Do you desire the pure milk of the word?  Do you desire to please your heavenly Father, as Jesus did?  Are there works coupled with the faith you profess?  Let this be a personal examination that we might cry out to God that His work would be performed in us.

Too much church activity is like hooking up a ventilator to a stillborn child.  There are people in church fellowships throughout the world that have the appearance of a new birth, but are not truly born again.  Life-support only works when there is life to support!  If there is no life in the members, church activity is simply warming a corpse, like when Elisha laid upon the Shunamite's son and breathed into him in 2 Kings 4.  It is God who gives life.  It is only God who can bring a child into the world with violent cries, and it is only by His grace and mercy that we can be born again through faith in Christ.  Even a living child can become ill.  How has your appetite been lately?  A bad appetite in adults can be the sign of ill health.  If a person notices their dog hasn't eaten a bite of food in two days there would be cause for concern:  what of yourself and your children?  When God has given us fresh manna in His Word day by day we are fools if we do not gather of it.  And when you have gathered, may you partake of it as you have of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ.
Do you find in your heart "strong breathings and thirstings after God?"  Faith without works is dead.  A body is full of inner workings:  respiration, pumping of blood, perspiration, digestion, brain activity, and muscles pumping, organs working according to design.  A fully-functional body and mind has been created to do, not to sit around and do nothing.  Because God has done an inner work in us, let us do outer works that please Him.  It is in our God we find satisfaction, and we have been made alive that we might live unto Him for His glory.

AUS and USA differences

One of the most common questions I am asked about Australia is, "What are the biggest differences between Australia and the States?"  This is a difficult question to answer because everything is very similar yet everything is a little different.   A common misconception is that people assume that Australia is the same as the United States because they speak English.  People also believe that Australia is a Christian nation because America is.  These are both false assumptions and the longer you live in Australia the more clear this becomes.  But because inquiring minds want to know, here are my top five differences between the States and Australia in no particular order:

• Australian people have an insatiable appetite for American news, especially politics.  When I met new people, one of the first things people would ask is about President Obama or health care reform.  Australians care more about American politics than most Americans by far!  Australian newspapers and newscasts are completely saturated with American news.  The "balloon boy" hoax, swine flu, the Fort Hood shootings, even obesity in America is captivating and intruiging to Aussies.  I spoke to a gentleman who travelled to Chicago around 2001 and experienced what he thought was poor reporting.  To receive the news coverage of America he was accustomed used the internet to access Australian news channels to get American news!  We don't hear much about Australia, save natural disasters like wildfires that have been raging for weeks before we hear about them.  And if there is one in a million in America that knows Kevin Rudd is the prime minister of Australia or any of his recent policies, that would surprise me.
  
• Buying anything in Australia is expensive.  When I arrived back in the United States, I felt like an American going to Mexico for cheaper prices!  All electronics are at least twice as costly in Australia as in the States.  A new video game for the Wii is $110 plus tax, and CD's are around $25.  A Snickers bar at Cole's or Woolies is $1.75.  Tools are at least two to three times the cost and the quality is far inferior to American tools.  Some American brands like Channelock and Rigid are availble but at a inflated cost.  A gallon of Zinser primer which costs $15.99 at Home Depot runs $88 at Bunnings (Australia's "do it yourself" style store).  Two polo shirts in the mall I saw on special for $79, and Old Spice aftershave costs $19.99.  And then there's added cost to drive on the motorway (freeway) with automated tolls as you drive under them, costing around $2.50 a beep.  It is not uncommon on a trip covering 20 kilometers to have at least $15 in tolls that will automatically be deducted from an account.  Buying a car?  Let's not even get into that! And mobile phone plans?  Downright criminal.
  
• Christian religious education is compulsory even in public schools from grade 8 and down, and is optional in college (grades 9 - 12).  Volunteers are allowed to go into public schools and teach the Bible with curriculum provided by the state which is actually quite good.  I spoke to two people on planes who were not believers but thought it invaluable their children be taught the Bible so they could make an educated decision on what to believe.  There is ignorance but also a openness to solid Bible teaching.  Even unbelievers believe that there is some truth contained within that pages of scripture, and after a brief explanation are convinced that there might be more to the Bible than previously thought!  Despite the religious classes, there is not the Biblical foundation that we have in America in churches.  The vast majority of people do not know the scriptures, and they are unlikely to be exposed to the Bible in most churches because of the topical, subjective style "studies" that are held forth as sermons.  Pray that real Christian volunteers with a passion for God's Word and anointed to teach are in these classes!
  
• Everyone from grade 12 and below wear school uniforms, complete with hat.  It reminded me of school children in England when I would drive during the mornings when kids walked to school.  Every school has their uniform:  boys wearing suits or jumpers with girls wearing skirts and sweaters (jumpers).  It is a law that all kids outside while at school or participating in sport wear a hat.  Most of these hats are round wide-brimmed for girls and boys resemble old-school painter's hats with a piece of fabric hanging from the back.  Unlike the States where uniforms are not the norm, the exact opposite is true in Australia.
• Australians see themselves in relation to the world and relish their country.  As I watched television adverts or listened to the news, I began to hear something said over and over again:  "in the world."  For instance, I read that Brisbane had the largest gathering for Buddah's birthday in the world.  Brisbane also boasts the hottest (spiciest) hamburger in the world.  Every day I would hear things like, "Australia has the most cases of skin cancer in the world," "Australia has the largest underwater forests in the world," "Australia has taken the title of the most obese country in the world from America," "Koalas are unique in the world only to Australia," and even "Australia has the best bees in the world!"  When I went to a house, I said "Australia has 5 of the top 10 most venomous snakes in the world!"  A young bloke said with enthusiasm, "Yeah, and they are the top 5 of the top 10 as well!"  This is not true according to my study of the subject, but you understand my point.  In America, we often don't compare ourselves with "the world."  Maybe it's because we're not insecure or we're very self-focused.  I think the latter is likely more true.

If you have any other Australia-related questions, I'd be happy to answer them.  I'm no expert to be sure, but I have learned more in two weeks first-hand in Australia than I learned in 34 years about Australia in America.  I absolutely love the people, the culture, and appreciate all the little nuances and differences.  We must be careful we do not stand in judgment of those who are from different cultures and backgrounds.  Often it is not a matter of right and wrong.  The left side is not the right side of the road to drive on, nor is the right the "wrong" side.  Aussies say "tomahto" instead of "tomato" and "emew" instead of "emu."  The differences are not as important as how we are the same:  all people have been made in God's image.  We all have a need for forgiveness and salvation through Jesus Christ.  How shall they hear unless there is a preacher?  How shall I preach unless I am sent?  Praise be to God who has sent me and will provide my family as we take steps to obey God's call.