Don't Fly from God!

During the conference at Manly, we bought fish and chips and ate on the Corso.  The sea gulls in that region are amazingly well trained.  When the birds notice people carrying the white bags, they congregate with squawks in great numbers.  If someday you decide to sit on the concrete steps facing the surf, be warned that these birds will come up behind you and hover close over your shoulder until the second you lift the delicious chip to your mouth.  Swiftly they will swoop and snatch the chip from the hand.  I discovered that sitting at picnic tables with a person facing each other afforded protection from such thievery.  I'm sure there's a sermon in there somewhere.  True accountability is when we "have each other's backs" by remaining face to face with open communication, looking out for one another motivated by love.  But I digress!

While a group of us carefully ate our dinner, I noticed a sea gull whose legs were tangled with a length of black thread.  The bird was able to stand on one foot and fly, but was clearly hobbled.  The lack of the use of his bound leg would no doubt lead to atrophy or potential infection.  Someone suggested we attempt to catch the bird to free it from the cord which bound its legs together.  Being a wild bird, however, there was no way this bird could ignore its instincts to flee and trust that our intentions were simply to free it.  Whenever we came within six feet, it would fly away.  It was sad to see the bird in that condition, and harder still not to be able to do anything about it.

When people are hurt by life experiences, they can respond in a similar manner to the bird.  Perhaps they had once in their pain trusted well-meaning people to help them and were only injured more deeply.  That bird relied on its wings for safety, but they were powerless to free and heal.  As human beings we can build walls to insulate and protect ourselves from future hurt emotionally.  But in doing so we can deny loving people and even the healing power of God from restoring our joy, strength, and trust.  It is very sad when hurting people withdraw from the saving power of God because they don't trust Him.  Afraid that they will only be hurt worse or humiliated for their trouble they flit away, legs still bound with that dark thread.

Much more than we wanted to help that hurting bird, God desires to heal the hurting, hopeless, and helpless.  God allowed His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for the sins of the world who knew no sin, and made Him to be sin for us.  God's heart of compassion yearned to free Jesus from the weight of the sin of the world on the cross, but He knew the salvation that would be wrought by grace through faith in Christ's shed blood.  John 1:12 reads, "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name...".  Jesus was willing to be bound to that cross, pierced with nails and thorns, being the perfect Lamb of God without blemish or spot.  What comfort we have in knowing Jesus has risen from the dead, the Good Shepherd, who anoints and heals us by His grace.  We must choose to submit to His healing touch.

I close with words which were not intended to be limited to memorial services, the words of David in Psalm 23:1-6:  "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. ² He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. ³ He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. ⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over. ⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."  Trust God and never fly from His goodness and mercy!

Envision Conference

This afternoon I returned from a four-day Calvary Chapel "Envision" conference in Manly hosted at St. Matthew's Anglican Church.  It was wonderful to meet with pastors and friends from all over the world, hailing from Australia, United States, the UK, South Africa, Scotland, the Philippines, France, and no doubt other places.  As we worshiped God through songs of praise, the teaching of His Word, the fellowship of the saints, and serving one another, it was a spectacle of God's grace and love.  How good it is to see brethren dwelling together in unity!

As we sang together, it occurred to me how wonderful it would be if we could stay together in Manly, day after day, night after night, praising God and ministering to all the people who wandered in.  When we lifted praise to Jesus people stopped, stared, and walked through the doors asking, "What's going on in here?"  There is no shortage of people who need Jesus Christ who walk past the open doors of St. Matt's sanctuary every day.  But as much as I have a heart to see salvation come to the people in Australia through faith in Christ, I caught myself.  It is good to gather together in one accord to seek God with all our hearts.  Yet it is God's design that His people would go out into all the world, preaching the Gospel and making disciples of all people!  God's power is revealed tangibly through His people in whom the Holy Spirit dwells.  If all the Christians at the conference stayed in Manly, God would do great things.  But how much greater a work will He do through us when we walk with Christ out of the sanctuary and take Him into our homes, families, workplaces, cities, and nations, with the express purpose to introduce others to Jesus as LORD and Saviour!

The time spent at the conference was sweet, but sweeter days are yet to come.  God has a global vision for evangelism, salvation, and discipleship that would blow us away if we were to catch even a small glimpse of it.  There are times for joining hands in prayer and voices in song, and there are times to depart riding trains and planes.  All these seasons exist for the glory of God, so Jesus Christ may be lifted up and draw all people to Himself.  It's not the size of your church that matters.  One person walking in step with Christ is more effective in ministry than a thousand who lift their hands in unison and sing a song.  Whatever you do, do it with all your might for the glory of God.

God in Your Thoughts?

If we read the Bible honestly, it will confront and shock us.  God uses the truth of scripture to correct our incorrect understanding or assumptions.  Today I experienced such a moment as I opened the Word for my morning reading of a few Psalms.  David begins Psalm 10 by a vivid description of the attitudes, acts, and even the thoughts of the wicked.  There was one verse in particular which God used to correct my understanding of what wickedness looks like.  The Holy Spirit brought conviction of sin, shedding light where there was once darkness in my conscience.

In the KJV Psalm 10:4 reads, "The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts."  When I think of wickedness, I tend to think of deeds.  The works of the flesh are evident and obvious sin.  The Bible teaches that sin perverts and pollutes a man from within, and evil deeds are the result.  God is righteous, and those who are in Christ through faith receive His righteousness.  This verse illustrates the importance of our thoughts.  A wicked man does not seek after God.  In fact, the fact that God is not in all his thoughts is wickedness.  This is a strong statement.  We would all agree it would be good if God was in all our thoughts.  It would be right for all our thoughts to dwell upon God.

A sampling of other translations show us other facets of the importance of our thoughts in relation to God.  Psalm 10:4 in the NKJV states, "The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts."  The NIV rendering of Psalm 10:4 is as follows:  "In his pride the wicked does not seek him; in all his thoughts there is no room for God."  The wicked is marked by three variants of the same theme concerning thoughts:  God is not in all his thoughts, God is in none of his thoughts, and in all his thoughts there is no room for God.  How important then is our necessity to meditate upon God, His flawless attributes and character, His commands, goodness, love, mercy, and grace!  There is a reason why God commanded fathers to instruct their children concerning God from when they rose in the morning until the time they lay down again at night.  The thoughts of a righteous man could be described in this way:  God is in all his thoughts.

Though the translations of the same verse are different, they are all true.  Common denominators of the wicked include pride, the fact he does not seek after God, and that God is not in all his thoughts.  What a different picture of wickedness this reveals from what we might have thought!  I resolve to make room for God in my thoughts, for this is pleasing in the sight of God.  By God's grace, may we humble ourselves and seek Him.  God desires to be found by us.  Praise Him for that!

Does Your Saviour Support You?

I was a youth when I first saw the comedy starring James Garner called "Support Your Local Sheriff."  Garner becomes the sheriff in a rowdy western boom town and employs some unorthodox tactics to maintain order.  It wasn't long before he arrested a lawbreaker.  He had a major problem though:  the new jail still did not yet have bars or doors installed in the cells.  The quick-thinking sheriff painted a black line on the ground to delineate the boundary of the cell, and dripped a copious amount of red paint on the outside of the line.  The sheriff convinced the ruffian that if he valued his life, he'd stay in that cell without bars or a door - or he'd be like the fictitious previous prisoner who tried to cross the line and was shot for his trouble.

When the family of the ruffian came to break him out, they were surprised to see the effectiveness of the cell without doors and bars.  It wasn't too long before the bars and doors arrived and were installed - with the help of the willing prisoner.  This is a good object lesson to illustrate a spiritual truth.  The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  People can be taken captive by the devil to do his will.  Both Christians and unbelievers face this risk.  The main difference is that when a Christian is taken captive, those bars and doors are not yet installed.  He has the power to walk out through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  But people can be tricked to think there is no escape possible for them.  A unbeliever is destined for eternal damnation because of sin.

But no matter the fortifications of the prison of sin man or Satan builds, the power of Jesus Christ is able to completely overcome by God's grace.  Ephesians 2:13-15 reads, "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, ¹⁵ having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace..."  We don't have the strength, courage, or willpower to overcome sin.  But the blood of Jesus is able to do for all what no one is able to do himself.  Even if we were to stop sinning, we could not cleanse ourselves of our guilt.  We also are incapable of making ourselves righteous.  That is what makes the Gospel so wonderful:  when we repent and trust in Jesus Christ we receive forgiveness, are made pure, are born again through the Holy Spirit, and are reconciled to God through the righteousness of Christ.  That's Good News indeed!