Marching Forth!

There is always a danger that the Christian life will be compartmentalized into set activities rather than a complete lifestyle.  Worship of God does not occur after we pack into the car on a Sunday morning and gather in a building to sing songs of praise or listen to the Word of God preached.  The song should be in our hearts from the moment we rise, a song of thanksgiving unto God.  Our lives are intended to be an continual spring of worship, a life of obedience lived unto God for His glory.  Consider a paragraph from a message delivered by G. Campbell Morgan on the subject of worship ( The Westminster Pulpit , Vol. 2, pg. 98): "I do not worship God by going to China as a missionary if God wants me to stay at home and do the work of a carpenter.  I do not worship God by aspiring to some mighty and heroic thing for Him if the capacity He has given me is for doing the quiet thing, and the simple thing, and the hidden thing, and the unknown thing.  It would...

After my sons and I arrived at their bus stop yesterday, Zed picked this up off the ground.  I tried to convince him that over many years this small piece of metal had been formed by random, natural processes.  The letters "BIC" had stamped themselves into what appeared to be red plastic.  He looked at me as if I claimed to have swallowed the moon.  "But what is it for, Dad?" he asked.  "What does it do?"  No one in our family smokes, so Zed would have no clue that this little piece of metal and plastic is part of a cigarette lighter. I appreciated Zed's insight into the lighter piece because without even knowing what it was, he instantly recognized it had been made by an intelligent source for a specific purpose.  I did not need to explain this to him:  it was as obvious as the sun in the sky.  Man invents and manufactures products to perform functions which make life easier to be sold for financial profit.  Zed knew this assemblage ...

" So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do ." Luke 17:10   This morning in church we talked about how Jesus has provided a pattern of being the servant of all.  Greatness in the kingdom of God comes through humble service and sacrifice motivated by the love of God.  Sometimes we aren't motivated to act by pure motives.  On the outside we might look like a servant, but in honesty we are serving ourselves. After our monthly BBQ at church, I started breaking down the tables to clean up.  As I collapsed each leg, I considered how many different motivations I could have in packing up the tables.  Perhaps I had seen someone starting to do it and because of my pride - unwilling to be outdone - jumped in.  I could have started to work on the tables because I want to race home to watch a game on TV.  Maybe I just wanted to make a good impressio...

As I stopped at a red light today, a banner featuring Bear Grylls adorned a fence outside an Anglican church.  It read, " My Christian faith is the backbone of my life ."  It is wonderful when famous people freely proclaim they follow of Jesus Christ.  Being a born-again Christian myself, it made me think.  Is my Christian faith the backbone of my life? The backbone (or spine) is the central part of the skeletal system.  Through the center of the spine runs the spinal cord which connects to the brain and together comprise the nervous system.  For human beings, the spine and spinal cord are a fundamental necessity of life.  The term "backbone" does not only relate to anatomy, but is used to describe someone who is true to their principles.  For me, Jesus is my life.  Without Him, I would be dead in sins and doomed to eternity separated from God in hell.  I agree with Bear Grylls:  Jesus has given me life, principles, and the power ...