Marching Forth!

Following Jesus Christ as LORD and Saviour totally transforms our perspective.  Faith in God is not intended to be an isolated part of our lives but practically impact everything.  This goes far beyond our beliefs or thoughts but plays out daily in the way we respond. Last night I turned on the rugby all-star clash between the New Zealand and Indigenous Australian teams.  After seeing the Kiwis belt out their national anthem with gusto as one, I was saddened to see the Indigenous players strangely silent whilst "Advance Australia Fair" was played.  It seems I was not the only one who noticed, as it was addressed in an opinion piece on the NRL website and an article on 9 News .  According to the article, the Australian captain responded when asked about the silence, saying "... he didn’t believe the song represented himself or his family and the lyrics embodied a different message to Indigenous people. It just brings back so many memories from what's happened...

I've been reading a compilation of quotes by C.S. Lewis lately and have been enjoying it.  I was especially intrigued by the section on Democracy, and his insights focused through a God-honouring lens are worthy of consideration today.  This is one of my favourites, quoted from an essay written in 1943 titled "Equality": " I am a democrat because I believe in the Fall of Man.  I think most people are democrats for the opposite reason.  A great deal of democratic enthusiasm descends from the ideas of people like Rousseau, who believed in democracy because they thought mankind so wise and good that everyone deserved a share in the government.  The danger of defending democracy on those grounds is that they're not true...I find that they're not true without looking further than myself.  I don't deserve a share in governing a hen-roost, much less a nation...The real reason for democracy is...Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked po...

" Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. 10  For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death ." 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 Sorrow is common in our human condition.  Grief, heaviness, and even guilt can be beneficial for us and others when godly sorrow leads us to repentance.  The context of the quoted passage is Paul was sad to see the Corinthians sorrowful over their sin, but he was pleased that it provoked a healthy and positive response in them to humbly repent before God.  It is one thing to acknowledge we have done wrong, but another thing entirely to put off the sin moving forward - and actually be joyful to move on in faith.  The lives of Judas and Peter provide illustrations of sorrow in a worldly and godly manner.  Both Judas and Peter fe...

There is a push today to "experience" God, and this is nothing new.  People want to have tangible evidence and experiences which for them confirm the reality of God's existence and power.  Whilst I applaud the desire to seek and know God who has revealed Himself in the world and His Word, the pursuit of religious experiences brings the divine down to the level of a hokey parlour trick.  To know God is to experience Him, and He is more than tingly or warm sensations. In an old Mythbusters episode, the build team had the goofy idea that ancient people may have used small electrical currents to provide a "religious experience."  The largely western bias that what was believed to be a religious experience could not be supernatural was on full display.  Electric shocks, mind-altering drugs, and superstitions of ignorant people are seen by modern folks as plausible ways people believed they were in contact with God.  Whilst many ignorant and deceived people i...