Marching Forth!

Children are impressionable and parents have a great privilege and responsibility to raise them to know and honour God.  Christian parents can sabotage their efforts to teach their children about God when they reduce the relationship to rules.  There is a smug satisfaction that feeds our pride that we know and do what is right compared to a sinning, heathen world outside.  Believing sound doctrine is good, yet if pride in ourselves for a righteous stand (however costly) and still despise others without repentance we are no different than the self-righteous Pharisees who did not recognise the Saviour Jesus Christ who walked among them.  It is not doing one thing rather than another that makes us acceptable in the eyes of God but faith in Christ who regenerates us and empowers us by the Holy Spirit to walk in love. After the exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt, God commanded His people to continually teach their children about Him, His word and all He had done for them....

When appliances, electronics and toys grow old and break, often they are not worth repairing.  Long gone are the days of VCR and TV repair because of factors like the rapid advancement of technology that renders older obsolete, the difficulty of sourcing parts and the high expense of repair is greater than buying new.  Though parts can sometimes be recycled or repurposed, typically broken items that no longer perform their designed function are useless and only fit for the rubbish bin.  When my coffee machine stopped working, I removed it from the kitchen bench.  In a broken state it was a waste of space. I am most grateful God does not treat us like we treat our damaged or broken goods.  Instead of throwing us away, God delights to draw near to us in our brokenness.  Our pains attract Him to hear, help and save us when our broken hearts cry out to Him.  See what  Psalm 34:18 says:  "T he LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, and ...

As a speaker of English it is interesting how the definition and meaning of words can change over time.  It is not uncommon for the meaning of a word understood for hundreds of years to be easily overturned and narrowly re-defined as offensive.  A word which was once neutral can develop an overwhelmingly negative connotation and be viewed as bad in itself.  As a reader primarily of non-fiction by authors spanning hundreds of years, these shifts are not difficult to find. One word that did not always have a negative meaning was "discriminate."  To "discriminate" is akin to a cardinal sin these days, yet see how it is defined in the Webster's 1828 dictionary  (follow link for the full definition):  " To distinguish; to observe the difference between; as, we may usually discriminate true from false modesty.  2. To separate; to select from others; to make a distinction between; as, in the last judgment, the righteous will be discriminated from the wicked....

" My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing ." James 1:2-4 Yesterday the sermon at Calvary Chapel Sydney included this exhortation and encouragement for all followers of Jesus Christ.  God allows trials and adversity of all kinds to accomplish His good purposes.  Instead of being annoyed, frustrated or worried about the outcome we can count it all joy to face trials which test us.  Just like a student sits an exam because he is included in the class, God tests and disciplines us because we are His children He loves. A precious metal is placed in a crucible and intense heat is applied because it is a precious metal which requires further refinement to be even more valuable.  A child of God can know the various trials He allows are not for our destruction but an opportunity for the fruit of...