Marching Forth!

“ You are wearied in the length of your way; yet you did not say, 'There is no hope.' You have found the  life of your hand; therefore you were not grieved .” Isaiah 57:10 This verse grabbed my attention from our text at Calvary Chapel Sydney this week.  The context of the passage is God’s rebuke of His people for offering sacrifices to idols.  They went to great lengths to embrace the abominable practice of human sacrifice and sensual fertility rituals.  God’s lament was how the people wearied themselves in their sin, but they were not weary of their sin.  Their sin was what they lived for, and it was killing them at the same time. The people were wearied by the expense of their sin but did not notice the toll it took upon their families, nation, and their ability to worship God.  It reminds me of the response of smokers I worked with when California exponentially increased the cost of cigarettes.  The price increase may have influenced some t...

I may live in Australia, but it didn't take long for the news to reach our shores that the San Diego Chargers intend to relocate to Los Angeles.  For someone born and raised in San Diego, it is a low blow first to lose our beloved NFL franchise, but to leave for a rival town who claims not to even want them adds insult to injury.  The purpose of this post is not to lament this loss, for as we all know the National Football League is a business, and in business the aim is to invest money today with the highest level of future return.  Detailed analysis of how or why this has finally happened cannot change the fact it is happening.  The Chargers are moving, and that is what loyal supporters are processing today. I am sad for the many loyal Chargers fans who feel betrayed by an organisation which did not extend enough loyalty to them to remain.  Many fans are loyal to their local team, supporting the team unconditionally, regardless of personnel changes or pe...

I've enjoyed reading through G.K. Chesterton's What's Wrong with the World , and because the nature of humanity has not changed he remains insightful and strangely prophetic.  Chesterton was able, with eloquence and humorous poise, to point out inconsistent folly in his day which has continued unabated until now.  I see no reason why these observations will not remain relevant for another hundred years - or until we start actually learning from our mistakes. One of the paragraphs I have turned back to a couple of times concerns a modern approach to education, one that was on display during the life of Chesterton and I have also observed myself.  There is a push in an effort to "save the children" to inject new and virtually unproved methods and programs to benefit students.  Recent examples of this are "Common Core" curriculum pushed through in the United States and the ridiculous "Safe Schools" program in Australia.  It seems many schools a...

This morning I read of the interaction between Abram and Lot after their herdsmen had quarreled together.  So plentiful were their flocks and herds that the land was unable to support them both.  Though Abram was his elder, he graciously declared to Lot in an effort to make and keep peace in  Genesis 13:9 , " Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me. If you take the left, then I will go to the right; or, if you go to the right, then I will go to the left ."  He gave Lot the opportunity to go wherever he wanted, and promised to go in the opposite direction. Abram was good as his word for  Genesis 13:10-11 tells us, " And Lot lifted his eyes and saw all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere (before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah) like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt as you go toward Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose for himself all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east. And they separated from each ot...