Marching Forth!

How important it is for Christians to comprehend their identity concerning their authority in Christ!  Jesus has all authority in heaven and in earth and has granted that same authority to all who repent, trust in Him, and are regenerated through the Holy Spirit.  We have been fully equipped and enabled by God to operate according to the power which raised Jesus from the dead for God's glory.  I think it would be safe to say that this power has not been realized in the day-to-day living of many Christians.  But we must be convinced that it is God's will that our lives be a demonstration of the Holy Spirit in power before we can ever do it.  I do not need to convince you:  I trust the Bible and the Holy Spirit to do that! Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6, " For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down argumen...

As I walked back home from dropping off the kids at the bus stop, I sang the words to the familiar song by Chris Tomlin:  " We bow our hearts, we bend our knees, oh Spirit come make us humble.  We turn our eyes from evil things, oh Lord we cast down our idols.  Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts; let us not lift our souls to another... "  I thought carefully about the lyrics of this song I enjoy singing to God.  My mind focused on the phrase, " Give us clean hands and give us pure hearts ." Immediately my mind went to James 4:8:  " Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded ."  When I compared the song to the verse, I saw a subtle but profound difference.  Now don't get me wrong - I am not trashing the song by any means.  When singing the song, I asked God to give me clean hands and a pure heart.  When I read the passage in James, these are things ...

The Bible is an amazing book because it is the living Word of God.  It is also amazing how many books have been spawned through biblical wisdom.  Though thousands of commentaries and millions of books (and blogs such as this!) have been penned inspired by the Bible, not one of them excels the divine inspiration of the original.  Books written by godly men and women can be beneficial and influential in sparking ideas and bringing clarity to our minds.  Though valuable resources, they should never replace the Bible. It seems like today people are interested in methods.  People want to know what "works" or has been found successful and seek to emulate the process to achieve a desirable result.  They read book after book in a quest to discover a machine where raw materials can be combined in a prescribed order to receive what we want:  three elders, laying on of hands, 10 mils of oil applied just right - and divine miraculous healing is the result! ...

This past weekend at Calvary Chapel Sydney we hosted a conference on the Holy Spirit-filled life.  We were blessed to have two pastors share with us currently ministering in New Zealand, Mark Walsh and Scott Clifford .  All who attended were no doubt encouraged, challenged, and strengthened in our walks with Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.  It was a great opportunity for the fellowship to gather together, open the Word of God, and enter into the presence of the LORD.  I have no doubt that it was fruitful and will continue to be so as we appropriate all God has for us by His grace. I would say Christians are quite at ease with the idea of God revealed in the person of the Father and the Son, Jesus Christ.  But the same people can be uneasy with the operations of the Holy Spirit.  The reservations people have about the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives can be infinite.  If we were to do a word association with "baptism with the Holy...