Marching Forth!

I have been reading Jerry Bridge's classic, The Pursuit of Holiness .  It is a mix of education, edification, and exhortation bound together to encourage believers to fulfill our responsibility to walk in holiness before God and men.  The book contains a little formula which sums up my convictions very well in the way we define sin personally, sins not clearly described in scripture.  We have likely all struggled whether a certain attitude, thought, or action was sinful.  So often we find that even though something is not sinful in itself, that harmless thing for one person can be a enslaving idol to another.  Until we are convinced we are in sin we likely will not cease from sinning!  How can we tell right from wrong?  God does not leave us to our own philosophy or opinions, but clearly lays guidelines before us to follow as led by the Holy Spirit. On page 91 of the book (which I recommend purchasing and reading entirely yourself!), four questions a...

To the chief musician, by the sons of Korah " God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; 3  though its waters roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with its swelling. Selah " Psalm 46:1-3 It is easy to lose proper perspective in this life when faced with troubling circumstances.  Like Peter who took his eyes off Jesus as he began to sink on the Sea of Galilee, we too can be overwhelmed by the difficulties which surround us.  Illness, depression, politics, relationships, anything and everything can cause us to lose heart.  But I love this passage in Psalm 46 because it brings us back to the right outlook.  God is our refuge no matter what!  Even if the earth is removed and the mountains cast into the sea, even if huge tsunamis devastate the coasts and earthquakes ravage the land, God remains ou...

I remember my dad reading from Norman Rockwell's Christmas Book when I was a kid.  One of the stories in the book is called "Christmas Every Day" by William Dean Howells.  A man tells his daughter a story about a little girl who wished every day was Christmas.  To her initial surprise and delight, her wish became true.  But it was not long before she was so tired of everything having to do with celebrating Christmas - the packages, food, and activities - that she wished it would never be Christmas again!  Everyone was sick from eating candy, turkeys were so scarce hummingbirds were being used as substitutes, people lost their tempers from the stress, and everyone was dirt poor.  The moral of the story is the conclusion that Christmas is very special because it is one day a year, and that is enough.  It is possible to have "too much a good thing." As a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, it is possible to appreciate and thank God for Christ's comi...

Small things can make a big difference.  When baking bread, cakes, or cookies, a small omission of salt or baking powder will make a tremendous impact on the outcome.  All the ingredients work together with the heat of the oven to rise properly and form the correct consistency.  One little teaspoon of salt missing from the batter can have disastrous results! Little words in the English language have great power.  Take the word "all," for instance.  In three letters everything can be lumped together.  Every person in the world, every rock in the universe, every star in the heavens, every molecule and atom are included in "all" things.  Another huge word is "if" when used in a conditional sense.  Galatians 6:9 reads, " And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart ."  The immediate context of the passage is teaching the principle of sowing and reaping:  if we sow to the flesh we will...

" And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful ." Revelation 21:3-5 The context for this passage is a time when God will create new heavens and a new earth because the first passed away.  The Bible teaches us that a day is coming when He will dissolve this world and all the works and sin within it.  All who have rejected Christ will face eternal damnation, and all those who have repented of their sins will spend eternity with God in the new heavens and earth He creates.  Because of sin, ...

Last night me and two mates took the red-eye from Perth to Sydney following the weekend conference at Calvary Chapel Albany.  We all were blessed by messages and testimonies from pastors Raul Ries and Bill Welsh, as well as from Ryan Ries of The Whosoevers .  The common qualities between these men are a genuine love of God, compassion, and a contrite spirit.  Whether they shared passages from scripture or detailed events of their lives, the power of Jesus Christ to save and deliver was central.  Being grounded and obedient to the Word of God was another uniting point of every discussion. I was not only able to spend quality time with my traveling buddies Ian and Paul, but also met a lot of great people like Russ, Bruce, Luke, Bryan, and many more.  The more I travel around Australia the more I am struck by the fact we serve the same God.  We come from different backgrounds with different accents and roles in the Body of Christ, but we love and honor the s...

No matter what our standards are, life will force upon us a barrage of choices.  We will be forced to decide if we will have that fifth cookie, what movie we will watch, whether we should pay extra on the mortgage this month, or if diet Dr. Pepper actually tastes like regular Dr. Pepper.  As parents we not only have to make decisions about our lifestyle, but we must set boundaries for our kids.  Some parents make well-defined boundaries, and others let their children live as they please.  Boundaries to some are no different than a bubble!  Due to hurts they may have experienced as children, many parents work hard to protect their children from every potential worldly influence.  Boundaries are important.  But it is possible to make boundaries so restrictive for the child to be stripped of the decision making process when it comes to morality.  When "obey" or "disobey" are the only decisions to be made, when real choices present themselves many tee...