Marching Forth!

While driving last night I had a fun and enlightening conversation with God.  In a relationship with God we have the freedom to have some very unorthodox thoughts.  My thoughts were something like this:  "God, if you were confined within time and I was the only person in the entire world, would you be bored?  Would you go for hours without hearing from me?  Would your life consist of a fair amount of thumb twiddling because I was off doing my own thing?" Thought immediately flooded into my mind that went something like this.  "You have it all wrong.  Even if you were the only person in the world, my thoughts would be continuously focused on you even if you didn't regard me at all."  Then a scripture came to mind.  The truth of Psalm 139:17-18 hit home:  " How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still wi...

Have you ever listened to your own prayers to God?  It is important our prayers reflect faith in God's revealed truth in His Word.  Sometimes our prayers do not demonstrate we trust the Bible.  We can beg God to "be with us" when He has promised never to leave or forsake us!  We can also pray for God to do things we are primarily responsible to do.  Through God's Spirit we are enabled respond supernaturally to God's grace and love as His adopted children, even as a flower turns toward the sun. I was singing along with a familiar worship song which went, " Oh Spirit come make us humble ."  It occurred to me it is true that only God can truly humble a man.  This is demonstrated in the scriptures when God humbled His people ( Deut. 8:3; 16 ).  As I sang the words in church, it dawned on me this request for humbling by the Spirit is not a term of phrase found in scripture.  There are many times, however, where men are told to humble themselves...

One of the recurring themes throughout the book of Judges and has been observed among people in the world ever since is, " every man did what was right in his own eyes ."  The Proverbs say most men will proclaim their own goodness, but there is not a good man among them ( Prov. 20:6 ).  The way of a man seems right to him, but the inevitable end is death ( Prov. 14:12 ).  Only God is good, and His righteous standard proclaimed in scripture is absolute. A reality of this corrupted world is all things degrade.  Our bodies break down, grow old and decay.  Biblical morality, principles once firmly established in the fabric of society, over time are easily cast aside.  As generations overtake generations, even the meaning of words can be dumbed-down into sloppy generalisations.  Take justice, for instance.  The 1828 Webster's Dictionary defines justice like this:  " 1) the virtue which consists in giving to everyone what is his due; practical ...

There is a push in many churches today to be more "relevant."  In an attempt to be relevant by allowing culture to dictate belief or emphasis above the Word of God, the church becomes more irrelevant than ever.  A church is only as relevant as it is righteous.  A church pandering to humanism and traditions of men has nothing of eternal value to offer anyone.  The church does not suddenly become relevant because the pastor is a hipster, the media department produces eye-popping videos, services are well-attended, or hosts weekly outreaches in pubs along with Scotch-tasting.  The church is not relevant because of what it does, but because of what it is:  the living Body of Jesus Christ comprised of individuals united in One Spirit. Some who profess Christ as Saviour seem concerned that if the church does not mirror the culture, it cannot effectively reach people for Christ.  Jesus went into the world, but He did not become like the world.  It is t...