Marching Forth!

History is an excellent teacher that reveals how society tends to drift from the intended purposes of forefathers.  The national holiday of Thanksgiving in the Unites States is a testimony of this.  When I went to school, in connection with Thanksgiving we learned about the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock, dressed up as pilgrims and Native Americans, and traced our hands to draw turkeys.  We were taught the pilgrims and Indians gathered for a meal to give thanks to God.  In recent years Thanksgiving has almost wholly given way to "Turkey Day" in the media.  This year was the first year I heard people wanting the holiday struck from the calendar because of the assertion at its root Thanksgiving is a celebration of colonisation and subjugation.  This accusation is far from the truth. I decided to look into the history of Thanksgiving as a national holiday and was pleasantly surprised to see no mention whatsoever of the voyage on the Mayflower, no reference to Nat...

I read a news article yesterday about a "monolith" being found in Utah desert that hearkened back to the ground-breaking science fiction film by Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey .  As a person who believes the biblical account that God created the heavens, the earth and all living things, the irony of the situation is most amusing. The 9NEWS article begins, " A bizarre four-metre high metal block found in the isolated wilderness of the Utah desert is the work of a dead sculpture artist, his former agent believes.  Officials from the Utah Department of Public Safety Aero Bureau stumbled upon the shiny monolith on November 18 while conducting a survey on big horn sheep.  The object has no signifying marks but appears to have been bolted to the ground with "human-made rivets" .  The metal block in isolated wilderness is called "bizarre" because reason tells us polished stainless steel never presents itself naturally in erect monoliths.  Based upon...

When we moved into our house, we were tasked to point out flaws in craftsmanship with painter's tape to be repaired by the builder.  For months the blue tape had become familiar decor, signposts and reminders of flaws all around.  Since our builder has "done a runner" (as we say in Australia) and will not be back to rectify the blemishes in the walls and paint, this morning I went throughout the house and removed all the tape.  I can't tell you how much better things look without those attention-grabbing bits of tape.  There are actually more blemishes now, seeing as the tape removed some poorly adhered paint, but the eye is not drawn to the defects as before. As I picked the tape off the walls, ceiling and woodwork, it provided insight of our tendency as humans to find faults in ourselves and draw attention to them.  There is no question we all have our faults and one common to man is to look for flaws and focus on them.  Our power to see and perceive is a...

" It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes ." Psalm 119:71 Being afflicted is not fun, but scripture teaches it is beneficial and providential.  To be afflicted is to be abased, humbled, to depress and look down.  Affliction does not feel good but does great good.  The psalmist wrote in a preceding verse in  Psalm 119:67 , " Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word ."  Failure to keep God's word led to affliction that prompted one suffering the consequences of sin to look to God, learn His statutes and walk in them.  Solomon wrote of the benefits of sorrow in  Ecclesiastes 7:2-3 :  " Better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, f or that is the end of all men; and the living will take it to heart. 3 Sorrow is better than laughter, for by a sad countenance the heart is made better ." Because we care about others it is natural we are not pleased to see ...

There rests in the hearts of many people a persistent belief that putting the right people in charge will solve problems in society.  The big problem is this is simply untrue.  Many politicians and leaders have been chosen or elected who promised change and have been unable to stop moral decline, poverty and crime.  The unfounded hope in the hearts of people, this longing to enact positive, enduring change through education, programs and politics have often been disappointed. The hopelessness of good leaders overcoming bad citizens was laid bare in  Hosea 4:9-10 in a warning God gave His people concerning future judgment:  " And it shall be: like people, like priest. So I will punish them for their ways, and reward them for their deeds. 10  For they shall eat, but not have enough; they shall commit harlotry, but not increase;  b ecause they have ceased obeying the LORD ."  God's people banked their trust on having holy, sanctified priests ...

God's glory is shown in using weak vessels to accomplish His awesome purposes.  He does not need us but chooses to use us and make us fruitful for His glory.  I remember a conversation I had with a pastor who spoke how amazed he was people kept turning up to church week after week:  "They just keep coming back," he said.  There are many conversations I have no memory of, but I recall this one because it struck me as odd.  I could have understood his confusion if he was the only one responsible for people coming to church, but won't God honour His word?  Isn't He at work in the heart and minds of people to remind and compel them to respond in obedience to gather in His name?  Since fellowship is prompted and sustained by the Spirit of the Living God, his surprise (feigned or not I could not tell) to me was surprising. In his book Lectures to My Students , I came across something C.H. Spurgeon had to say on the matter: " Oh, brethren, we ought to preach ...

One blessing of the internet is the ability to share information and communicate, and this is also one of the greatest curses:  the spread of misinformation.  The internet is a prime breeding ground of rumours and conspiracy which have duped many.  When these thoughts germinate and take root in the minds of people, legitimate reporting and research are condemned as disinformation:  information that is deliberately misleading to promote sinister agendas of shadowy figures behind the scenes.  What is true can become so convoluted those taken in by conspiracies will not part with their views, even when it kills them. I read an article yesterday  of a nurse in South Dakota who allegedly expressed her sadness there are patients infected with COVID she has treated who used their last breaths to deny the existence of COVID.  It may very well be disbelief in COVID that led to careless behaviour which enabled them to initially contract the illness.  I have...