Marching Forth!

I'm the kind of person that loves a challenge.  I enjoy challenging myself to improve at everything from bowling, building, speaking, writing, in practically every area of my life.  I like board games that challenge me to think.  I like to read books and listen to sermons that provide strong challenges.  When muscles are not strained through strenuous exercise, they begin to atrophy almost immediately.  In the same way, when I am not spiritually challenged I feel like my strength begins to wane.  Fellowship with other believers, being challenged by the Holy Spirit as I spend time in the Word and prayer, and through the testimony of other strong believers, my "spiritual fitness" level is greatly increased. But there is a catch to every challenge:  it involves the necessity of action on our part.  For a new reader, even the simplest of words are a challenge to read and pronounce.  As reading improves, what was once a challenge no longer provi...

Looking back on my life, historically my first impression would be better classified as a wrong impression.  There have been many times I had a negative first impression of people who later ended up being among my best friends!  The first glance or personal interaction can distort the truth of reality.  People are more than just a face and a name, and it is a shame for us to judge by appearance.  It is not above a man to do what is shameful, or to even make a practice of it. When I arrived in Sydney, I took the train from the terminal to the home I am staying at in Baulkham Hills.  The train was creaky and old, and as I rode the train from the Central Station tall graffiti-covered brick walls loomed on either side of the tracks.  Rubbish lined the sides of the tracks as we sped under grey, overcast skies.  Serious people stared straight ahead as the train jostled from side to side.  Abandoned buildings with broken windows, the same red bricks, t...

" Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praises on the harp to our God, [8] who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth, who makes grass to grow on the mountains. [9] He gives to the beast its food, and to the young ravens that cry. [10] He does not delight in the strength of the horse; He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man. [11] The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope in His mercy ."  Psalm 147:7-11 On the first Tuesday in November, the Melbourne cup horse race is held annually in Victoria, Australia.  It is often called "the horse race that stops a nation."  For many people in Victoria it is a holiday where men don suits and women wear dresses and fancy hats to watch the horses race.   Even people who are not horse racing fans gather to watch the powerful steeds, pick their winner, and place their bets.  All can appreciate the quickness and power of a horse running at top speed.  God is the One wh...

Today was a significant day in my walk with Jesus.  It was a fulfillment of the word of the LORD spoken to me seven years ago:  " You will preach, and you will be sent ."  I believed in seven years I would see the word of God fulfilled.  Never could I have imagined in 2002 that God would have moved me out of the trade that I loved, into a full-time position working at a church, and later leave that position to pursue the call of God to march forth to the east side of Australia.  As I stood before the congregation at Calvary Chapel Melbourne, it struck me that God has done a marvelous thing.  He truly does all things well. If you follow the blog you know a little of my testimony.  I never aspired to be a preacher, and never planned on serving in the Body of Christ in a pastoral role.  Yet the call of God to preach was clear, as clear as His call to minister in Australia would later be.  Australia is certainly new territory for me, but the sa...

Tomorrow I am flying down to Melbourne, Australia.  God willing I will be preaching at Calvary Chapel Melbourne and I look forward to holding forth God's Word.  I've been very blessed by the time of preparation and I have no doubt that God will prepare all our hearts to hear from Him. The messages have come out of Hebrews 11:32-34 :  " And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: [33] who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, [34] quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens ."  I find it ironic that most of the men of faith mentioned here are typically used as examples of what not to do.  If God sees these as men of faith, then instead of dwelling on faults and shortcomings i...

I came across a flask on the ground the other day.  It was a empty water bottle in the shape of a flask by a Lake Tahoe company called " Liquid Salvation ."  The company slogan grabbed my attention:  "Pure Water for an Impure World."  On the bottle was a "she-devil" or succubus, a female demon.  When an order is placed for water online, you can choose between the "horns" or "halo" packaging to suit your taste.  The whole thing is in bad taste if you ask me, and is a further sign of the moral erosion and perversion of what is good. The devil loves nothing more than cheapening the goodness and grace of God.  He will stop at nothing to pervert the straight way of the LORD, and the world loves it!  Halo or horns, it doesn't matter!  But I am confident that the horns are much more popular.  These are the days when wickedness is called good the prophet Isaiah spoke about. Isaiah 5:20 say s, " Woe to those who call evil good, and go...

Have you ever had to deliver an uncomfortable message?  I remember the time I was asked by a friend to serve a mate with divorce papers.  Uncomfortable and awkward is how I would describe that interaction.  Many times when I worked at a church I would approach transient people in various stages of sobriety and volatility and ask them to leave the property.  There have been times in preaching when I have been led by the LORD to touch on a sensitive subject or confront an issue.  It is always hard, and my flesh tends to resist.  If I said it always feels rewarding to deliver God's messages it would be a lie.  There is nothing more rewarding than walking in obedience to God delivering His messages, but it is not easy, simple, or fun for the flesh.  Sometimes it is grievous, gut-wrenching, and painfully hard to say what is right. As children of God, we are tasked to deliver His message to the world.  Praise Him we are not alone in this joyful d...