Marching Forth!

After being born again by faith in Jesus, Paul desired to know Jesus, the power of Christ's resurrection, and the fellowship of Christ's sufferings by being conformed to His death.  This was God's will for Paul and all believers, and Paul also acknowledged this sanctifying pursuit remained a work in progress in his life as he wrote in  Philippians 3:12 :  " Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me ."  As Paul pursued Christ by faith and obedience, the finish line remained ahead of him.  Paul did not speak as someone who had crossed the line and now had advice for fellow disciples:  he continued to press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus by grace. As a Pharisee, Paul had arrived:  he had achieved in obtaining a rare position of honour and influence among the most respected elders in Jewish society. ...

" Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed;  12  for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision ." Galatians 2:11-12 When things are wrong, our natural inclination is to determine what was the cause or who was to blame.  This can be done with various motivations:  to pin blame on others and excuse ourselves, in the aim to identify the problem to avoid repeating it going forward, to confirm what we predicted indeed came to pass, and the list goes on.  Because we often have vested interest in where blame is placed and insistent to avoid being blamed, we may blame others wrongly.  Adam attempted to shift the blame of his disobedience to Eve, and Eve sidestepped the accusation to blame the serpent.  I included Paul's testimony of Peter's hypocrisy because it demonstrates there are...

In his book Street Smarts on page 187, Gregory Koukl gives the advice to Christians, " Never read a Bible verse ."  His point is not to say you or others should avoid reading the Bible, but to emphasise one verse often does not provide necessary context to accurately interpret and apply God's wisdom.  Solomon said in  Proverbs 18:1 , " A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;  h e rages against all wise judgment ."  One can also observe a tendency of what happens when a single verse is isolated, for it can easily be wrenched from the context to undermines the message of the whole Bible.  Following the flow of ideas helps us safely navigate around sharp rocks of supposed contradictions. In the Bible study last night at Calvary Chapel Sydney, we discussed the latter half of Matthew 12 when Jesus was accused by the Pharisees of casting out demons by the power of Satan.  Jesus immediately refuted this falsehood logically, for a kingdom divid...

While on staff at a church years ago, I remember observing the way people vacuumed the carpet.  Most of the time people employed what I will call the "search and destroy" method, targeting bits of obvious rubbish that littered the floor--bits of paper or thread, food crumbs, or soils that dropped from shoes.  Since I was the one who emptied the vacuum bags, I knew the majority of the bag's contents were nothing that could be easily seen.  The full bags were predominantly filled with fine dust, sand and hair.  The purpose of the vacuum was not to make carpet appear clean, but to agitate the carpet fibers and remove soils one could not see beneath the surface. Knowing this principle of vacuum operation, I believed (and still believe) it is best to vacuum all the carpet and not merely target obvious debris.  I also observed people using an upright vacuum with an internal roll brush like one would use a lawn mower, walking behind it using a continuous forward pass r...

" My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,  3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience ." James 1:2-3 Verses like these demonstrate how profound our need is for God's word, for God's ways are often a stark contrast to our expectations and reactions.  Even though Christians have been born again by faith in Jesus and filled with the Holy Spirit, when we face trials and tribulations we see them as foreign intruders rather than friendly visitors ( 1 Peter 4:12-13 ).  Various trials are not in themselves good, yet the child of God can rest knowing God is able to redeem and use them all for good.  He can take troubling, pressure-packed circumstances to exercise our faith and work to make us more like Him. As the beloved family of God we can be joyful in the midst of various trials, and James explained one purpose of trials God allows:  the testing of our faith produces patience.  Blessed are those who endure  by fait...

" I was also blameless before Him, a nd I kept myself from my iniquity ." Psalm 18:23 In Psalm 18 , David affirmed the rewards God gives those who are righteous before Him, and Christians are accounted as righteous by faith in Jesus Christ.  No Christian is a perfect person.  By virtue of being a Christian, it is an public acknowledgment of being a sinner and needing a Saviour.  David said he was blameless before God, and he kept himself from his iniquity.  This dynamic is very insightful for God's people to understand--how we are drawn away by our own lust, and when we are enticed to satisfy lust it conceives and brings forth sin which results in death ( James 1:13-15 ) . Jesus has cleansed Christians by providing atonement by shedding His own blood, and though believers are completely forgiven of sin we continue to live in physical bodies that have been corrupted by sin.  We have been born again and given new hearts, yet living in a body of flesh in a falle...

A word that has increased in popularity and use lately is "triggered."  It suggests something heard, seen or experienced has stirred a strong response within a person, an arousal of memories or feelings from past trauma.  In keeping with mankind's tendencies that go back to the Garden of Eden, it places blame on what others do rather than taking personal responsibility for our responses.  It puts on the onus on others to avoid a minefield of our potential "triggers" because of the volatile reactions that will certainly result--and justify by blaming anyone but ourselves.  The idea is others are guilty of "triggering us," and we ought not be responsible for our reaction. Those who embrace the term "triggered" to justify violent outbursts do well to consider how triggers in firearms work.  When a live round is chambered, the safety is taken off and the trigger of a gun is pulled, an incredibly fast chain reaction begins:  the hammer strikes the...