Marching Forth!

Jesus spoke against the Pharisees who did good works to be seen and recognised by men.  They were fond of titles, admiration, to be respected, and to have their expert opinion sought.  Jesus countered this by explaining the conduct He expected of His servants in  Matthew 23:5-12 :  " But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries  broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. 6 They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, 7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.' 8 But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10   And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ. 11   But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12   And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humb...

Jacob loved his son Joseph and had a special colourful coat made for him.  The favour his father showed him made Joseph the envy of his 10 older brothers.  It didn't help his relationship with them when he shared dreams where they bowed down before him.  When he obediently went at the request of his father for a status report from his brothers who were shepherds  Genesis 37:18-20 reads, " Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him. 19  Then they said to one another, "Look, this dreamer is coming! 20  Come therefore, let us now kill him and cast him into some pit; and we shall say, 'Some wild beast has devoured him.' We shall see what will become of his dreams !"  From a great distance Joseph's colourful coat caused his brothers to recognise him and they plotted how they might destroy him.  The obvious favour of his father made Joseph a target. Reading this passage reminds me of sim...

Based on my experience we seem to be living in the not-so-golden age of conspiracy theories, but the Bible says this is nothing new.  It may be the distrust in government and media are at all time highs yet skeptics, doubters, and those touting hidden agendas have been around since the beginning.  Satan very well might be the first one who promoted a conspiracy when he said to Eve, "Has God really said you cannot eat from the tree in the midst of the garden?"  Lies mixed with truth proved a deadly combination. It feels like wherever I look there is more evidence of a conspiracy mindset taking hold.  On my news feed I read about anti-vaxers, 5G and COVID combo, and anti-maskers; Christian bookstores sell paperbacks about government schemes and inter-dimensional portals; billboards go up warning about the day the world will end.  Countless documentaries are churned out annually that follow the same pattern:  what you have been led to believe is wrong, hi...

I recently watched a few videos our ministry team put together with a youth group years ago.  One of the films has a song by Sanctus Real which repeats the chorus:  " I'm not alright, I'm broken inside, broken inside.  And all I go through leads me to you, leads me to you ."  These may seem rather depressing lyrics but actually the message is uplifting and true.  We are all broken inside and out in a broken world, yet for a child of God the trials and difficulties of life lead us to seek the LORD who is our refuge and help. It isn't until we are convinced there is something wrong we will investigate to fix the issue.  A decrease of power in an engine that blows smoke, poor performance of an appliance, or symptoms of illness prompt us to take action.  We live in a world permeated with themes of self-empowerment that are a complete lie, and swallowing them leads to disillusionment and despair.  Only the ones who realise they are indeed broken bey...