Marching Forth!

Today Louis and I borrowed Phil's trailer and headed over to Ike and Cecile's house about 25km away.  They are moving and offered me their dining room table, chairs, and stools.  It is a gesture most appreciated and everything packed very neatly into the corner of Louis' garage.  Louis said, "Isn't it amazing how God puts the pieces of the puzzle together?"  To which I remarked, "He certainly puts them together in an interesting order."  One would think the provision of a visa would be forthcoming, seeming to be much more critical than a table and chairs.  But the clear provision of God through the saints is no small thing, and I praise God for His faithfulness. When you put a puzzle together, you take it out of a box that has a picture on top.  You see the end result before you begin.  When I think about God's calling upon my life to preach and minister in AUS, I can't see the complete picture.  Many of the puzzles I have worked over the ...

Last night I did something that I don't always do.  I chose not to pray for any specific requests until God told me what to pray.  Sometimes I feel like I can fall into a rut of going down a "list" of sorts, praising God, asking blessings upon my wife and children, thanking Him for the Landman family and all those who are supporting me...these things are all fine and good to pray for.  But last night I said, "God, I'm not going to pray for anything until you tell me what to pray or how to pray.  My prayers are lame."  Then His words came to me like an invigorating rain upon my parched soul:  " Pray for the impossible ." Consider the implications of the statement.  How often do we limit our prayers to what is possible?  How common is the prayer that asks God to do what we could do ourselves?  What a difference it makes in our prayers when we pray for God to do what is impossible for us to do.  This works upon us in several ways:  1...

A major misconception of Americans is that Australia, being English speaking, is very similar to America.  There is an idea that we are perfectly compatible culturally.  I am still only beginning to see the nuances and subtleties which make the cultural expanse so wide, perhaps as wide as the Pacific Ocean.  This is a distance that cannot be spanned except through the power of the Holy Spirit and God's grace. The Landman family and I have been visiting Sonja in the hospital for about a week now nearly every day.  The hospital is very clean, modern, and the staff is highly professional.  But I saw something yesterday in the medical offices that would never fly in a San Diego hospital!  In the ward where Sonja is staying, there sits a wheelbarrow filled with alcohol:  beer, rum, wine coolers and other miscellaneous alcoholic beverages.  You don't believe me?  But there it is, covered with a net so recovering patients don't help themselves in...

I'm the kind of person who does not mark in the Bible.  I do not condemn any who feel free to do so, but I don't desire to place any of my commentary or thoughts on the same page as God's Word.  Every time I crack open the pure Word I seek to gather the fresh manna that can only come from above.  I refuse to be chained to only one point in a passage.  The people did not eat manna in only one fashion:  the scriptures say they " ground it in mills, or beat it in a mortar, and baked it in pans, and made cakes of it ..." ( Num. 11:8 ).  The tragedy was that the children of Israel did so because they grew tired of it.  May that never be said of us, that we would desire the cucumbers, melons, and leeks of Egypt when God has provided of His personal stores manna for us to be spiritually sustained.  Manna after a day would stink and breed worms, and yesterday's portion is inadequate for today's lessons. I have made an exception, however.  In the ba...

I have been praising God for His provision as I wait upon Him in OZ.  Staying at the Landman home has been a real pleasure, and has afforded me many great opportunities.  With a private area and internet access, I have been able to keep posting on the blog, sending correspondence, connecting to my family at home with Skype, and even prepared a sermon yesterday!  For the time being whoever reads this blog is my "congregation," because the opportunity to preach has not yet afforded itself.  In God's perfect time and manner, His will shall be accomplished.  Louis, Sonja, Louise, and Johan have been so hospitable and kind. I have also been able to do some little projects around the house.  Today I installed a recessed light outside, vacuumed the carpets, hung out the washing ("laundry" is called "washing" here, and pretty much everyone that I've seen hangs their clothes to dry outside), and cooked up some syrup for tomorrow's breakfast.  I'm ...

A couple months before I left home for Australia, I purchased a new pair of running shoes.  I started running for exercise since preaching for me does not provide much aerobic benefit!  It has been good to begin a routine of  regular exercise, not because I like exercise in itself, but because of the obvious health benefits.  I have found running benefits my mental focus, digestion, endurance, lowered my cholesterol, and added 15 yards to my golf game! I have to admit, I'm not a health freak.  I admit I'm not even that "health conscious."  I am not seeking rock-hard abs or interested in how much I can bench press.  But one day I looked at myself in the mirror and exclaimed, "Self, you're getting sloppy!"  My pants were starting to fit a little tight and I'm too tight to buy new pants!  Some people are not content to see an ounce of fat on their bodies.  They starve themselves, eat the equivalent of cardboard and sticks, and still work ...

One criterion of good Bible study and teaching is that we emphasize what the text emphasizes. Many preachers use the "springboard" method of preaching that starts with a premise outside of scripture. Verses are used to confirm this extra-biblical premise to validate it. This is the same as a builder constructing a building without a foundation. The building can be no stronger than the foundation: if the foundation is faulty, the building will not stand. A preacher has a responsibility similar to the media in that he must hold forth the unbiased truth. The media does not always provide honest, hard facts. I was working at San Diego State University on the campus and watched a news team with cameras interview a group of people holding signs. One of the ten people of the group held a megaphone speaking out against "injustice," while five other people milled around with signs. It occurred to me that out of the thousands of people that walked by, the handful w...