Marching Forth!

Satan is a created being by God who continually seeks to mimic his Creator, masquerading as an angel of light.  Jesus Christ is the Way, but the devil tries to thwart the advance of His kingdom by many counterfeit "ways."  Jesus is the Truth, and much of the world is deceived to believe truth is subjective and bows to the judgment of each individual.  Jesus is the Life, and no one goes the the Father or heaven except through Him ( John 14:6 ). One of the ways the world has substituted for a life of repentance and faith in Christ through the Gospel is attempted self-improvement.  One such "way" is through martial arts.  From the moment I was exposed to Aikido in particular, I have always had an appreciation and interest in the skills of the practitioners.  The irony of this martial art is the non-violent philosophy which governs it.  That is why Aikido does not have competitions, but demonstrations.  Whilst some believe martial arts and techniqu...

I remember days when I could eat whatever and as much as I wanted without a clear negative correlation to my physical health.  When I was about twenty a friend a bit older than me warned as age increases the metabolism can slow down.  "You'll notice a change around thirty," he predicted.  "At least, that's when my metabolism started slowing down.  I had to make adjustments to my eating habits or I would really pack on the pounds!"  Yeah right, I thought to myself.  But to be honest, he wasn't too far off.  I have found it is important for me to eat less and exercise more to maintain my current body weight. This year I will be celebrating my fortieth birthday, and needless to say a lot has changed since I was twenty.  The thing I find most challenging is the necessity to be constantly vigilant concerning my fitness.  The nature of my job is sedentary, and it is rarely convenient to make time to exercise.  I look at myself in the mirror ...

For a long time I have kept my eyes open for volumes of The Sword and the Trowel , a compilation of articles and tracts from C.H. Spurgeon.  I am happy to say I discovered a couple of clean used copies (Volumes 1 & 2) from a bookseller ( Christian Books Australia ) and have been enjoying them as expected.  As I read a tract published over a hundred and fifty years ago, I was amazed at how little has changed concerning the human heart and Satan's tactics.  Here is the tract, as originally published  by Passmore & Alabaster: Rowland Hill illustrated the folly of sinners by the story of a butcher who was followed by the swine right into the slaughterhouse.  As pigs are not usually in the mind to go where they are wanted, it seemed a mystery how these animals were so eager to follow their executioner; but when it was seen that he wisely carried a bag of pease and beans with which he enticed the creatures onward, the riddle was solved at once.  Unsuspi...

The ideas people have of God's character or nature are commonly not based on the revelation of scripture but their own faulty assumptions or reasoning.  People imagine God to be a certain way based upon short quotes (without context) or observation of others who claim to know him.  Do you think you could possibly "know" a musician by learning the lyrics to their songs?  Can you become intimately acquainted with a politician based upon a short television interview, sound bites or an advertisement?  The truth is, a lot of people who enshrine misconceptions of God actually "know" musicians and politicians (they do not know!) far better than they know God. God is not whoever man imagines him to be.  Many have constructed a "god" in their own minds which is not God, an imaginary being of whom they approve, blame or hate based upon blind ignorance.  Being God, He is not subject to our judgments or self-centred bias.  God has revealed Himself through the B...