Marching Forth!

Years ago a mate of mine led my wife Laura and me on a trek through the National Pass at Wentworth Falls.  This morning I decided I would rise early and have a special morning with Jesus, worshiping and reading the Bible (with a Thermos of coffee!) at the base of the falls.  It was a moving experience.  With the access available to Christians by faith in Christ through the Holy Spirit to the Father, we do not need to rise from our beds to gave the presence of God with and in us.  But it is a profitable and glorious practice to set aside time to sit still before God when it costs something.  Jesus went away for solitary times with the Father, and we do well to follow His example. At the top of the falls, I was delighted by the crisp air and beautiful scenery.  The volume of water was not as much as I have seen before, but the water happily rushed along.  It was in my mind to head straight for the bottom of the valley, down the "Slacker Stairs."...

God says what He means, and means what He says.  There is no "fine print" with God, hidden caveats and conditions from which He benefits through the ignorance of men.  The truth is, most people do not believe what God says - even when He speaks literally with clarity. Take the children of Israel, for example.  God put words into the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet, warning His people of certain destruction at the hands of the Babylonians.  In Ezekiel chapter 20, God laid forth the facts concerning their rebellion and disobedience.  He went through the history of the people, how they carried with them idols from the land of Egypt and continued to blaspheme His holy name.  God spoke of the future, how they would know He was the LORD when He brought them back from captivity.  Despite the clarity of God's words, Ezekiel lamented by the response of the people in Ezekiel 20:49 :  " Then I said, "Ah, Lord GOD! They say of me, 'Does he not speak parables ...

John 9 tells of a man born blind who was healed by Jesus.  Jesus saw the man's blind condition, spat on the ground, made mud with His saliva, and rubbed it on the man's eyes.  He instructed the man to go and wash in the Pool Siloam.  The man obedient went and washed and came away seeing - without having laid eyes on the Man who healed him! Amazingly, the story grows even more interesting.  The religious leaders debated and argued that the man supposedly healed was a doppelganger, and it was not until they had talked with the parents of the man before they admitted it was the same man they knew previously who was born blind.  Despite the affirmation of the miracle, they still hated and refused to believe Jesus was the Son of God, the promised Jewish Messiah.  They grilled the man and his parents, having decided they would throw anyone out of Synagogue who claimed Jesus was the Christ - a cultural and spiritual death sentence in their culture.  Again...

There was a song I remember from childhood which began with the exhortation found in 1 John 3:1 :  " Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God ."  Being adopted by God as His own child is special because it means He has chosen us.  My son Abel is being graded for cricket this weekend, and will be placed upon a team.  His technique, skills, and overall fitness will decide whether he is on the upper or lower end of the selection.  It's amazing to think that God chose us while we were yet sinners and are only a helpless liability - the kind of ones who aren't picked as much as hang around until the end.  Yet God has set His love upon us sinners, and demonstrated it by sending His own Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die so we might live through faith in Him. When I played Little League way back when, it was almost a guarantee the son of the coach would play a vast majority of the innings in the field, ha...

" Scoffers set a city aflame, but wise men turn away wrath ." Proverbs 29:8 During my stint as a mechanical insulation contractor at NASSCO , "fire watches" were a requirement for any "hot work."  When steel was welded or cut out of decks or bulkheads, a worker armed with a radio and a fire extinguisher inspected the work from the opposite side.  The job of a fire watch is to ensure there is no combustible materials adjacent to the hot work, and ensure the molten steel does not contact an ignition source.  The worker cutting or welding cannot safely monitor the other side of the steel, and the fire watch ensures all is safe and up to standard. Small sparks and slag are capable of starting fires which can rage out of control.  Solomon says scoffers can set a city aflame, and one tongue can start the equivalent of an inferno.  James 3:5-6 says, " Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire k...

Today is the day of fulfilled promises, the consummation of unbelievable dreams.  God-willing, tonight my family and I will become Australian citizens.  What is impossible with men is possible with God.  When God spoke to me in 2002, " You will preach, and you will be sent ," I had no idea where or when that would take place.  In 2005, after resigning from my decade-long career in mechanical insulation, on my 30th birthday I was blessed to take on a full-time role as youth pastor.  As if that was not enough of a life-altering step, the same year God impressed upon my heart the east side of Australia.  I didn't know a soul in Australia, and was frankly ignorant about how life is "down under."  I continued to plug away where God had me, believing in His time and in His way He would accomplish all. There were times of doubt and thoughts like, "Am I going crazy?"  Looking back I can see how God was preparing me for tasks long before they came into m...

In building, it is not difficult to conceal shoddy workmanship temporarily.  But in the long run, cut corners have a way of broadcasting themselves.  A new house can look immaculate until the rains come and show the waterproofing was not done correctly.  That retaining wall may appear straight and true, but before long the plaster can chip off to reveal massive cracks.  A unit may appear clean on inside and out, but a broken sewer main underneath will foul the air as waste ponds.  The lights may work fine, yet a quick peek above the ceiling might reveal a wiring nightmare and deathtrap. God chose the Jews as His special people and gave them His Laws.  They were pleased to have His guidance, provision, and for Him to fight their battles.  Over the passage of time, however, the Bible describes an erosion towards idol worship and disobedience.  The morality of God's people looked much like the heathen which surrounded them.  They maintained th...