Marching Forth!

I received word that our information has been loaded on the Shepherd's Staff website. We look forward to uniting in the pursuit of God's glory in Australia! If you want to see the page, follow this link ! Not only do we have the inestimable power of God to protect and provide us, but God is building a team to serve God together with us. I am reminded of Ephes. 4:15-16 : "... but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head--Christ-- [16] from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love ." It is comforting to know that the call for some is to go, and others are called to send. We are not in the business of self-promotion, but the ministry of God-glorification . When the Body of Christ is united in a venture of faith, God will be faithful to lead, guide, and p...

Today in the high school group we discussed the marks of faith in God. Faith is not based on what we receive from God, but is active reliance upon the character of God as revealed in scripture. It is a tragic fact that many people read the Word of God, but do not know God personally. In a day when the focus is predominately on what God has done or can do for us, it is high time we started simply magnifying the character of God's nature. The reason why we are blessed by what God does is because of who He is. God is good, so all He does is good. God is righteous, so all He does is perfect. A biography gives a small glimpse into the heart of a person. An autobiography even more so, because it is written from a first-person perspective. The Bible is God's autobiography, His living will and testament. In its pages we see that God is all-powerful, all-knowing, and without sin. Every attribute of God is infinite: He is just as well as gracious, loving as well as true. Not ...

Laura and I are very excited about our partnership with Shepherd's Staff . We are grateful and blessed to be affiliated with such a ministry for many reasons. For those who are interested, I'll do my best to explain the relationship that Shepherd's Staff will share with our family. Though we are being "sent out" by Calvary Chapel El Cajon, I will no longer be an employee of the church as I have for the last four years. I will be "employed" by Shepherd's Staff, though they will not pay me. People will choose to support our venture in faith, make tax-deductible donations on our behalf to Shepherd's Staff, and they will pass along the funds to us. When I go to Brisbane, I will not be allowed to make any money in Australia. I will be traveling on a Tourist Visa, which enables me to stay for up to three months at a time. Funds that God provides through friends and family will be sent from Shepherd's Staff to us. In addition to financial ...

There is a certain amount of janitorial work I perform at church every week. I enjoy monotonous tasks for the reason I can do them well and meditate on the Word, pray, or think things over. Because of the call of God upon my life, there are certain preachers that I connect with who are solid in doctrine, heavy on challenge, and are completely unapologetic concerning God's truth. Speaking for myself, it takes a challenge to move me to change. Sometimes the challenge come straight from the text and sometimes the Holy Spirit uses a man to put His finger on something. Today while cleaning bathrooms and mopping floors I thought about prophets in the Bible, prophets who trusted God and spoke for Him. The first thing that is clear about them is they were owned by God and not influenced by men. They were steadfast messengers of God's truth, not flavoring the word with flowery speech or trying to soften the blow with flattery. One amazing thing about good prophets is I cannot rem...

I was reading the Word last night before bed and a verse in particular caught my attention. Jesus says in Matthew 7:14 , "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it ." The word "find" jumped off the page. Most modern evangelistic messages omit this point. In fact, often we are taught that salvation is only to be received, not found. Salvation must be sought in Christ, found through Christ, then received from Christ. It seems that many professing believers today have received pseudo-salvation. They have what Tozer calls a "nominal" faith, faith in word but not in deed. It is not real faith. It is not a faith that saves. In a sermon I heard yesterday, Tozer says that nominal faith believes a text and accepts what he is told. This man believes what he reads wholeheartedly. But real faith in God is belief in God, depending upon the character of God. The text exists to point to God. Many p...

How important it is that we fulfill the purpose God has ordained for us! All things have been created by God for His good pleasure. It is so easy to fashion our lives according to man's opinions or even our own whims. The devil would like nothing more than to distract the church from the center of God's will. If the church is led from the Shepherd, we cannot fulfill God's purposes. If we would be honest, even Bible-teaching churches can fall prey to focusing on social issues rather than spiritual regeneration. Instead of making disciples of all nations, we can neglect discipleship even among our congregations. Vance Havner had this to say in his book, Moments of Decision : " The meaning of the church is that Christians are God's called-out ones. The mission of the church is to preach the Gospel, to make, baptize, and teach disciples. The message of the church is the Gospel that Christ died for our sins and rose for our justification. The ministry of the...

I was reading up on churches on a website and saw something that I believe marks a disturbing trend in so-called Christianity. The pastors of a particular church were called " part of an emerging generation of leaders, whose ministry is marked by relevance, inspiration and encouragement ." My opinion, which matters very little, is that folks of this persuasion ought to go back to the holes or skins they emerged from. Would you say that the ministry of Jesus Christ is primarily marked by these things? It depends on your definition, but I can say that these were certainly not the foundational virtues that marked the ministry of Christ. We live in a day when "relevance" is as important as being relative. It is something many Christians try to become. Relevance often means "becoming like the world in an attempt to reach the world." Is God's Word relevant for today? Of course! God's Word is His living will and testament for our lives. His La...