Marching Forth!

It is a wise practice to consider our reasons for doing things.  Our motivation can be even more important in God's sight than the good works we actually do.  A "good work" is sinful and hypocritical if spawned through selfishness.  If the way to Hell is paved with bricks of good intentions, sinful motivation is the mortar. On Saturday I was talking with a couple who asked why I volunteer to spruce up the grounds at a local cemetery.  "Do you know someone here?  How were you connected with the clean-up committee?"  I explained that I am a pastor at a local church and emailed the council to request how we could bless the community.  I told them how the Hills Council responded with a couple of options, and the cemetery clean-up seemed the best suited opportunity for us to lend a hand.  We shared an excellent chat and morning of picking up rubbish, thinning overgrowth on the tombs, and clearing noxious weeds. As I reflected on our discussion, God...

The Christian life is all about following Jesus.  We are called to abide in Christ, even as a branch is connected to the vine.  I don't know if you've ever tried following someone while driving, but its very hard to follow people when you can't see them.  When I worked in construction as an apprentice, I would meet at the shop and follow the journeymen out to the job.  Sometimes I wondered if the mechanic was intentionally trying to lose me in traffic!  Once visual contact was lost, following became impossible. The good thing about following Christ is He will never try to ditch us.  While the world is constantly changing at a frenetic pace, Jesus remains stable, true, and trustworthy.  When we call out to Christ for aid, He does not hide from our sight, laughing to Himself about our predicament.  He doesn't try to avoid us because we've offended Him by our foolishness.  When we pray to the Father, Jesus isn't like someone who receives a cal...

The struggles we face as human beings are complex.  Past experiences, personality, mental, physical, and spiritual dynamics converge to create imposing, seemingly impossible problems.  Something God is teaching me which vastly simplifies issues I face is deciding I am going to do things God's way.  There are two basic ways to approach any problem:  we can follow the world's way, or the way God has revealed through scripture. As we go through this life, stuff clings to us.  We need to change our clothes and wash our hands and bodies with soap.  Even if we avoided dirty things, our skin excretes oil and sweat.  Stress raises our heart rate and physical activity can produce unpleasant odours.  Not a lovely thing to think upon, but it is the truth!  In a similar way to our physical need for cleansing and hygienic maintenance, our life experiences can load us down with cares, worries, and baggage.  We can be beset with sinful thoughts, be o...

I have heard it said, "In preaching the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing."  The phrase is a bit simplistic, but few would argue against the truth it contains.  It is very easy in preaching to be swept up in current events or follow the tendency to often harp upon a single string of non-essential doctrine.  The imperative in preaching is to preach the Word as led by the Holy Spirit.  Paul writes in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 , " I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching ."  Those who are called to pulpit ministry are not called to invent new truths, but to be a heavenly reminder of God's truth as revealed in scripture.  Nehemiah 8:8 reveals the gist of what all preachers should strive for:   " So they read distinctly from the book, in...