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.”