Family Update!

It's been awhile since I have provided a family update, so I figure now is a great time!  Life seems to charge forward at an incredible pace, and I am amazed we are already in July!  At times I step back and simply appreciate the almost bizarre life we are living:  a family from Southern California transplanted in Sydney, Australia.  Only a few years ago I thought a "pitch" was a throw, "State of Origin" was perhaps a place I never heard of, and a bonnet was something women wore on their heads to protect them from sun.  Little did I know that God would open a door for ministry and relocate us to the other side of the world.  I have been having the time of my life.

The family is doing well.  I still walk the boys to the bus stop in the mornings for school (about 1.8 kilometers) and they walk themselves home.  It seems like Zed and Abel have both been growing out of their shoes, blazers, and pants practically as fast as we replace them!  They attend the same private school, Norwest Christian College located in Riverstone (pronounced "Riverstn").  Zed has 10 subjects, and Abel has 6.  Both have brought home a good report card for the end of second term and are now enjoying three weeks of holidays.  Laura put together a daily schedule for them to keep up with their reading, music, exercise, and typing.  I am certainly not missing our daily trek to the bus stop, as it is quite chilly and breezy at 7:20am along Windsor road!  Laura just booked a trip to visit SoCal with the boys in September, so that is another thing to look forward to.

As far as church, we are blessed and thankful with the great things God is doing.  God is continuing to supply our financial needs through our church family in Australia and from folks in the States.  We are excited about some of the events coming up at church.  We have Men's and Women's ministry events planned for the next two Saturdays.  The deposit has just been paid for a weekend Women's retreat at the end of October hosted at Camp Kedron.  Also, a small team from our church and I have just purchased airline tickets to serve in Cambodia for a 10-day mission trip starting towards the end of December.  Looks like I will have to make sure I have been vaccinated for malaria!  I have also recently been notified that there is an "Envision Australia Conference" being planned for Manly (a suburb of Sydney in the northern beaches).  And if that's not enough to look forward to, in a couple months we need to put together all the paperwork to renew our visa to remain in the country for another two years.  I don't need to tell you, but it feels like the "to do" list keeps growing no matter how much we do.

God has been faithful to us.  He has kept us from illness, provided for our needs, and has blessed us with great friends and family in Christ here.  Words cannot convey the sweet aroma of the fruit which we have seen produced for the glory of God.  It has not been without struggles, challenges, and seemingly insurmountable odds, but through God we will do valiantly.  When God is brought into the picture, odds are the fancies of fools.  With God, all things are possible.  Looking back, it's amazing how far God has brought us.  He has encouraged and strengthened us.  We look forward with great expectancy, believing God will bring to completion the work He has begun.  How exciting is that, seeing that the ride of our lives is just beginning!

Rescue from Hell

"For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them."

 Proverbs 1:32

Prosperity in this world is seen as good, not evil.  But to a man that does not fear God, prosperity is the means to bring him to ultimate destruction.  The Bible says it is the fool who says in his heart, "There is no God." (Ps. 14:1; Ps. 53:1)  Fools despise the wisdom and instruction from God, claiming the Bible is no more than rot, rubbish, and fodder for feeble minds.  Proverbs 15:16 reads, "Better is little with the fear of the LORD than great treasure and trouble therewith."  Riches and prosperity are not evil in themselves, but in the hands of the foolish it brings certain destruction.  That is why Jesus says it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a sewing needle than for a rich man to inherit eternal life.  Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

What a sobering thought, that prosperity can be the vehicle on which a man races to his eternal doom!  Hell is not merely an expletive, but is a real place of torment.  It is a place God has prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41) where unrepentant men will also face everlasting punishment for sin.  Ezekiel 33:11 writes, "Say to them: 'As I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?'"  Death in the world is a result of sin.  So abhorrent is sin and consequent death to God that He sent Jesus Christ, His own Son, to die on behalf of all sinners.  Jesus drank of that bitter cup of the Father's wrath so sinners might be saved.  When a man agrees with God's righteous Law that he is indeed a sinner, confesses his sin and repents, trusting in Christ to forgive and save him, he is born again through the Holy Spirit.  But those who reject Jesus Christ and have no fear of God, choosing sin over repentance, it would be better for them if they had never been born.

Can you see them?  People you know and people you have never met - blindly surging toward the dark chasm of Hell?  They jostle and shove one another, pouring over the brink into unspeakable torment which never ends.  People who say that have experienced "hell on earth" show their ignorance of actual Hell:  a place of outer darkness where the fire is not quenched and the worm dies not.  Instead of a living hell it is a dying Hell, yet man nor spirit can die.  Hell is not a heathen reunion, where the party never stops:  it is a place where the worms continually gnaw your insides and fire is burning your flesh.  The suffocating stench of sulfur is as unbearable as the screams of the tormented.  Have you ever seen a man on fire?  He rolls on the ground, he tears at his clothes.  All his focus is on extinguishing the flame which scorches him.  Nothing else matters.  One minute of burning on earth is too much.  In Hell, the flame cannot be put out.  There is no water, only darkness.  There is no hope of salvation, no second chances.  People will gnash their teeth in the pain, suffering eternal regret.  Does it give you pleasure to read such things?  It gives me no pleasure to write of them.  I would not dare even think upon it but the Bible puts the existence of Hell forth as a stark reality, the inevitable result of sin and a life apart from Christ.

Jesus said in Luke 16:19-31:  "There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. ²⁰ But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, ²¹ desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. ²² So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. ²³ And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ²⁴ Then he cried and said, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.' ²⁵ But Abraham said, 'Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. ²⁶ And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.' ²⁷ Then he said, 'I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, ²⁸ for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' ²⁹ Abraham said to him, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' ³⁰ And he said, 'No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' ³¹ But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.' "

Jesus came and fulfilled what was spoken through God by the prophets concerning the Messiah.  He lived a righteous life in fulfillment of the Law, and instituted a New Covenant (agreement) through His blood.  He proved His deity through rising from the dead three days after being crucified.  If Christ's love, teachings, wisdom, miracles, resurrection, and ascension do not persuade you to believe in Him as LORD and Saviour, nothing will.  For those who believe that Jesus is who He claimed to be - the Way, the Truth, the Resurrection, and the Life - then we are tasked to use our remaining days to save as many as we can through the power of the Gospel.  We are to tap those on the shoulder who are throwing themselves headlong into eternal destruction and ask, "Friend, do you not know the wages of sin is death in Hell but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our LORD?"  Jude 1:22-23 says, "And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh."

Satan would love people to deny God's existence and reckon there is no such place as Heaven or Hell.  But Satan is a liar and a murderer from the beginning.  God speaks the truth in love.  It is because He loves us that He warns us about the eternal consequences of sin.  He does not diagnose our disease without providing a cure.  We are all sinful, but Jesus has paid the price for our sins.  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."  Let us be bold to share the Good News so many will inherit eternal life!

Transformed into the Image of Christ

God spoke to His people in Jeremiah 13:23:  "Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil."  Through Jeremiah the prophet, God told the people of Judah they were incapable of self-reform.  They were accustomed to doing evil and had no power to be righteous.  The skin pigment of a person and the natural markings of a leopard's fur are due to genetics.  If a leopard should want to look like a zebra, it is a change the leopard would be incapable of making.  The day when pigs can fly and grizzly bears are born with lime green fur will be the day when people can turn from their sin to doing good on their own.  But God is able to do what is impossible for man or beast.  He is not in the business in changing spots to stripes:  He is the One who transforms people from within.  All are born with a sin nature, but Jesus gives us forgiveness, new hearts, a future, and an unfailing hope.

Living longer has afforded me the blessing (and sometimes feels like a curse!) of being able to look back upon my life and the way God has changed me.  I naturally am like the leopard, unable to change myself.  When I look back to my years of high school, college, and university, I do not like what I see.  I am saddened by how I used to be:  the way I spoke, the things I thought were important, the way I thought about others, especially how my heart was far from God.  I led a "clean" life in many respects if compared to some, but my heart was as filthy as ever.  I rejoice today that I am not the person I once was.  Should someone from Grossmont High School who knew me converse with me today, they would not be speaking to the same person.  I have completely changed:  it is not I who have changed, but Jesus Christ in me.

Even though I have been changed, I still have my unique personality and perspective.  It is like the real me was initially suppressed by my ignorance, pride, and foolishness and now, more than ever, the purity of who I am in Christ has begun to shine through brighter than ever.  This is a transformation all people are incapable of.  I know better than anyone that I am too stubborn and stupid to change myself.  Only God, through the redeeming power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, could possibly create such an inner transformation.  I am not perfect, but I am moving towards perfection.  I am by God's grace heading in the right direction.  Captain Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" had a compass that directed him to wherever he wanted to go.  In my natural state I held no such luxury in my hands or heart.    Pursuing the desires of my flesh drove me away from God and into bondage.  There was no climbing out of the pit I dug for myself, and I was headed to certain destruction in Hell.

I am thankful that God revealed Himself to me through His Word, the Bible.  When I decided to actually follow Jesus with my life, for the first time I had real direction and purpose.  Because God transformed me from within through the Gospel, I actually had the power to do what I knew to be right and flee from temptations to do wrong.  The Holy Spirit became my Guide and Helper.  I always admired the wisdom, power, and love of Jesus Christ.  Even as a child, I always wanted to be like Him.  But when I went my own way I could never make the change.  Lady Gaga at the moment is touring Australia, and many of her fans whom she calls "Little Monsters" come to her shows with dyed hair and costumes.  She has even written a "Manifesto of Little Monsters."  A portion reads, "We are nothing without our image. Without our projection. Without the spiritual hologram of who we perceive ourselves to be, or rather to become, in the future."  People can create an image, but that is not who they are.  They can dye their hair, put on make-up, create and wear wild costumes, and sing along, but that is merely an outward expression of an inner desire, a longing, a "spiritual hologram" that is empty and void of saving power.

Contrast this superficial change with the inner transformation and sanctification through faith in Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour:  2 Corinthians 3:16-18 reads, "Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."  The greatest freedom I have found is through salvation through Jesus Christ.  As Christians fix their eyes upon Jesus, we begin to reflect the One we look upon.  Previous to this passage, Paul was talking about how the face of Moses shone when he enjoyed prolonged fellowship with God on Mount Sinai.  When we look upon Jesus in faith, we see Him with unveiled face.  The same way a person stands before a mirror to examine their face is like when we open the scriptures, pray, and make Jesus the focus of our lives.  The more we look to Him the more we are like Him because of the transforming work He does within.

I am being transformed into the same image of Christ, not by the outward things that I attempt to do, but because of the work the Holy Spirit is doing within me.  Titus 3:5 tells us it is "...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit..."  By God's grace, I much more resemble Christ today than when I was a teen.  Thinking back upon my High School days is like eating a mouthful of sawdust!  Should God tarry, I expect that one day I will look upon myself today with as great as disdain as I do upon the days of my youth because I will be more Christ-like still.  And when God calls me home into His everlasting presence and takes me from this world, do not weep for me.  That will be my great coronation day, the day when I am finally transformed into the image of the One who loves me and gave His blood and life for me, Jesus Christ.  I will not become Christ, but I will be like Him - in a way more profound and real than I can even imagine.

No man can change themselves, especially when it comes to sin.  If you look back 20 years, do you like what you see?  Look at yourself now:  how will you be in another 20 years if you continue your current track?  Where will you spend eternity?  I urge you to examine yourself in light of scripture, considering Christ and His claims.  What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose His own soul? (Mark 8:34-38)

Given Over to What?

The Bible teaches that man is inherently wicked, not righteous.  Even as gravity exerts the same force on all objects to fall to the ground whether they be living person or an inanimate object, sin shows no partiality among man, woman, or child.  The downward spiral of every human soul towards Hell because of sin is certain and sure.  From our birth, sin has us in its death-grip.  We do not merely tend towards sin but are completely polluted by it, mind and soul.  As we grow older our appetite for sin grows.  Our capacity and desire to sin initially is fettered by childish ignorance and limitations.  It is when we grow out of this fetter that we make larger and stronger ones for ourselves by willfully seeking after sin and embracing it.  Greater bondage occurs because sin is suited to our natural state.  Sin is like a bait perfectly selected for our tastes, even as a fisherman covers the hook with bait to lure an unsuspecting trout.  Those who walk according to the lusts of the flesh are given over to sin.  Instead of the freedom one might think, sin enslaves in eternal bondage.

Though we can relate to being "given over" to sin because all sinned and fallen short of God's glory, the Bible gives us many examples.  Entire cities are described as being given over to fornication (Jude 1:7) and idolatry (Acts 17:16).  Romans 1:28-32 describes people who have no fear of God in plain terms:  "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ³¹ undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."

One of the most eye-opening experiences of my life were the amazing contrasts I saw during a 2005 trip to Israel.  In the Old City of Jerusalem I saw people given over to religious pursuits, tradition, and discussion.  It is a ancient city built with walls and streets of natural stone that reeks of tradition and history.  Orthodox and Russian Orthodox Jews wore traditional apparel, washed their hands according to the manner prescribed by the oral commands, and some wore yarmulkes and tefillin.  Men donned prayer shawls and recited from prayer books before the Western Wall to God.  But near the Old Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv in the heart of the red-light district, I witnessed a startling contrast.  One night, the team and I went to hand out Gospel tracts and talk to people about our Messiah, Jesus Christ.  That part of the city was completely given over to drugs, alcohol, and prostitution.  People crawled on their hands and knees as they feverishly sorted through rubbish in the gutter, looking for a old syringe with a needle still intact.

Within the red-light district there was additional irony.  As we walked through the streets offering the Gospel we encountered veteran prostitutes in grubby clothes and blank, seemingly soulless men who sought them.  It felt like walking among the dead.  The pained faces I saw were not like the advertisements plastered on the sex shops.  Those poor people looked more like zombies or machines "going through the motions" than human beings, high on crack cocaine and heroin.  A painting on a wall showed a bright white light enveloping a joyful embracing couple, as they soared to heavenly heights on the wings of passion.  A man I saw who entered the building did not look victorious as he pushed past us as a goat heading for slaughter.  In his eyes I saw hopelessness and despair.  He looked like he wanted to die.  He bought a lie that could not save but only added to his misery.  A city given over to sin is a city of death.  The world doles out death as fast as man can sin.  The bright lights may obscure the facade, pulsing music can drown out the weeping for a time, drugs can numb and bring euphoria for a moment, but sin is a killer that strangles away your life.  It is a slow, painful death that leads to eternal torment in Hell.

Praise the LORD for the hope we have in Jesus Christ, the Light of the World!  He not only forgives us for our sins, but reconciles us to God.  He is a Deliverer, Redeemer, and Restorer.  He has come to set the captives free.  The prophet points to Jesus Christ in Isaiah 61:1-3: "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; ² to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, ³ to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified."  If you are brokenhearted, held captive or bound by sin, God has Good News for you.  Jesus has come to seek and save those who are lost and to free those caught in sin's grasp.  Jesus has come to save you:  are you willing to be saved?  We are called to confess our sins and repent, trusting in Jesus for salvation through faith in Him.  God so loved this sinful world that He sent His only Son, so whoever will believe in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.

Instead of being given over to sin, all people are designed and called to be given over to God's worship and service.  Once we are born again of the Holy Spirit, we receive spiritual gifts to be used for God's glory and the edification of the church.  Our lives ought to be consumed for the glory of God.  This morning I read of Paul's exhortation to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:15-16:  "Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. ¹⁶ Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you."  As a Christian, I cannot give myself entirely to God's work if I reserve parts of my life for myself.  If I am weighed down with unconfessed sins and cares, I am like an sprinter in an Olympic race with a 50-kilo backpack dragging me down (Heb. 12:1).  If I am running to win, I cannot do so with such a great hindrance.  I want to win for Jesus.  He's the One who receives the reward, for all who have been purchased with His shed blood are His inheritance.  All I am and have is His, and Christ is mine.  Let us make a decision to be given over to the service of God for His glory.  As much as we desire to hear from Christ, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" we should desire to truthfully say someday with great joy, "I am your humble servant.  I have only done what is my duty to do."