Marching Forth!

In the church I was raised, it was a common occurrence for the pastor to invite people to respond to a message by re-committing their lives to Jesus.  Many times under the conviction of sin I raised my hand or went forward in acknowledgement of my sin and desire to repent.  It is never hard for born-again Christians to see their need for repentance and forgiveness.  We could not be born-again again, so re-commitment was posed as the way back to God for a backslider.  This concept of re-commitment became an endless loop which rested on nothing more than my own resolve and self-control which always fell short. There is a place for renewal and revival in the life of Christians, but I am convinced the option of re-commitment modeled for me in my youth misses the point.  The more I think about it, the more I am certain the idea of re-commitment is without biblical precedent.  Should Christians commit and entrust themselves to God in faith?  Yes.  Bu...

Well, it's official:  Google hates me.  I probably shouldn't say anything because Google is always listening and recording (perhaps even hiding from plain sight) what I write.  Over the years I have wondered if changing algorithms negatively affected search traffic to the blog, but recently I discovered something which leaves little doubt.  Occasionally I will look up a keyword of an old post as a point of reference.  I was pretty sure I've mentioned MacGuffin  on the blog before" and tried to search it with the blog address.  By the way, anyone who has watched movies would be familiar with MacGuffins (but maybe not the name), a device in film that drives the plot but has little significance otherwise. When I searched on Google Chrome I was surprised to see only one page of results and none from marchforth2oz.blogspot.com.  After navigating to the blog in the search bar I typed "MacGuffin" and bingo:  the single mention of "MacGuffin" from...

Convenience often comes at a price, and the consumer decides if they are willing to pay for the luxury.  Prepared foods typically cost more than buying the ingredients separately.  Convenience has a universal appeal because it reduces extra work and saves time.  For all the allure of convenience, however, there can be a downside.  The cost for convenience is not always paid in money but with countless distractions, intrusions, oppression, and even bondage. For almost two weeks I was without a mobile phone.  A month ago the screen developed a fault which daily increased to the point of the screen being completely fuzzy.  For days it was like trying to view emails and sites through the bars of a virtual prison.  Since the phone was under warranty, it was shipped off to the assessment centre and I was told it would be 5 to 10 business days until the job would be complete.  For the job to be done the phone would be wiped, and I drove home phonel...

" Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30   For My yoke is easy and My burden is light ." Matthew 11:29-30 I was reading through Malachi this morning when I came across a wonderful promise to those who trust God, and it prompted me to seek out Christ's words in Matthew.   Malachi 4:2 says, " But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves ."  Jesus Christ is the Son (and Sun here, the Light of the World) of righteousness who died on Calvary and has risen glorified.  He is our Saviour, the One who has called us and sent us out to all the world to proclaim His everlasting truth of the Gospel. When Malachi compared those who trust in God to being "stall-fed calves," it reminded me of what Jesus said.  He urged people to take His yoke upon them, and this is ...