Marching Forth!

" And it happened when He was in a certain city, that behold, a man who was full of leprosy saw Jesus; and he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Then He put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed."  Immediately the leprosy left him ." Luke 5:12-13 Leprosy was a death sentence which ostracised and disfigured its victims without any hope of cure.  This man who is described as being " full of leprosy " sounds to be an advanced case.  Though he was an outcast and unclean under Law, Jesus was willing to touch and heal the leper who placed his faith in Him.  Jesus responded to the man's request and instantly he was made whole. It is amazing how at the touch of Jesus " immediately the leprosy left him ."  The disease instantly departed, similar to demons Jesus cast out of those afflicted.  Who would have believed such a thing was possible?  At ...

This week at Calvary Chapel Sydney the Sunday message was focused on the interaction with Jesus and the woman brought to Him who was caught in adultery.  The Pharisees brought the woman before Jesus to find an opportunity to accuse Jesus of wrongdoing, but Jesus unexpectedly shifted the focus to the conscience of the accusers:  suddenly they were the ones on trial.  They wanted to know if Jesus agreed with Moses that the woman should be stoned to death, yet Jesus told them the one without sin should be the first to throw a stone.  One by one the accusers departed and the woman was left alone with Jesus. John 8:10-11 says, " When Jesus had raised Himself up and saw no one but the woman, He said to her, "Woman, where are those accusers of yours? Has no one condemned you?" 11  She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more ."  The woman who was under condemnation of the Law and self-righteous men s...

" Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence-- 2 as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil-- to make Your name known to Your adversaries,  t hat the nations may tremble at Your presence !" Isaiah 64:1-2 In their present distress the Jews in Jerusalem desired for God to reveal His might to the Syrians, Babylonians, to the ends of the earth as He once did to them on Mt. Sinai.  He appeared with earth-shaking might, flames of fire, thick smoke and darkness, with booming voice and trumpet blast which made man and beast quake in terror.  They wanted the fear of God put into their enemies so they would not be plundered, destroyed, and vanquished. The irony of the situation is God allowed enemies to attack and take captive His people because they (His own people!) did not fear Him as they should.  They pleaded with God to "rend the heavens" and come down in glorious power, but...

I grew up in a time when rock 'n roll was referred to by some as "devil music" because of something obscurely referred to as an "evil beat."  I have heard all sorts of strange ideas, like the rapid drumming places people in a trance-like state or the music had a possessive and controlling capacity.  As a kid I bought music played by Christian artists, or at least tapes supplied in Christian bookstores next to the Chick tracts.  I was particularly fond of metal, much to the chagrin of one of my Sunday School teachers.  I supplied her a cassette complete with lyrics so she could determine for herself if it was sinful or not.  "The lyrics seem fine but I still think it's got that evil beat," was her response. There are no doubt evil musicians in the world whose explicit aim is to make the most evil music they can, and many have succeeded with their blasphemous efforts.  Yet music, in itself, is not and cannot be a bad thing.  People have taken a go...