The Challenge Of A New Year

In Joshua 3:1-11 we are told that as Joshua and the people of Israel stood on the brink of Jordan, they faced a new beginning. The generation of their forefathers who had fallen in the wilderness because of disobedience was now history. Moses, the great leader of the fledgling nation, had been given a private funeral and burial on the mountain by Jehovah. Their new leader, Joshua, was the man of the hour as he stood ready to lead them into the land promised to their forefathers. God’s presence was symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant that would go before them. Joshua challenges them to go in and possess the land. Joshua tells of the wonders God will perform and reminds them of the victory promised to those who would walk faithfully, courageously and obediently into the new land. His statement, "You have not passed this way before," seems to sum up the challenge involved in stepping out by faith into a new and unknown land. There will be vast uncharted waters ahead. There will be many new and unexplored paths to walk. There will be risks be faced, challenges to be confronted and a high price to be paid, if success is to be achieved in the new land.

As we see the old year out and usher the New Year in, we should understand that we stand on the verge of a new spiritual venture; a new calling to serve the Lord in the land of a new year. In a sense, the challenge of a new year is like stepping out on the beautiful, sparkling, trackless surface of new fallen snow. It is like standing on the edge of the fresh sand of a wave swept beach. Or a child contemplating a clean sheet of paper or a clean slate. All are free of the contaminating touch of man. There’s an old bit of verse that speaks of this challenge:

He came to my desk with quivering lip, the lesson was done.

"Have you a new leaf for me, dear Teacher?, I’ve spoiled this one."

I took his leaf all soiled and blotted and gave him a new one, all unspotted.

Then into his tired heart I smiled, Do better now my child."

I went to the throne with trembling heart. The year was done.

"Have you a new year for me, dear Master? I’ve spoiled this one.

He took my heart, all soiled and blotted and gave me a new one, all unspotted.

Then into my tired heart he smiled; "Do better now my child."

Yes, we are like a those who walk in a new land. We have not passed this way before. Our footprints are yet to be made in the sands of time of the New Year. Yet it is a great blessing to know that as we ring out the old and ring in the new, we can immerse the failures of yesteryear in the sea of God’s forgiveness. We can face with a great expectant faith the challenges of a new year. By the grace of God, if He wills it, we can cross over boldly into the land of the new year with an expectant faith based upon the precious promises of God.

A Christmas Message

Why has the story of the wise men who traveled far and brought gifts to the baby Jesus come to represent real wisdom throughout the ages? It’s unlikely these wise men were university graduates with Ph.D.’s. We have no record of their academic pedigree, yet we know they were wise men. Their wisdom is not necessarily reflected by the enormity of their intellect or accumulative knowledge, but by their simple act of seeking to know and worship Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

So it is today. Many in our world are seeking many things. Some seek riches, and upon accumulating them, find the need to accumulate more an all consuming passion. They finally conclude that there are not enough riches in the whole universe to satisfy man’s desire for more affluence.  Inevitably, at the end of life’s way, they find the acquisition of riches has no eternal value or significance.
The words of our Saviour about the temporal nature of riches are all too apt. No matter how much a man may accumulate, when he leaves this world he leaves it all behind. As someone said, “Have you ever seen a hearse pulling a trailer?” Those seeking fortune always find it cannot buy the simplest joy or real happiness.  Some seek fame, and upon achieving it, find the fleeting fragility of fame and fortune. Just a surface survey of the tragic stories of some recent and contemporary politicians, entertainers and entrepreneurs, will easily confirm the illusory nature of imagined fulfillment through fame and fortune.

How many spend their last days amid the ashes of decaying memories of fleeting moments spent in the fading spotlight of public adulation and popularity? It is sometimes sad to see how the mighty have fallen as a result of man’s cruel propensity to cut down the tall poppies.  Some seek power as the ultimate high of human experience. Only those who have experienced power over the lives of others can really know how seducing this temptress can be. As it is said, “Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts, absolutely.” But one only has to consider the end of some of the most powerful men of history to realize the futility of such seeking. Nebuchadnezzar, the Ceasers, Hitler and more recently, the tyrants of the totalitarian communist world, vividly demonstrate the vanity of the quest for ultimate power.  But others, real wise men such as these, seek Christ. Real wise men seek Him as the eternal God of eternal spiritual salvation. After all, it was the Christmas angel that said, “They shall call His name, Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sin.” When real wise men bow their knee before Him in true repentance and faith, they discover eternal and abundant life in all its fullness
and eternal significance. Why not be wise and seek Him with all your heart during this Christmas Season?

A Blessed And Joyful Christmas And
A Happy And Prosperous New Year
From The White’s House To Yours!

Making Room For Jesus

The world has always marveled at the paradox of the Creator of this universe being born in a lowly manger. But instead of condemning the inn keeper for saying, "There is no room in my inn," perhaps we should remember that he did show compassion for the tired travelers. After all, he was asked to entertain royalty unaware on that first Christmas Eve.
But what a great blessing he missed! Perhaps he thought there were many "more important" people in his inn. The worldly elite and VIPS would all soon be gone and forgotten. But the busy inn keeper had turned away the Eternal God of the universe. Opportunity passed him by. Instead of being remembered as the man who seized his moment in history, he became just another footnote to the folly of leaving the Lord out of one's life.
But does our world respond any differently today? In the mindless milling of the masses and the maddening crowd in the market places of our world, how many pause to consider the place of prominence Jesus should have in the observance of His birthday? In the frantic rushing, pushing and shoving that characterizes the season, who will pause to peruse the priority He should have in the affairs of men? Does the world have any more room for Jesus today than did the lowly innkeeper of long ago?
Thousands of invitations and gospel messages have gone out this Christmas Season. We have joined our voices to the great chorus of Christians who will literally beg and implore millions to make room in their heart for Jesus the Savior of the world. But sadly, millions will still say, "We have no room for Him! " Perhaps there has never been a time when people are more powerfully proclaiming by word and deed that they have no room for Jesus in the affairs of family, community or culture.
But Christmas without Christ is like an engine without fuel. This birthday without the only begotten is like a banquet without bread. This holiday without the high and holy is like the heavens without stars. This celebration without spiritual elaboration upon the God of salvation is like an ocean without water. This season without the reason is like a garden without flowers. Without the Christ of Christmas people at best only exist.
Is there room in your heart for the Christ of Christmas? He will only come into the hearts and lives of those who invite Him. Those who really make room for Jesus this Christmas are those who receive the Christ of Christmas into their hearts and homes the whole year through - and eternally. The Bible says, "But as many as receive Him, to them gave He the power to become the Sons of God, even to those who believe on His Name. "

I Like Christmas

Christmas is always a very exciting time of the year. I like Christmas. I like the songs and carols that fill the air. I like the hustle and bustle of the crowds as they jostle through the busy shopping malls, looking for that special gift for that very special one in their life. I like the excitement and anticipation of it all. The expressions of good will that many seem inclined to share. The smiles and the sincerity of those who say: “Have a good Christmas” I like to reply in kind. I guess the season tends to bring out the child in many of us. Some of us have never completely outgrown our childhood love for the days of Christmas.

But more than anything else, I like the true meaning and message of Christmas. A message so simply and succinctly expressed by the angels who heralded the birth of the God-man who would forever change the course of history. The One who would truly make history - “His story.”

I like Christmas because it reminds us that His birth was announced as: “Good news to all people.” The good news of Immanuel. God with us. Our world is filled with those who feel lonely and unloved. Einstein once said, “It’s strange to be known so universally and yet be so personally lonely.”  The message of Christmas is that God sent His Son to earth to embrace each of us with His love.   Augustine placed it so beautifully when he said, “He loves each one of us, as if there were only one of us.”

I like Christmas because it is much more than tinsel, ribbons, presents and parties or a hectic rushing to and fro; giving and getting temporal gifts that will have no real value in eternity. Christmas is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ who came to give us the greatest of all gifts, eternal life and a home in heaven with Him. Christmas reminds us once again of this greatest gift of all: God giving His Son, His Son giving Himself, that we might be able to exclaim once more with the apostle Paul, “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift!”.

God Became Flesh

John 1:1-14, Isaiah 7:14

Our study of the Biblical account of the birth of our Savior should not be seasonal. Our thankfulness for His unspeakable gift should permeate our life throughout the entire year. We should live our entire life in the light of the glorious truths that normally only momentarily illuminate a few days of the Christian calendar each year. The story of the incarnation of God into the flesh of man is a vital foundation stone of the very gospel of Jesus Christ and should undergird our faith year round.

Two great philosophers who pre-date the birth of Jesus had this to say about the necessity of the incarnation, "God will never be known unless He reveals Himself in human form." "Oh, that someone would arise, man or god, to show us God." (Socrates) You do not have to be an intellectual to recognize the logic of the philosophers' argument. The proof is always in the pudding. The ultimate illustration is in the reality.

When God chose to become man He put paid to the long awaited proposition prophesied by the Old Testament prophets. The concept that Isaiah posited when he said, "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name, Immanuel (God with us)"

When God chose to come in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ to flesh out His eternal purpose of redemption for those who would be eternal sons of God, He not only personified an absolute selfless love, but He demonstrated the ultimate in communicating such love to those who were to be the objects of it. Can you imagine the infinite God of a limitless universe, condescending to imprison His infinite being in the finite flesh of man, on a tiny ball of mud, in a far off corner of a very mundane sort of solar system, in a less than spectacular galaxy that man calls the Milky Way?

Why would He do such an unlikely deed? Evidently, in order to say to His rebellious and ungrateful creature, man, "I love you with an infinite love and will make it possible for you to love me with such a love in return! In order to give you the privilege and capacity to do so, I am not only willing to live in your dirty, stinking, sinful and rebellious environment, but to die unjustly at your hands that you might, in turn, mercifully live forever in an environment fit for a Child of the King!"

If Jesus had not been born of the virgin Mary, God incarnate in the flesh, there would be no gospel, salvation, forgiveness or life eternal. We would be yet without Got, without Christ, and eternally lost in a dark and sin cursed earth. Is it any wonder the apostle Paul was moved to exclaim, ''Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift" (II Cor. 9:15) 

Should We Be Men-Pleasers Or God-Pleasers?

Christians are often faced with the alternative of pleasing God or man. It is all too obvious that many times it is impossible to do both. God’s ways are not man’s ways. The paths that lead to a position of popularity with God and man do not often run parallel. It was Jesus Himself who spoke of their divergence. He pointed to a broad way and a narrow way. He made it obvious that the broad way that leads to eternal destruction is man’s way. He also said, “Woe unto you when all men speak well of you.” It was the wise man who gave us the proverb, “There is a way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

How true the statement, “A man who wishes to lead the orchestra must first turn his back upon the crowd.” So it is with spiritual leaders and Christians who wish to please God. The desire to be liked, accepted, popular, and comfortable, compromises and destroys the witness of many today. Perhaps this is the primary reason we see those who once were looked upon as sound and scriptural preachers of the Word falling away from the truth and departing from the faith. The one thing that seems to be common among them is a seeking for popularity with the world and the approval of the powers that be in the world.

Some marketing organizations exist today for the purpose of determining just what churches and pastors can do to please and attract the world around them. Whole movements are focused upon the concept of structuring and implementing ways of worship that titillate the senses of the lost. Methodology and music are adopted in order to appeal to the tastes and attitudes of the unregenerate mind.

The Christian should seek the approval of God above all else. He should determine to be popular with Him, no matter what the cost. But so many today are like those in the day of our Saviour. He described some very religious folks as men pleaser's rather than God pleasers. He said of them, “For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.” (John 12:43)

These same difficulties sometimes face New Testament Churches today. The world’s view of a with it church has never coincided with God’s view of a church that glorifies Him. The choice today seems to be much the same as it has been in every age. Should a church seek to be in the mainstream of religious activities and be accepted by the world or strive to be in the center of God’s will?

A person who pleases God is a person God will bless. A church that pleases God is a church that is after God’s own heart. Why? Because the praise of man is at best fickle and fading. It means nothing in God’s economy. Its echoes in time will not even penetrate God’s eternity. But it will be sweet music to the ear when the sound of our Savior saying, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant,” fills His heavenly universe. The harsh sounds of some worldly church music and the words of praise and accolades spoken by men will have long since faded into trivial insignificance!

Why We Should Have Thanksgiving

Many in Australia may not know that the primary and most widely celebrated family holiday in America is Thanksgiving Day. It is the day that everyone who is anyone would like to go back to his or her roots and spend the day enjoying a special traditional home cooked Thanksgiving meal with their family. No matter how far one roams from the land of his birth, this remains the case. As one with this heritage, I would like to share with you some facts about this special day and its origins. In 1621 a little band of pilgrims, who had fled the religious persecution of an established church and sought religious freedom in a new world, paused in their struggle for survival to feast and give thanks to God for His blessings upon them. They feasted and gave thanks, in spite of the fact thatthe hardships involved in hewing a haven with their bare hands from the somber, granite hills of Plymouth, had already taken the heavy toll of half their number. Their meal was sparse. It primarily consisted of such things as native turkey, maize, pumpkin and cranberries; food the native Indian tribes had shown them how to gather and prepare. It is said that when they sat down for that first Thanksgiving meal they found five kernels of corn on each plate. This served as a reminder of the hardships they had endured during the previous year when rations had been reduced to five kernels of corn for each person each day.

A little over 150 years later, in 1789, George Washington, the first President of the new nation, issued this national proclamation of Thanksgiving, “Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favour . . .etc..” Some seventy-five years later President Abraham Lincoln made and proclaimed the last Thursday of November a perpetual national Day of Thanksgiving. Even though the nation had just lost over a million of her sons in an awful and deadly civil war, the aftermath of which would soon take the President’s own life, there was still much for which to be thankful. Those of us who have the blessings of freedom today also have much to be thankful for. We should give thanks for the grace of God. “O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” (Psalm 95:1)

We should give thanks for the greatness of God. “For the LORD [is] a great God, and a great King above all gods.” (Psalm 95:3)

We should give thanks for the goodness of God. Psalm 100:5 "For the LORD [is] good; his mercy [is] everlasting; and his truth [endureth] to all generations." (Psalm 100:5)

We should give thanks for the gift of God. "Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift." (II Cor. 9:15)

Lest We Forget

November 11 is Remembrance Day in my adopted land, Australia, and Veteran's Day in the land of my birth, America.   As we celebrate these special days of remembrance, it would be good to stop for a moment and take stock of the blessings of freedom God has given the citizens of both nations and to remember the sacrifices of those who purchased these freedoms with their blood.

We who have attended the dawn services and marched in parades with our fellow returned service men, have watched the faltering steps of those honored men who have served their country in many conflicts. We have seen the tears fall freely upon the cheeks of stooped and graying men, as they have wept openly for their fallen comrades in arms. We have heard again and again the poignant words, “Lest we forget,” issue from the lips of those who hold the memory of the fallen so dear. We have  heard the mournful notes of the last post or taps; played in remembrance of those who lie in graves on faraway fields. Such observances should move us to once again thank God for those who have gone before us.

God has richly blessed Australia and America.   Both are beautiful countries with rich and abundant natural resources. Both have good forms of government based upon a Judeo-Christian heritage and British Common Law. Citizens of these two great lands enjoy freedoms that most of the citizens of other lands  can only dream about. This is confirmed each year by the thousands of those who risk life and limb to seek safety, security and prosperity in these  nations.

There are no concentration camps in either nation. People are not executed for seeking to flee these lands. There are no dreaded knocks in the middle of the night. There are no mass graves filled with the bodies or those who have been killed by despotic dictators and godless regimes. Every person in these nations has a free voice and a free vote.

In governmental matters, the voice of the people can reflect the way and will of God. There is freedom of religion and speech.  Pastors can still speak freely from their pulpits. There is yet no law that can muzzle such free expression.   Although it seems clear that certain forces are active in both nations to change this.

Mark Twain once said, “…a Christian’s first duty is to God. It then follows, as a matter of course, that it is his duty to carry his Christian code of morals to the polls and vote them. … If the Christians .... could be persuaded to vote God and a clean ticket, it would bring about a moral revolution that would be incalculably beneficent. It would save the country — a country whose Christians have betrayed it and are destroying it...Christianity...is on trial now. And nothing important is on trial except Christianity.” He said this a century and one-half ago. How much greater are the weight of his words today!

Henry Blackaby wrote in Fresh Encounter: “Christians should not be surprised by the spiritual darkness around us. That is all it can be. Darkness is dark. The greater problem is not with the darkness. The problem is with the light. When light shines, it dispels darkness. We face a growing spiritual darkness in our land because the light is not shining brightly.”

On this Remembrance Day and Veterans Day, let us praise God for His past blessings upon our nations and pray He will continue to bless. But at the same time let us remember that if we are to expect His continuing blessings, we must recognize our need for Him in our national life today. We must be willing to meet His conditions for such continuing national blessings. Conditions that are made crystal clear in His word: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14)"

The Battle Of The Ages

Ephesians 6:10-18

A declaration of war is the document that heads of state often use to unite and galvanize a people into common action against an enemy that is threatening the very life and existence of a nation. Those who remember the terrible days of World War Two will never forget the words of Churchill as he declared war upon the Nazi powers and called the peoples of the British Commonwealth to unite in a valiant effort to defend the homeland.

After the infamous day of Pearl Harbor, the words of Roosevelt were equally challenging to the American people. Even the Old Testament is replete with examples of prophets, judges, and kings calling Israel into counsel and making a declaration of war against her enemies.

In His Word, God states what should be the obvious; we Christians are already at war. Satan has declared war upon the saints and against the souls of mankind. He is a terrible foe. A powerful and dreaded enemy. He vengefully walks the face of the earth seeking whom he may devour. He is called the adversary. The accuser.  The wicked one. As someone said long ago, “Evil is not something, it is someone!”

A paraphrase of Ephesians 6:12 clearly states the situation of our war, “For our wrestling match is not with persons with bodies, but against rulership, and the realms of authority, against the world dominators of the present darkness, against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies.”

It is obviously a worldwide conflict. Wherever God’s people are gathered, Satan’s war strategy involves hindering and harming the cause of Christ. Just as in days gone by, Christian soldiers who are in God’s army on the earth today have a real and continuing battle on their hands. No hold is barred and no quarter is given by the forces of evil arrayed against the saints of God. His weapons of sin, temptation and compromise have never been more powerful or fearsome than in our day and time.

This war is also a personal confrontation. Hand to hand combat of the dirtiest and most difficult sort is the order of the day. It’s person to person and eyeball to eyeball. Satan is not confined to hell or Hades, nor is he residing solely on the surface of the earth. He has a headquarters in the heavenlies. He rules over a band of rebellious angels. He controls myriads of demonic spirits.Apparently he has sub-rulers in delegated areas of authority on earth. Neither empires, kingdoms, nations, states, communities, or cities escape his malevolent attention. Sovereigns, dictators, princes, potentates and democratically elected officials are all subject to his power and control. He promotes anarchy and is delighted with the breakdown of law and order. He is known as the lawless one in the scriptures.

In all out war there can be no neutrality. In the spiritual warfare that still rages the real issue is whose side are you on? Jesus said no man can serve two masters. Someone has said that the hottest fires of hell are reserved for those who in times of great crisis try to maintain their neutrality.

Watchmen On The Walls Of Our World

I’ll never forget my first guard duty. I drew the midnight watch. Some called it the graveyard shift. It was bitterly cold. The memory of my extreme discomfort still lingers in the corners of my mind. The exhaustion of boot camp. The stress of a demanding and unfamiliar task. The lateness of the hour. The devastating cold and my desire to do well. All these made my fight to stay awake and alert one of the most memorable battles of my young life.

But it was only make belief. Training for the day when I might be called on to stand guard in a real life or death situation. My greatest fear was that I might fall asleep or give an inept or inadequate response to the challenge of those who would test me.

The story of Pearl Harbor clearly illustrates the need for watchmen who are alert and wide awake to the danger of an enemy attack. That infamous surprise attack was only successful because a number of responsible people were obviously asleep on their watch. The culprits ranged all the way down the chain of command; from those who were in command to the lowly officer who ignored the warnings of the operators of a primitive radar system. They had the blood of thousands of sailors, soldiers, airmen and civilians upon their hands.

When I was stationed for a time at Hickam Air Force Base just outside Honolulu during the Korean conflict, my living quarters still bore the pock marks of the strafing of Japanese planes.Just across a green was the large boarded up mess hall where dozens had died when a bomb had fallen in the midst of a sleepy Sunday morning breakfast. Anyone visiting the Battleship Arizona Memorial can still sense the tragedy of hundreds of young lives being snuffed out and their bodies being entombed in a watery grave; all because the watchmen did not give a warning cry. It would seem the ruins of the World Trade Center might also speak eloquently of the need for faithful watchmen on the walls of our world today.

Good and faithful watchmen have always been a scarce commodity. God in His Word places a premium upon spiritual watchmen. The Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel, clearly enunciated the principle that watchmen on the spiritual walls of the world are absolutely responsible to warn the world’s inhabitants of the spiritual danger of rejecting God and His Son.

If we who are called as watchmen and witnesses today go to sleep on the job, the spiritual blood of a lost and dying world will be upon our hands. We are only called to give a certain sound and effective cry. If people do not respond, we will be free of responsibility and will stand with clean hands before our God at the Judgment Seat of Christ.

In light of this awesome and eternal responsibility, may we take our calling as watchmen on the walls of our contemporary world seriously and be ever alert to the forces of darkness that threaten us on every hand. May we always stand ready to cry out and warn those who are lost of the danger of rejecting the Son of God!

Jesus Is Coming Again

Obviously the second coming is one of the most important subjects in the Bible. Enoch, the seventh from Adam spoke of it. So did Job in the oldest book in the Bible. Then every prophet of God focused upon it. About one verse out of twenty-five in the New Testament relates to it in some way. In one sense, the whole of the Old and New Testaments relate to His second coming. God’s time line of dealing with man on earth culminates with this great climatic event. His coming is our blessed hope.

Is Jesus coming again? I believe so. People are thinking about the end of the world today more than ever before. Many books are being written about matters of the end time. Popular secular movies focus on apocalyptic events. New Age gurus with Messiah complexes mix a little fact with a lot of fancy to manipulate followers to participate in terrible, tragic and futile acts. Every earthquake, natural disaster, shocking crime, political fiasco, military conflict, mass famine, threat of worldwide disease plague or terrorism, reminds us of the signs of the end times so clearly outlined by our Saviour.

But even so, it seems His coming will surprise the world. Jesus said that no man knows the time of His coming. He will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. He said, "At an hour when you think not, even so, shall the Son of Man come."

The prophetic clock of God’s eternal time table is ticking. No angel or demon can hinder or stop it’s progress. Man has a date with destiny. God’s eternal purpose will be consummated. No mortal man, priest or potentate, rich or poor, popular or powerful, can stop the movement of the hands of God’s prophetic clock. Every grain of sand trickling through the hour glass of time brings us closer to the end time events predicted in the Word of God. - John White

We cannot stop time, nor should we wish to, but we can put it to good use in the meantime. We can do as the prophet said, "Prepare to meet our God.." We can follow the advice of the wise man and redeem the time. Or as one poet has said, "In time, take time, while time does last. For time is not time, when time is past."

In order to wisely live in these times we are commanded to be watchful. In order to be watchful we need to be informed about future events of the second coming. Since it is appointed to man once to die and after this the judgment, the second coming should be important in our thinking and life. We should start each day with the thought and prayer, "Lord help me live this day in the light of your coming."

Someone has said, "No man lives carelessly whose last thoughts at night or first thoughts in the morning are, "Jesus is coming." We who are Christians should help our lost friends understand what it will be like to be left behind at His coming. Living with an acute awareness of the second coming should move every Christian to be a constant, consistent and compassionate witness of Jesus.

It is significant that after Paul tells us we Christians must all appear at the Judgment Seat of Christ, where it will be made apparent whether our life has been valuable or worthless in the Lord’s service, that he follows this with this statement, "Therefore knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men" I believe this could only imply that we should be deeply concerned and committed to warning the lost of the judgement to come upon those who reject the gospel and the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. (See II Cor. 5:10-11, I Cor. 3:9-15) Did you ever consider that the only thing or entity we can take from this world to the world to come is the soul of another human being? (Prov. 11:30, Dan. 12:3)

Is There Not A Cause?

What is lacking in the world today is a real committal to a cause. People are without direction. Like ships without rudders, tossed to and fro upon the restless waves by every wind of teaching or philosophy. Apathy permeates every echelon of man’s mundane and material existence. Nothing appears worth living or dying for. The question that leapt to the lips of the shepherd boy, David when he faced Goliath, needs to once more echo among God’s people in our land and in every land upon God’s good earth. The shepherd boy who became the man after God’s own heart cried out, "Is there not a cause?" He then proceeded to do mighty battle in the power of God for the noble cause of the destruction of evil and the preservation of God’s chosen people.

We seem to once again live in a day similar to the catastrophic day following the era of the Judges of Israel. Anarchy prevails and everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes. Which is normally what is wrong in the eyes of an eternally righteous Almighty God. All seek to be captains of their own souls, masters of their own fates, sailing their own ships and rowing their own canoes down the river of life, with no worthwhile spiritual destination or safe harbour in sight.

Even Christians seem to be afflicted with the same deadly malady, as they allow this world and it’s god to establish their standards, select their priorities and set their agenda. The failure of Christians to fully commit to Christ and present themselves as living, dedicated sacrifices to His cause, has led to great confusion in the world.

We are overwhelmed by the moral and ethical crisis threatening to destroy our nation and other nations with cultures previously called Christian. We are confused by the popular philosophies of secular humanism, relativism, situational ethics and post-modernism that have captured the hearts and minds of the masses. We are now seeing a deadly so-called emerging church movement threatening even evangelical Christianity.

We are puzzled by the prevailing promiscuity of our society. We are perplexed when the culture cries, "Assert your rights. If it feels good, do it!"

But God is calling for committal today on the part of His people. He is looking for those who will stand up, speak up and won’t be shut up, no matter how powerful the pressure or painful or embarrassing the world’s rejection. Those who will not cave in or succumb to the ridicule or scorn of their peers, the press or politicians. Those who will not be overly concerned about what the mainline or mainstream will think or say about them.

Those who are more concerned about God’s approval than the acceptance and applause of all the world around them. Yes, God is seeking those who care more about the future of their family, than financial success or failure. Those whose principles are not for purchase at any price. Those who do not mind the world knowing who they are and where they stand. Those will hold the line against accommodation and compromise whatever the cost.

Those who take seriously the words of Christ who said, "No man can serve two masters." Because truly, as has been said, "Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide, in the strife "twixt truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side."

Only as people are truly converted and accept the challenge of true discipleship and the calling to commit their life and living to Christ, will the tides of evil that threaten to inundate and overwhelm our world be effectively countered.

The Perfect Place

Have you ever considered the best place to be in time of trouble? For the small animal, scurrying for safety in order to escape the sharp talons of a circling shadow, it may be crack in a rock. For the fox, relentlessly pursued by the pack, it may be his den. For the child, it may be his mother's arm. For the soldier, it may be a simple foxhole. For the weary traveller, it may be the light up ahead. For all these, who seek shelter in time of trial, trouble or tribulation, there is a perfect place.
Late one afternoon, many years ago when we lived In an area known as tornado alley, the flash of continuous lightening lighting the darkening sky and constant echo of the terrible roll of
thunder warned of impending disaster. As night approached, I became quite concerned that I might find a place of protection for me young family. I sought a place and found it.
But there were others who were not as fortunate. The next day, as a pastor, I visited my cousin, one of the survivors of the terrible storm that came that night, in a local hospital. His body was bruised, broken and battered. He told me of his ordeal. He, his wife and his in-laws, saw the same storm approaching, They hurriedly began to prepare to go to their elaborate outside concrete storm shelter to spend the night. Just as his wife approached the door to rush outside, she turned and embraced him and said, "Oh no, it's too late.." The next thing he remembered was being spun around high in the air as the terrible wind wrenched his wife from his arms. His wife was found a few hundred metres from him. She and her mother didn't survive.  They did not make it to their perfect place of shelter and refuge.
Sometimes a Christian needs a perfect place of shelter during the inevitable storms of life. The Christian life at best is a stormy and sometimes troubling and terrifying experience. Jesus said it would be so when He told us that in this world we would have tribulation. But the exact location of that perfect place for a Christian may vary with time and circumstance.

The perfect place for Noah was an Ark, Even though it had never rained in all of history, he was called to warn his friends and neighbors of the inconceivable judgment of God and invite them into that perfect place of shelter. He preached and warned for one hundred a twenty years, but they would not heed, so only eight souls found refuge in God's perfect place,

The perfect place for Enoch was taking a walk with Jehovah. Someone has envisioned it like this, "Enoch and Jehovah were walking along one day, and talking as they as the always did, when God noticed they had gone much further than ordinary. It was a long way home for Enoch. So God said to Enoch, 'Why don't you just come along to my place tonight, it's much closer than yours. It's a perfect place for you."
The perfect place for Abraham was not in the land of his birth, the Ur or Chaldee, but as a pilgrim and sojourner on a journey to a promised land. A city whose builder and maker was God. Later, the perfect place for his son, Issac, was lying atop a rough stone altar of sacrifice, on top of a mountain, trussed up hand and foot, awaiting the thrust of his father sacrificial knife.
The perfect place for Joseph was a pit, a prison and then a throne. The perfect place for Daniel was a lion's den. The perfect place for the three Hebrew children was a fiery furnace The perfect place for Job was sitting in an ash heap, covered with boils from head to toe, being tongue lashed by his fair weather friends and nagged by an unrelenting wife. The perfect place for Jonah was the belly of a whale. The perfect place for David was hiding from the wrath of Saul in a Judean cave. The perfect place for Elijah was beside a brook being fed by the ravens. The perfect place for John the Baptist was in Herod's prison awaiting the executioner's axe. The perfect place for Paul was a basket on a city wall and later a cold, dark, dank cell in the Marmertine prison on the banks of the Tiber river.   The perfect place for our Savior was a manger, a garden, a hill and a cross.
What do all these places have in common and what is the perfect place for a Christian? Obviously, it is sheltering in the very center of God's will. Even in the greatest tribulation, those who turn to God and trust in Him, will find a perfect place of rest and peace!

I Have My Own Religion!

"I have my own religion!,"  the man said indignantly. Hardly a day passes in door knocking endeavors without such an encounter occurring. Normally the statement is made is such a way as to dismiss any idea of further pursuit of the matter of how one really becomes a Christian. And as a rule, the sincerity of the statement cannot be called into question.
But herein lies the real problem. The fervency and sincerity of the respondent does not negate the falsity of the underlying philosophy. In fact, I'm always reminded of the old cliche', "Do you have a solution? Or are you a part of the problem!" Religion, the solution proposed by such a philosophy, is often the real problem.
The Pharisees, who constantly criticized and questioned the message and methodology of Jesus as He sought to share His message of repentance and faith with sinners, were perhaps the most religious people of all history. Paul, who was one of them, gave testimony to their deep sincerity and overwhelming religious zeal. But he said none of this was of God. He correctly saw their religious rituals and liturgical litanies as merely thinly disguised attempts to establish their own righteousness.
The purpose of all their religious mumbo jumbo, do good philosophy and self-justification, Paul said, was to enable them to personally avoid submitting themselves to the righteousness of God, as expressed in the person and purpose of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on the Cross. As long as they religiously maintained such a false facade, they would not have to swallow their false pride and humble themselves in simple childlike repentance and faith, trusting the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him alone, for salvation and eternal life. (See Ro. 10:1-3)
Things have not changed a great deal in this area as time has passed. The same philosophy, still seems to be prevalent today. Such false teaching permeates the altars and is proclaimed from the pulpits of some of the most ornate cathedrals of our time. We hear the same sentiments espoused by the most modern of so-called theologians. We see such religion walking up and down our streets every weekend. I shudder to think of the greater condemnation modern-day Pharisees, who have led people to trust religious rituals and their own imagined good works, will face at the Judgement.
The sad fact of the matter, for those who "have their own religion", is that religion will not save. Religion is what we imagine we do for God. True Christianity is what God has done for us, Religion is man looking for and seeking God. True Christianity is God seeking and finding man. Religion says do. True Christianity says that Christ has done it all on the Cross long ago. It is finished.
Religion says look at me. My good works. My form of godliness. My beautiful rituals. My piety. My holiness. My sacrifices. True Christianity says look to the lifted-up Christ of Calvary and the judgment scorched earth all around. What man needs is personal salvation rather than religion. But just how can you personally receive this salvation? -

1. Understand that you are personal sinner Jesus died for. (Romans 3:23)
2. Accept that your sin will separate you from God forever. (Romans 6:23)
3. Know that Christ died for you personally on the cross. (Romans 5:8)
4. Repent (be sorry for, confess, turn from) your sin. (Luke 13:3)
5. Believe (rely upon, trust absolutely) the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ro. 10:9-10)

The Greatest Fishing Trip

Having been reared close by the shores of the beautiful lakes in the hill country of the Tennessee River Valley, my earliest and most pleasant memories focus on fishing the sparkling streams and tranquil lakes of that region. In my experience there is nothing that can compare with the excitement and fulfillment of a successful fishing trip. 
I well remember those who taught me the rudiments of fishing. There were many valuable lessons to be learned; the importance of knowing the habits and habitat of the species being sought, the wisdom of knowing where and when to fish and the best bait to use, the motivation and committal reo, Aired to rise early or stay late and the need for patience and perseverance, were just a few of the vital elements necessary in the making of a fisherman. But perhaps above all else was a certain vision and sense
involved in fishing. You had to believe-the fish were really there and would respond to the proper and diligent efforts of a dedicated fisherman.
I'm glad Jesus used the simply analogy of fishing to teach and illustrate the principles of soul winning, or fishing formers. If there is one thing that is more exciting and fulfilling than fishing for fish, it is fishing for the souls of men. The first principle is the necessity to go fishing. It is not an Endeavour that can be successfully carried on by proxy or in theory. You can faithfully read all the books you wish on the subject and regularly monitor the travels of television fishermen, but you'll never catch a fish until you personally go fishing. Jesus did not say, "Sit and I will sit with you," but, "Go and I will go with you." Go is the operative word He used when urging His followers to personally become His witnesses and fishers of men.
It is true that Christians are sometimes more theoretical than practical in this matter of fishing for men. Many attend conferences and study the meaning and methodology of soul winning, but never seem to place their theory into practice. This would remind one of the story of the bait casting champion who had never caught a fish, but could accurately cast his bait into a small bucket from a great distance nearly every time!  But, of course, he never caught a fish there!
When Jesus said His disciples should launch out into the deep and cast their nets on the other side, He made the need for personal practical participation abundantly clear. If you are going to successfully fish for men you must go where the fish are. In this age of the so-called "couch potato," it is vital we realize that we cannot just dangle a bait in our lounge room, but must go out into the highways and byways of a world teeming with the souls of lost men and women. We must acquaint ourselves with the habits and habitats of those we seek. We must be  ready to rise early and stay late when required. We must equip ourselves to the best of our ability for the important task we face.

But, again, when all is said and done, we must get up and go fishing! Only then will we know the personal joy that faithful obedience to our Savior's. primary command can bring.  Only then can we experience the inexpressible thrill and overwhelming satisfaction of catch and preserving souls for all eternity!

My greatest personal fishing trip?  It was not the occasion when at the age of 15 was involved in landing an eighty-five pound catfish in the turbulent waters below Wheeler Dam.  It was any one of the many times the Lord blessed me with souls as I went from door to door sharing the glorious message of His gospel during over 50 years of such labor!

Power For Positive Living

Ephesians 5:18  "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess,  but be filled with the Spirit."

Paul is inspired by the Holy Spirit to give us a very simple analogy about our relationship to the third Person of the Holy Trinity. We are told we are to avoid alcoholic intoxication and be drunk, or spiritually intoxicated, with the Holy Spirit of God. In drawing the parallels implied, the analogy becomes quite clear. He is urging upon us a life that is out of control. Out of our control, that is. A life that is controlled by a Person and power outside our personal being. A life that is obviously other-worldly.

It is common in these last days to hear tall tales of aliens invading planet earth. People are increasingly taking such claims seriously. I understand to speak of a simple encounter of the third kind is rather old-fashioned these days. The latest device Satan seems to be employing to prepare people for his incarnation and coming as the anti-Christ, is a whole genre of stories and tales of bodies being invaded by alien beings from outer space. The bodies of those who have been saved by the grace of God have been invaded by another Being, so to speak. A Being so good and powerful that the concept defies logic, reason and the comprehension of the unregenerate mind of man. This Being will not lead us to do act out of control emotionally or do irrational things.

In this context, the analogy Paul draws is evident. The intoxication process involves a gradual relinquishing of control of the body, being and faculties to another power. The power of alcohol. As the process proceeds, the effected person's habits and personality traits often undergo a complete transformation. As the process peaks, the person involved moves from self-will and self-control to "spirit" (alcohol) control.

This state is easily recognized by those around him. Inhibitions are removed and he sometimes attempts deeds that appear foolish and risky. He has a certain boldness. He will sometimes demonstrate a false fearlessness or pseudo-courage. A determination and stubbornness is also manifest. He will insist upon certain action or conduct, no matter what the consequences might be. It has been observed that feats of unusual strength may be attempted as well.

Many times the experienced alcoholic will build up an increasing tolerance and resistance to the control of the "spirit" that influences him. He is able to hold his drink and resist its influence by continuously struggling to maintain self control. With all this in mind, it is crystal clear why the Bible enjoins total abstinence as the best practice for a Christian.

The details of this analogy are quite obvious in Paul's call for the Christian to be filled or controlled by the Holy Spirit. The spiritual analogy is clear. The backsliding Christian may also resist the control of His Spirit. The ideal and ultimate is the absolute abandonment of self-will and subsequent submission to the Word of God and the Spirit of God as we seek the will of God. In this positive spiritual process we will find power for living the God-pleasing life. Then the different parallels will become obvious.

The primary key to successful witnessing is a holy boldness. An abandonment of our will to His will in the matter of soul winning. Under His control we will not be afraid or embarrassed to share our testimony and witness in all the circumstances of life. We will not be intimidated or inhibited by Satan and his crowd.

As we move out from under self-will and self-control our actions may appear foolish and risky to the world around us. The apostles were mocked as fools as they witnessed and preached the Word of God. Why? Because they were controlled by the Holy Spirit. When the followers of Christ were first called Christians at Antioch, it was in scorn and derision. Why? Because the control of the Holy Spirit of God was conforming them to the image of Christ.

Have you ever wondered, as I, just how these men and the millions of martyrs that were to follow in their footsteps, had the courage and power to stand and give the glory to God as they died for the cause of Christ? It could only be because they were under the control of the Spirit of God. Perhaps we are not called, yet, to pay this supreme sacrifice, but Paul's call to us is to present our bodies a living sacrifice - transformed by the power and control of His Spirit into bold and faithful witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ. May we daily be being filled (controlled) by His Spirit!

Living Sacrifices

Romans 12:1-2 "1 beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,....'

A number of years ago I ran across this snippet of history about "Ivan the Terrible.” Ivan was one of the great rulers of Russia. He was so busy trying to annex territory to his country that he had no time for social life. His advisers become worried because he had not married. Ivan suggested that they  find him a wife and he would accept their recommendation.

They searched far and wide for a girl who was beautiful, intelligent and a king's daughter. They found her in Athens, Greece. Her name was Sophia, the daughter of the King of Greece. Ivan asked the King for his daughter's hand. The King demanded that Ivan join the Greek Orthodox Church. This he did. He had gone to Greece with , five hundred of his best soldiers and when Ivan joined the church they desired to join also. A catechizer outlined the articles of the Orthodox Church creed to every one of them. They gave ready assent to every article except one. One of the articles stated that if they joined the Orthodox Church they could not be professional soldiers.

They asked the catechizer to give them time to think the matter over. They pondered the problem, "How can we join the Church and remain in the army at the same tine? They concocted a plan. When they were to be baptised they marched into the water. The five hundred soldiers were accompanied by five hundred priests. (They were to be baptised by immersion. How else could a Greek Church baptise them, since they know the true and only meaning of their word, "baptizo"?)

Shortly before each priest plunged his candidate under, each solder grabbed for his sword and lifted it up in air. Each one was baptised; except for his fighting arm and a gleaming sword that jutted out of the water. Those who witnessed the mass baptism spectacle said they saw five hundred dry arms and five hundred glittering swords sticking out of the water. It seems the he soldiers had come up with a compromise. 'We will join the church with our bodies, but we will allow our fighting arm to remain in the possession of the state."

The application of this little historical episode is self-evident. In his Roman letter Paul gives a clear call for a complete committal to Christ by all who call themselves brothers in Christ. But it seems that in our day many are not willing to yield themselves completely to Christ.

Writing fifty years ago, evangelist, Angel Martinez, had this to say about conditions existing in his day, "The curse of the hour is the curse of partial surrender. We can never have power with God or with men until we have given ourselves wholly to God. God does not want scraps or leftovers. God doesn't need much of a man, but needs all there is of him. The price of spiritual power is complete surrender.”   What would he say about the great falling away that has occurred in the meantime.

The Geography Of Real Happiness

Have you ever noticed that happiness does not necessarily relate to where one lives? We live in a mobile age. There are no boundaries to the possibilities of change in environment and circumstance for twenty-first century man. People move more freely and easily across international borders and around the world than previous generations moved to other villages or neighbourhoods.

If you summed it all up you would find that many are moving to and fro on the face of the earth seeking the elusive phantom of their vision of happiness. Free men seek the guarantee of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, as a basic bulwark of their freedom. But this guarantee does not necessarily justify the inordinate amount of time some seem to spend in a seemingly futile pursuit of that magic happiness that always seems just around the next bend in life’s road or over the crest of the next mountain of life’s struggle.

Those in the north move south and those in the south move north. Westerners tend to drift east and Easterners go west. Country people seek economic prosperity in the city as the urban dweller is drawn by the lure of what seems to be the simpler life promoted by the back to nature and back to your roots movements. All evidently feel that geographical, social or vocational relocation may finally place them in real contact with that mythical and ever elusive condition of true happiness.

Sad to say, the vast majority are often bitterly disappointed when they inevitably discover the truth that true happiness cannot be acquired in this manner. They realize as well that you cannot move away from your troubles. That old song about packing up your troubles in your old kit bag says it all. The baggage of one’s troubles always seems to be on the same plane or following along on a flight close behind.

In our day of easy divorce and government subsidized marriage breakdown, it is amazing how many people seem to think they can move on to a new relationship without the baggage of broken and failed relationships and all the emotional immaturity and instability involved in such unresolved conflict, following close behind them!

No, happiness does not necessarily relate to where one lives, what one does for a living or how much of this world’s goods one might accumulate. It is more a matter of why, how and with whom one lives. Those who find true happiness are pleasantly surprised to find that the abundant life is as mobile and universal as the person and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He said one purpose of His coming and His eternal existence is that our joy might be full. He did not speak of true happiness being found in the absence of trials, troubles and tribulations, but in the midst of them. He did not speak of happiness being characterized by the absence of the winds of adversity, but of His joy and peace being possible in the storms of life.

Joseph and Daniel found a life of true joy, happiness, fulfilment and the will of God, in the unlikely geography of a land of their captivity. We also need to truly understand that happiness is to know the Saviour and live a life within His favour. As an old children’s chorus said it, happiness is the Lord.

When all is said and done it must be admitted that one primary source of discontent and unhappiness in our lives may come from allowing the world to set our standards and priorities and define the condition of happiness for us. If we value those things the Lord values and seek first His Kingdom, His Peace, Joy and true happiness will be our real reward.

Facing The Future Without Fear

We live in terrible times. The threat of cruel barbaric terrorism pervades the atmosphere at home and abroad. Hardly a day passes without hearing news of another unimaginable atrocity perpetrated upon innocent women and children. It seems there is no depths of depravity those who are the adversaries of freedom and truth will not plumb in order to bring terror and fear to those who advocate and advance the principles of a Judeo-Christian civilization.

They make it clear they hate us for being us. They tell us in no uncertain terms we do not deserve to live on the same planet with them. They say ultimately we must convert to their religion or die at the point of a sword. It seems they would prefer the latter fate.

We seem to be given the options of dying on our feet resisting their tyrannical brutality or living on our knees in slavish subjection to an extreme and perverted form of a religion. They make no secret of their ultimate goal. They seek to impose their barbaric, uncivilized code upon all the world.

Is there any hope? Surely God will answer the prayers of those who will stand for righteousness in the land and in the world and grant the continuing freedom we need to live and serve Him. Surely we are still privileged to pray for such a victory in our time. Surely we can use the weapons of spiritual warfare He has given us to face our fears of the forces arrayed against us and forge ahead into a future of real freedom in Christ Jesus!

In Christ we can always be optimistic about the future. We can be sure the sun will rise tomorrow and the future will come, if Jesus does not come in the meantime, and then that will be our future! Tomorrow may bring its own share of troubles and trials, but it will bring along with those the overruling providence of our great God. The words of our Saviour assure us of this, "... In the world ye shall have tribulations: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Our Saviour is saying the obvious, if we will just stop and consider it. Each day has enough burdens and blessings of its own.

God only gives us grace and strength to live one day at a time. That's all we really need. Tomorrow's problems and challenges can be dealt with by His grace if and when tomorrow comes. Prudent planning and provision for tomorrow is wise, but undue worry about tomorrow is foolish and futile and fails to face the future with faith that the God of today is also the God of tomorrow. 

The scriptures tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow and that God's mercies are new each morning. When we are too fretful and fearful about tomorrow, we often rob ourselves of the peace, joy and victory God would give us today. This is not God's will and way for us. Our outlook about the future should be reflected in the words of the Psalmist, "This [is] the day [which] the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

But is our God really able to help us today? Do we have any rivers that are "uncrossable"? Do we have any mountains that are unclimable? Do we have any walls that are unbreachable? Do we have any fiery furnaces whose flames are unquenchable? Do we face any lions whose mouths are unstoppable? Do we have any problems that seem insoluble? Do we have any foes who are unconquerable? Do we have any hurts that seem unhealable? Surely the great God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob can come to our aid today, if only we trust in Him!

Singing The Lord's Song

What sort of singer are you? Could you thrill an audience with the beauty of your voice or are you like so many of us, better off singing your solos within the confines of the walls of your shower? It does not matter how melodic or mediocre our voice may be, we are all called to sing unto the Lord.

Paul told the members of the churches at Ephesus and Colosse that God’s children are to sing hymns, psalms and spiritual songs; singing and making melody in their hearts unto the Lord. Yes, we are all singers and if we are saved we have a special song of salvation to sing. It is a different and beautiful song that the world does not know or understand.

God is both the composer and the lyricist. He gives it to us. Places it right in our heart when we are born again of His Spirit. Our new found joy soon moves us to give expression to it. It is the song of the redeemed. The song of Zion. If we love the Lord we must sing it. The redeemed of the Lord must say so.

What we should sing and why we should sing it is already determined in the Word of God. But when, where and how we sing is another matter. We are responsible for the time, place and manner the song of salvation is sun.

In some places and at some times it is difficult to sing the Lord’s song in the way He wishes it to be sung. David indicates he found it rather difficult to sing the Lord’s song after the Bethsheba affair. It seems he found the Lord’s song stuck in his throat and was sealed within him by his great transgression and offence against God and man. It would seem the sweet harp player of Israel laid his harp aside for a time because no true song of joy and salvation could spontaneously and spiritually spring forth from a sinful and adulterous heart. Only true repentance and forgiveness could enable Him to truly sing the Lord’s song again.

Remember Israel’s lament while in Babylonian captivity? They were also reaping the wages of sin against the Holy One of Israel. They cried out, "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord’s son in a strange land?"

Sometimes the world also demands of us, in scorn and derision, that we sing the Lord’s song. It is difficult, no impossible, to do so if we have compromised with that same world. Our lips our sealed by sin from singing our song of salvation and giving expression to true praise unto our God. There is always lacking that note of truth and sincerity that is absolutely necessary for singing spiritual songs and making true spiritual melody in our hearts.

A person who has turned away from God and fallen into a David-like pattern of sin and rebellion, cannot really seek to sing God’s song and worship and glorify Him in His house among His people. Such perverted praise and worship would be blasphemous. No true song of salvation can issue from such a sinful heart or burst forth from such deceitful lips. 

That heart must be purged and cleansed through true repentance and confession of sin. This means a turning away from the practice and pattern of a sinful life and a spiritual about face. A genuine spiritual renewal must first take place before the songs of Zion can be truly sung again.

Gathering Together In His Presence

Do we really believe His promise that He will be in the midst of us when we come into His presence with thanksgiving; worshipping Him in Spirit and in truth. (Matthew 18:20)  Do we expect the Living Saviour to be powerfully present in all that we say and do? When we consider the lackadaisical approach all to often taken to worship in our contemporary world, we are made to wonder if those who come together really see themselves as being in the presence of the awesome and mighty God of this universe. 

Some who say they are Bible believers, tend to make a fetish out of informality. They seem to sincerely equate spirituality with a crass, conditioned and creative emotionality. It would seem, that in their understanding, being spirit filled (led or controlled) precludes orderly worship or behavior. They seem to advocate and often practice an uninhibited exhibitionism.

It would seem that some sometimes sincerely seek to stand and pridefully entertain God; rather than approach Him with humility and reverence. Or worse still, turn a holy worship service into a cheap entertainment concert. All of this could remind us of the foolish, frenzied and failed attempts of the prophets of Baal to awaken their god(s) in order to bring a powerful presence to bear upon the altar of sacrifice. An examination of the idolatrous and paganized worship activities in history, as well as in our contemporary world, confirms such a sensuous and sensational approach has always been the way of the heathen. In contrast, we see the hoary-haired old prophet, Elijah, speaking a few quiet simple words. Then the overwhelming presence of the almighty God is manifest to Israel.

We do not have to speculate on God’s plan of conduct in the Body of Christ. In Paul’s critique of the uninhibited excesses of the church at Corinth, he makes the matter crystal clear. “For God is not [the author] of confusion..” (I Cor. 14:33) “Let all things be done decently and in order.” (I Cor. 14:40) The context of these simple admonitions, when applied to gathering together with Christ, could lead us to but one conclusion. God desires a simple scriptural approach to praise and worship.

None of this should inhibit or prohibit the desire of God’s people to gather together in joyful expectation and anticipation of experiencing the presence of the Living Christ. We are to come together truly expecting to meet with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, through the ministry and power of the Holy Spirit of God. We should not come together merely expecting to see each other, but should have the attitude of the Greeks who came and said to Phillip, “Sir, we would see Jesus.”

It is a great privilege to have an audience with royalty. But how could this compare with the promised personal presence of Jesus Christ with His people as they gather together to celebrate His resurrection and worship and praise Him? We do not come together to merely experience the presence of an earthly prince or monarch, but with the very King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

It should go without saying, that we should behave and even dress appropriately for such a rendezvous with real royalty. Who would wish to go into the presence of a king or even an important official without being appropriately attired? Even those seeking meaningful employment, recognize that to do so would be insulting and could jeopardize their prospects. What is more important and who is more deserving of our utmost reverence and respect?   - Pastor John White

Why Adversity?

Why do God’s people have adversity? As David asked, "Why do the wicked seem to prosper at the expense of God’s people?" Why do terrible tragedies occur in the midst of times of great success and prosperity? Why do a multiplicity of calamities, as in the case of Job, seem to come one upon the heels of another?  

Adversity can be the deadliest source of discouragement or the greatest impetus for spiritual growth in the life of a believer. The difference depends upon and is determined by our understanding and response to the pressure involved. But just why might God allow adversity into the life of a child of God whom He loves?

Adversity may be God’s way of getting  our attention. If we focus our life on the world and its standards and priorities, we may invite and accentuate adversity. When we become absorbed in our own personal plans, projects, programs, ambitions, goals and friendships, God may patiently try to get our attention. When we leave God out of our life and our priorities and decisions, inevitably problems and pressures arise too large and complicated for us to solve. When we become too busy with our own selfish will, God may intervene to show us His way of real peace and joy and His schedule and priorities for our lives. 

Such adversity is good for us.  Adversity may be God’s way of reassuring us of His love. Real love must be tough. Tough love means to care enough to rebuke and correct. Physical and emotional pain serve a real purpose. God shows His love by sometimes painfully reinforcing the dangers in our life. When we finally recognize God’s loving hand of correction and turn to Him, our experience will have been beneficial and spiritually maturing.  Adversity may be God calling us to self-examination. One purpose of chastening is to achieve self-examination. This process begins with self-examination, conviction and confession of sin. But if in adversity we become embittered and engrossed in examining and blaming others, God cannot use this process to bless us. Self-examination should lead to repentance and restoration.

Adversity may be God’s way of conquering our pride. God’s grace is free, but there is one thing essential to receive it - humility. God may occasionally prick our balloon of pride through adversity in order to humble us under His mighty hand that He might lift us up to a place of fruitful service that
pleases Him..

Adversity may be God’s way of reminding us of our human weaknesses and frailties. God sometimes tests us and prepares us for challenges in the future.  When stretched, a rubber band breaks at its weakest point. A chain is no stronger than its weakest link. Only by placing pressure upon materials, can we detect certain flaws. When God works powerfully through our obvious weaknesses, both we and others are freed to give Him all the praise and glory!

Adversity may be God’s way of motivating us to cry out for His help. The intensity of a child’s cry will determine the urgency of a parent’s response. When God’s children cry out in true repentance and faith, God will always lovingly respond.  Ultimately it is not the nature or severity of adversity that really matters.  It is our response to it. Someone has well said that Christians are like steam engines, at their best when under pressure!

The People Have Spoken

After a long campaign the people of Australia have spoken at the ballot box. Our present Prime Minister has declared victory and the leader of the opposition has conceded defeat. It then automatically becomes the responsibility of Christian citizens to pray for the government and for all those elected or reelected to serve in our parliament. We are also enjoined to respectfully obey the laws they enact and honor them for their office sake. (See Romans 13:1-7) The only justification God's people have in overtly resisting those in authority relates to laws restricting freedom of worship and religion and the free exercise thereof, as well as laws that abridge God's eternal moral laws. (Psalm 119:89, Acts 5:29)   Of course,  this does not mean that Christians cannot speak out against wrong decisions and oppose both legally and electorally ungodly men and the ungodly agendas of political parties.  Quite the contrary.

It is clear that all too often the ordinary citizens seems to face the dilemma of choosing between the bad and the not as bad.  The lesser of two evils.  For some of us this seemed to be the case in our recent election in Australia and it seems this may well be the case also for many conservative Christians in the upcoming November election in the U. S.  A recent  poll showed that over 80% of the people think one presidential candidate is hot-headed and obnoxious and nearly as many think the other candidate is a liar and cannot be trusted!

Yes the people have spoken, but is the majority decision always right? I'm afraid not. Biblical and secular history are replete with examples to the contrary. After all, wasn't Jesus crucified by what appears to be a unanimous vote? All present and voting seem to have cried out with one voice for the cruel and inhumane execution of the completely innocent God-man.

Yes the people have spoken, but so did Israel when they chose to have a King so they could be like other nations. God was opposed to the idea. When the prophet Samuel faithfully informed the people of God's will and way, they rebelled and still insisted on having a king. God relented and permitted them to make a mistake that would haunt and hurt them throughout many long years. He told Samuel they had not rebelled against Samuel but against God.

Yes, the people have spoken, but just what did they say? Again,  it seems the candidates and parties entered into a bidding contest to see who could promise the most goodies;  paid for by poor ill-informed taxpayers.  And it seems many responded as if this was all that really matters.  Like the old adage,  "My name's Jimmy and I'll take all you will gimme!"  It is clear that God and His eternal moral laws no longer seem the most important criterion upon which the grave choices of future leaders and government policy should be based . There seems to be no doubt that in the heart of many people God is no longer important and money (the economy) has become the God of our nation. Is it any wonder our Saviour said, "No man can serve two masters, he'll love the one and hate the other. No man can serve God and mammon (money - materialism)." (Matt. 6:24)

Yes, the people have spoken, but what did they really say? Did you hear much from either major party, leader or candidate relative to moral choices or issues? In a time when our Judeo-Christian heritage is being auctioned to the highest bidder for a mess of pottage and a glass of wine, did you hear any political voice crying in this wilderness of secular humanism  and relativism for the nation to repent and turn away from the ungodliness and immorality that is tearing apart the very social, moral and spiritual fabric of our nation? Did you hear any leader crying out against the deadly God-denying philosophies destroying the Christian mores and family values and traditions that have made our nation great? It seems that too many on all sides are ready to jump on the popular band wagon and support such  issues as abortion upon demand, the gay agenda, same sex marriage and the increasing degradation of our nation.

Yes, the people have spoken. The obsession of people and politicians with money, the economy and business as usual as a basis of choice might lead one to say, "God help us!" 

God Bless America

The Psalmist said, “Blessed [is] the nation whose God [is] the LORD...”
Do these words of the Psalmist still hold true for nations such as the United States in our day?  July 4, Independence Day, is very special to all those who have been blessed and privileged to have the U. S. as the land of their birth and heritage. No matter how far they may roam, those who love the land of the free and the home of the brave usually pause to thank God and celebrate this special day..
As people at home and abroad do so, it would be good to stop for a moment and take stock of the blessings of freedom God has given to the land and to remember the sacrifices of those who purchased these with their blood.  

God has richly blessed America with a beautiful country; rich in abundant natural resources. God has provided a great constitution and a good system of government based upon a Judeo-Christian heritage. It can truly be said America’s citizens enjoy freedoms and privileges that most of the citizens of the world can only dream about. This is confirmed each year by the thousands who seek to immigrate legally to her shores and even by the tens of thousand who illegally seek the same privileges.  There are no concentration camps in America. People are not executed for seeking to flee the land.  There are no dreaded knocks on doors in the middle of the night. There are no mass graves filled with the bodies or those who have been killed by despotic dictators and godless regimes. At least theoretically, every person in the nation has a free voice and a free vote.

In governmental matters, the voice of the people can reflect the way and will of God. Freedom of speech still prevails. Freedom of religion has not yet been lost. Pastors can still proclaim the truth from their pulpits and Christians can still worship according to the dictates of their hearts. There is yet no laws that can muzzle those who would comment about sin in the land or criticize the powers that be.  The truth can be told, no matter how critical, about those occupying the highest positions in government.  Mark Twain once said, “…a Christian’s first duty is to God. It then follows, as a matter of course, that it is his duty to carry his Christian code of morals to the polls and vote them. … If the Christians .... could be persuaded to vote God and a clean ticket, it would bring about a moral revolution that would be incalculably beneficent. It would save the country — a country whose Christians have betrayed it and are destroying it ... Christianity ... is on trial now. And nothing important is on trial except Christianity.” He said this a century and one-half ago. How much greater are the weight of his words today!

Henry Blackaby wrote in Fresh Encounter: “Christians should not be surprised by the spiritual
darkness around us. That is all it can be. Darkness is dark. The greater problem is not with the
darkness. The problem is with the light. When light shines, it dispels darkness. We face a growing
spiritual darkness in our land because the light is not shining brightly.”
On this Independence Day, let us praise God for His past blessings upon this great nation and
pray He will continue to bless it. But at the same time let us remember that if we are to expect His
continuing blessings upon a nation, its citizens must recognize the need for Him in their national life.
They must be willing to meet His conditions for such continuing national blessings. Conditions that
are made crystal clear in His word: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14) Yes, America still needs God’s blessings today. It sometimes seems the secularists have tried everything else in recent years. Political parties have come and gone. New political movements blossom and flourish and then fade into history. New financial fads appear and then pass away. New social schemes come and go. Secular humanism, relativism and permissiveness have led to the pursuit of pleasure as a national preoccupation. It seems the nation has gone off the gold standard and abandoned God’s standards. Hundreds of books on New Age Religions of ancient origin are increasingly replacing Christian books on the shelves of our retail bookstores.  The nation needs those who recognize God in government. Christians need to not only pray for righteous leaders in the land, but be willing to speak up and act out their convictions. They need to be ready to stand against and oppose those who are philosophically and religiously opposed to God and His righteousness.  Godliness is needed in the homes and the institutions of any great nation. Great nations do not need leaders who advocate perverted lifestyles or accept and promote the destruction of traditional family institutions that are so clearly taught in the Word of God and have been the basis of civilized societies for millennia.

What can we who love this great land do to insure His future blessings upon it? We can live for Christ and be salt and light in this world of corruption and darkness. We can pray and work to place Godly leaders at the helm of the ship of state. We can pray for a true revival of righteousness in the land. We can always remember the Lord our God is the true source the spiritual courage and power that is needed to preserve the great land of our birth and heritage! Again, we can take seriously the promise of God to a people who will turn away from evil and back to a loving and merciful God! “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14) .- Pastor John G. White

Independence Day

Our friends compatriots in America celebrate Independence Day on July 4th this week. Following is an article I published earlier in honor of Patriots who have given their lives for our freedoms: May this day be a time for remembering the great things God has done for America. For over two centuries the nation’s sons and daughters have fought and fallen in faraway fields and forests for FREEDOM’S cause. Their blood has stained the dry deserts of North Africa, soaked the beaches of Normandy and saturated the sands of Iwo Jima. Their bodies have lain among the hedge rows of Europe, on the jagged hills of China and in the frozen wastes of North Korea. Today they still fall in near and faraway places for the same great cause of freedom. There’s scarcely a land, ocean or a sea on this planet that has not been hallowed by the supreme sacrifice of our nation’s heroes as they have answered freedom’s call.

Who were these patriots? They were mostly just simple folk. Citizen soldiers, some were called.  They rallied to freedom’s flag from the farms, villages and towns of our nation’s heartland. They came from the boroughs and suburbs of our great cities. These ordinary people came from all across our great land.  They were not professional warriors or skilled combatants. But they were inspired by the clarion call of liberty and moved by the sublime cause of defending their country, their homeland, the land of their birth. Who were these men who willingly laid down their lives at a time of their country’s greatest peril? They were those who became familiar with the strident sound of the bugle rising at reveille and soulful sound of taps reverently played at the setting of the sun. These are they who marched into battle and heard the awful whine of a ricocheting bullet, the rattling roar of a machine gun and the threatening thunder of a mortar shell; and then the heart-rending cry of a fallen comrade.  Who were these who suffered the pangs of loneliness and pining of homesickness as they faced the hunger, thirst, relentless heat, torrential rains, and bitter cold of the field of battle? These are those brave souls who trudged onward , 'till the day they fell mortally wounded. 

Who grew old in youth; burning out the candle of life in moments; sacrificing all that life owed them in their future tranquil years.  Who are these men that lie buried beneath 639,455 white crosses around the world? Who rest in places like  Arlington, Pearl Harbor, Philippines, Anzio, Flanders Fields, the Argonne, and a  thousand hillside cemeteries all over America? These are our fellow soldiers, patriots of this free country, who believed that freedom for our children must be preserved, whatever the cost.  On this day when we celebrate the birth of liberty, let us remember as well, with deep gratitude and humble thanksgiving , those men and women who survived the battles and who are gathered together around the world to celebrate the blessings of freedom.  Let us give thanks too for the families who have given their sons, fathers, and brothers to the call of their country. And while we are remembering, let us never forget what one of the founding fathers said, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance”

What Is Freedom’s Price?

On this weekend as Americans honor those who paid the supreme price for their freedoms, it is appropriate to remember that freedom never comes cheaply.  Perhaps we should remember some of the immortal words spoken by patriots on the subject. One said, “Give me liberty, or give me death” Another said, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” Someone else stated. “It is better to die a free man on your feet, than to live as a slave on your knees.” Mann said, “No man escapes when freedom fails, the best men rot in filthy jails, and those who cried, ‘Appease!  Appease!’ are killed by those they tried to please.”

I read a time back that over 200,000 Christian clergymen were killed for their faith in the former Soviet Union between 1917 and 1988. In addition, tens of millions of simple Christians died during this era as well. Let us never forget our forefathers who paid the ultimate price that we might be free of such religious repression and persecution. Let us also remember there is a continuing price to be paid in each generation if these precious freedoms  purchased at such a high price are to be maintained and passed on.  But there is another sort of freedom that is even more precious and costly. It is the freedom our Savior spoke of when He said, “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free - If the Son makes you free, you are free indeed.”

The price of this freedom has already been paid. It was purchased by the Father and Son at the most terrible cost. The ultimate sacrifice 2 The Weekly Australian Baptist Bulletin made by the Father and Son to procure our spiritual freedom is beyond the comprehension of the mortal mind. Yet, this incomprehensible freedom is offered to mankind absolutely free. Paul said: “For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  The spiritual freedom God offers to those who will repent and believe upon His Son is more than momentary and historical. It is eternal.  When we are born again of His Spirit and become new creatures in Christ Jesus, we are justified by faith.  We are saved from: The penalty of sin The power of sin The presence of sin We are given eternal freedom from sin. We are immediately saved from the penalty of sin. Daily we are being freed from the power of sin in our lives. When we are ushered into His presence eternally, we will be freed forever from the very presence of sin!  What does such spiritual liberty mean in a practical sense? God enjoined His Old Testament people to, “Proclaim liberty throughout the land.”  Paul said to God’s New Testament people, “Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free...” And, “For brethren, ye have been called to liberty; only use not that liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”