Marching Forth!

I watched a show where a character aspired to be a "man of the people," one revered and well-remembered by the masses.  The irony was, the villain was a narcissist who did not love or care for anyone at all besides himself.  Others were only a means to achieve and receive what he wanted and felt entitled to.  It is a strange thing to desire honour from people he deemed disposable.  It also flies in the face of logic for God's people to serve in the hope of receiving honour from men when our lives are to be lived for God's honour.  It should not matter to us that our names be known or remembered, as long as Jesus Christ is honoured through our lives.  A child of God can be content to be anonymous if it means God is made famous. King Saul is a solid example of one chosen and anointed by God who became quite a somebody in his own esteem, and as a consequence he cared more about His own honour than God's.  When he was confronted for disobeying the prophet ...

Nehemiah is a person I highly respect and admire in the Bible because he feared God, was bold to take action for the glory of God and His people, and he was diligent to seek God--even in emotionally charged situations.  One such situation occurred when Nehemiah was appraised of how Jews were indebted and enslaved to one another in their fight for survival and had no means of paying interested charged them.  It was one thing to be enslaved or oppressed by enemies, but by their own people?  Nehemiah couldn't believe what he was hearing. Nehemiah was incensed when he heard of the oppression taking place in Israel in Nehemiah 5:6-7 :  " And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7  After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, "Each of you is exacting usury from his brother." So I called a great assembly against them ."  Rather than reacting and flying into a rage, Nehemiah's anger led him to think seriousl...

I used to watch boxing in my younger days, and I always enjoyed predicting who would win.  Both fighters talked a big pre-match game, but one of them would end up being the loser--sometimes in mere seconds.  What I observed is the fighter who appeared more heavily muscled often tired more quickly than the other.  This led me to conclude there can be a fighter who works out in the gym to look cut and fit, while others grow lean and strong by training and boxing.  More often than not, the fighter with better endurance was able to focus their strength with sound technique after the more ripped fighter was winded with fatigue. Today as I chipped away at an old stump, it dawned on me that working is the best exercise because it produces multiple benefits.  There are many people who "work out" today for personal health, yet there is not necessarily any "work" accomplished.  People sweat by running on a treadmill or climbing a stair-stepper but do not go anywhere;...

Our local shopping centre recently had a visit from a local member of parliament, and volunteers were out early putting up signs to advertise the one-hour event.  I even had someone come to the door with her flier that touted what the local MP was doing to "fight" for better mobile phone coverage in our suburb.  The repetition of militant phrases of "fighting" for residents and promises to "keep fighting" if elected again struck me as rather odd as a representative of a party that boasts the majority government at a local and federal level.  I would much prefer the Labour party (or any party for that matter!) to faithfully  work for the good of the citizens and residents rather than fighting. God's people have the assurance of Scripture the battle is the LORD's, and I trust Him to help us more than an arm of flesh, political party or politician ( 2 Chron. 32:8 ).  Secular government generally operates without acknowledgement of God, His wisdom or ...