Marching Forth!

I was reminded of the film Silence  today, specifically how the persecution of Jesuit priests by the Japanese for the sake of the Gospel proved ineffective to stop their ministry.  The antagonists found their brutal tortures only seemed to goad the priests to further sacrifice to spread the Good News of Christianity.  In the film, the Japanese changed their approach and discovered they made inroads to hinder the ministry by making the congregants suffer.  This created a conflict within the priests who felt personally responsible for causing the pain, suffering and death of the local people.  Had those missionaries considered the teaching of scripture, it perhaps would have changed their outlook to realise believers are appointed by God to suffer and were never at the mercy of their enemies. Hearing this, some may see this appointment to suffering as a blight upon God's goodness and righteous character.  But how can one say this when Jesus went through suffe...

I have found gardening challenging in Sydney.  It feels like something is always against you, whether it be nutrient poor soil or clay, variety of turf or weeds, birds or extreme heat.  Grubs and insects also pose a problem that can go unnoticed until damage is done to roots or leaves.  The most recurring problem I have in our area is scale insects that attach themselves like barnacles to the top and underside of leaves as well as digging into the branches.  I don't know how long scale insects were on our lime tree until I noticed them by looking closely, and only then did I begin to realise the extent of the infestation and the damage they were doing. From what I have read, the scale insects draw nutrients from the tree and then excrete honeydew which attracts ants and causes sooty black mould.  The mould doesn't directly harm the tree, but when it builds up on the leaves it can inhibit photosynthesis and cause leaves to drop off.  Quiet and sedentary, sca...

When a person sees a need and puts a plan together to accomplish something good, it doesn't guarantee good results--even for kings.  King Joash noticed the temple was becoming dilapidated and in need of repair, so he commanded dedicated gifts and census tax brought by the people were to be received by the priests for the purpose of repairing the temple.  It seems years passed before it was evident the priests continued to receive money but no work had been done on the building.  The priests had plenty of responsibilities already, and I suspect not all of them were skilled builders who were able to address the disrepair.  After the king confronted the priests for their inaction on the repairs, they agreed not to receive any more money or be the ones responsible for fixing the temple. A new plan was put into motion in  2 Kings 12:9-12 :  " Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar, on the right side as one c...

Today at Calvary Chapel Sydney one topic of discussed in the sermon was how God appointed Christians to affliction and also to endure with joy.  To believers who faced persecution and suffered for the sake of Christ, Paul said in  1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 , " And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,  13  so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints .  God had constructive and redemptive benefits for the appointment with affliction the Thessalonians and all Christians, to the end God would establish our hearts blameless in holiness.  We might not prefer or enjoy the process, but we cannot fault God or His results. When I think of dentist appointments, they are more of a "should" or "have to" rather than I "want to."  The only time I would welcome or gladly anticipate a dentist appointment is...