Walking As He Walked

We intend to revisit many of Pastor Whites previous messages over the following years. Pastor White's age and health do not diminish the value of his messages.   This post is from May 2017.  

Have you ever noticed how people walk? It is said that the seasoned and salty sailor who has spent his life at sea, walks at a rollicking and rolling gait, reflecting the conditioning of rolling decks under his feet. In bygone days, those who had spent their life on a farm, following a team of beasts and ploughing furrows in the soft earth, walked with a pace peculiar to their particular vocation. A man who has spent his life under marching orders strides out with a martial air and at a military pace.

Some walk with a spring in their step, others swagger arrogantly along and some merely shuffle through the world. Some tiptoe haughtily down the corridors of life, others display all the poise and confidence of a well-adjusted personality.

Have you ever noticed how children often seem to imitate the walk of adults? Especially those they admire and who might be considered their potential role models? They are great little imitators, both physically and spiritually. Little girls can't wait to put on high heeled shoes and walk just like mom walks. Little boys sometimes adopt the exact same gait as their dad.

One Sunday morning I noticed a little fellow coming down the church aisle before the service with a considerable limp. I approached him and sympathetically inquired about his injury. His mom told me he was perfectly well, but his father had injured his leg during the week and was limping severely. The small lad was simply walking like the dad he so greatly admired!

I am sure you may have heard the old story about the ungodly father who was walking through the snow, as was his custom, on his way to the local pub. Upon hearing the noise of crunching snow behind him, he turned and saw his small son jumping along, matching his strides and placing his small feet in the father's footsteps. From that moment on he allowed Christ into his life and his walk took a different direction.

It might be good to ask ourselves where we are placing our feet each day. Are we treading the high or low road? Do our steps lead others in the way of God or along the way of the world? Are we walking the broad or narrow way? Are we going the way leading to destruction or to life everlasting? Are we walking the way that seems right unto man? Or the way that is well pleasing unto God? Do our footsteps shuffle down the sorry side roads of sin or do our foot prints point people to the place God has prepared for His peculiar people?

Are we treading the path our Saviour trod? Trudging down the byways, highways and hedges of life, compelling others to come to Him? Do our tracks lead to the wells of this world, or are we trekking to springs of living water; showing others the way to the water of life? Are our feet shod with the gospel of peace? Are we wearing out our gospel shoes telling others of His good news?

The Importance of Mothers-Reiterated

 The following post, from 2021, is worth revisiting this Mother Day in 2022.   We hope you agree.

 The vital importance of motherhood needs no confirmation because the very existence of each of us and any progress we may have made toward physical or emotional maturity is a living testimony to the essential nature of motherhood. Most of us could personally attest to and endorse old sayings such as, "God couldn't be everywhere, so he gave us mothers". Or, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." Or again, "Behind every great man stands a great woman." Down through the ages responsible Godly mothers have served mankind and have fulfilled God's eternal purpose for man as well.  Since all good is a gift that comes down to man from the Father in heaven, these qualities could also be described as divine qualities; especially those particular characteristics that obviously emulate the divine attributes of God.

It would seem significant that God's plan involves responsible mothers who have a primary responsibly in bringing up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The importance and influence of a mother's role as a primary care giver and loving guide of the children God entrusts to the home cannot be overstated. Many studies have confirmed that mothers  who take this responsibility seriously are by far the primary influence that can determine the direction of a child's life. The same studies reveal that a large percentage of this influence is exerted before the child is six years old. The mother often creates the environment and teaches the standards and values that ultimately determine a child's personality, character traits and future value judgements.

Of course, this is not recent news. Someone said long ago, "Virtues are learned at mother's knee - vices at some other joint." God inspired the wise man to say, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." History confirms the importance of responsible mothers in the formative years of a child. Sir Walter Scott's mother was well educated and a lover or poetry. George Washington's mother was a pure and good woman. The mother of Patrick Henry was very eloquent of speech. John and Charles Wesley's mother was intelligent, pious and full of organisational ability. Napoleon Bonaparte's mother was energetic and full of ambition. When asked what France needed most, Napoleon replied, "Godly mothers." Lord Bryon, the great infidel and agnostic poet, had a mother who was ill-tempered, proud and violent.

A mother's ministry of help includes a baby's first steps, first words, the mystery of shoe strings, and the magical world of pretend. There is a story told of a mother asking a pastor when she should begin teach her five year old about God. He replied, "Hurry home, you've lost five years already!"  

-Pastor John White

The Importance of Mothers

 The vital importance of motherhood needs no confirmation because the very existence of each of us and any progress we may have made toward physical or emotional maturity is a living testimony to the essential nature of motherhood. Most of us could personally attest to and endorse old sayings such as, "God couldn't be everywhere, so he gave us mothers". Or, "The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world." Or again, "Behind every great man stands a great woman." Down through the ages responsible Godly mothers have served mankind and have fulfilled God's eternal purpose for man as well.  Since all good is a gift that comes down to man from the Father in heaven, these qualities could also be described as divine qualities; especially those particular characteristics that obviously emulate the divine attributes of God.

It would seem significant that God's plan involves responsible mothers who have a primary responsibly in bringing up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. The importance and influence of a mother's role as a primary care giver and loving guide of the children God entrusts to the home cannot be overstated. Many studies have confirmed that mothers  who take this responsibility seriously are by far the primary influence that can determine the direction of a child's life. The same studies reveal that a large percentage of this influence is exerted before the child is six years old. The mother often creates the environment and teaches the standards and values that ultimately determine a child's personality, character traits and future value judgements.

Of course, this is not recent news. Someone said long ago, "Virtues are learned at mother's knee - vices at some other joint." God inspired the wise man to say, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." History confirms the importance of responsible mothers in the formative years of a child. Sir Walter Scott's mother was well educated and a lover or poetry. George Washington's mother was a pure and good woman. The mother of Patrick Henry was very eloquent of speech. John and Charles Wesley's mother was intelligent, pious and full of organisational ability. Napoleon Bonaparte's mother was energetic and full of ambition. When asked what France needed most, Napoleon replied, "Godly mothers." Lord Bryon, the great infidel and agnostic poet, had a mother who was ill-tempered, proud and violent.

A mother's ministry of help includes a baby's first steps, first words, the mystery of shoe strings, and the magical world of pretend. There is a story told of a mother asking a pastor when she should begin teach her five year old about God. He replied, "Hurry home, you've lost five years already!"  

-Pastor John White

The Real Purpose of Life

 What is it to learn the humility of Christ? Perhaps it is to share not only His Cross and His Mission, but His world view as well. His "other worldly" outlook.

Our life should be Christ. He who made the universe and spoke the earth into existence, laid no claim to continuing temporal possessions while he lived in the flesh. He owned no bed upon which to lay His head. We may have a house, but only as a necessity and not as a desire to possess. It is said that birds from the arctic caged in the zoo always look northward. So we look heavenward, to our true home.

This world is not our home we're just passing through. We are only sojourners. Wayfaring pilgrims on a trek to a better land. We have a city whose builder and maker is God. Paul in his letter to the Philippians church compared our residence on planet earth to colonists whose citizenship is in heaven. Just as early colonists always had a deep longing for the motherland, so we who are eternal children of the eternal God long for our eternal home. He also spoke of our life here as heavenly ambassadors and as living letters of the love of God. Not until we live our life in light of this other world reality, will we have a sense of the humility our Saviour spoke of and possessed.

It was Paul who said, "For me to live is Christ." Real humility always entails a oneness of priority and purpose. This is why the analogy of being yoke-fellows with Christ is so apt. Those who have had the experience, as I have, of trying to get a team of unequally yoked horses to work together, know how frustrating and futile the effort can be. Normally they are of different temperament and lack unity of purpose. In order for them to work in tandem one of them must sublimate his will to the other. So it is with children of God who would labour together in humility and submission with Christ.

"ONLY ONE LIFE, 'TWILL SOON BE PAST,

ONLY WHAT'S DONE FOR CHRIST, WILL LAST!"

What Is Freedom’s Price?

On this weekend as Americans honour 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 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.”

The Power Of The Gospel

That the pen is mightier than the sword is an inarguable and historically demonstrable proposition. Unlike military power, the power of the pen relates more to quality than quantity. Powerful ideas placed upon paper in short pithy phrases are the stuff of great historical events. Catchy cliches' contained in incisive insights, are the crucial instruments of information used by visionaries in the crucible of crisis to achieve historical, earth-shattering, revolutionary and radical changes.

It was not the ninety-five theses nailed to the Wittenburg Castle gate, but Luther's short and simple quotation from the Word or God, "The just shall live by faith," that gave the necessary slogan and impetus for the Reformation. It was not a lengthy philosophical dissertation of Paine nor the founding fathers of the American Republic that made the real difference. But a simple cry, "Give me liberty or give me death," by a man of the earth. The speech of this man, Patrick Henry, uttered in the Virginia House of Burgesses, became the spark lighting the fire of the American Revolution. These simple words were the battle cry that fanned its all-consuming flames until victory was won and independence was achieved.

The lengthy and laborious phrases of the main speaker at the dedication of the battlefield of Gettysburg, have been long forgotten. But the sincere, simple sayings of an Illinois back-woodsman, scribbled on the back of an envelope in a train carriage, galvanized a people. His short and moving speech lives on as one of the classics of literary history.

The most significant and revolutionary words of all are the simple words of the simple gospel of Christ. The real power of these words has its source in the powerful God of this universe. In contrast with many words that have changed people and the course of history, these simple words are powerful because they contain and capture ultimate Truth.

The power entailed in these few simple words is an ultimate mystery to historian and philosopher alike. They are foolish to the pseudo-intellectual. They are illogical to the studied logician. They are unreasonable to the worldly prudent and wise. They are weak to the mighty and self-sufficient. After all, who were those simple folk who with a few simple words turned the Roman world upside down? How could a simple Galilean speak words that would change the calendars, coins and conditions of civilisations?

But much more than this, how could such life-changing simple words, also change the eternal souls and destiny of men? But to the foolish these simple words are words of wisdom. To the dying, they are words of life. To the weak and insecure, they are words of safety and security. To the lost, they are the power of God unto salvation!

The Mystery Of Immortality

In Paul’s resurrection chapter he brings us face to face with the shocking common denominator of all men, death. He speaks to those who have seen all earthly hope collapse and lie in shattered fragments at their feet. He encourages those who in one moment of time have had their world turned upside down to come crashing down around them.

He speaks to those who have realised that eyes that once smiled have closed, lips that once spoke have fallen into cold silence and the warm loving grasp of a vibrant hand has forever relaxed. He addresses all men who, no matter how lightly they may treat the matter or how desperately they may try to circumvent or delay the issue, must someday stand on common ground as their hearts ponder the same age-old question of the mystery of immortality.

The stark reality of man’s mortality is made evident in the life of even the most sceptical. He cannot avert his eyes from the spectre of death that overshadows his every step. He cannot silence the voice that shatters his self-imposed naivete.

The timeless question of Job of old breaks loudly into the false sanctity of his consciousness with all the force of a wailing siren:

"If a man dies,

shall he live again?"

Job 14:14

Paul and Job urge man to break out of the shell of self-deception and face the issue squarely. He implores man to come to grips with the implications of man’s mortal existence, no matter how painful the encounter with reality might be. He insists man admit the hopelessness of his dilemma, unless an answer comes from a higher source and authority.

Theirs is not a question flung as a scornful cry into the face of an unyielding fate. But rather, it is framed as an intelligent appeal, from the heart of a man of spiritual wisdom. A man who recognizes that the answer to life’s central question can only come from the one from whom life issued.

Are we, as Paul, justified in holding that in spite of death, we have a valid hope of immortality? Some scoff at such a proposition as a ridiculous paradox. Some shudder at it as a dreadful possibility. Some, not as wise as Paul, turn to history outside God’s Word and are led only to the grave and left there. Because secular history is merely mute about the matter. It neither confirms nor denies the prospect of an afterlife.

Some turn to science, but find no laboratory, apparatus or technique for analysing life or death or discovering the fate of a soul. Some rely upon philosophy and find themselves free to speculate, postulate, formulate and posit theories, but in the end find their hypotheses unreliable, for philosophy has no reliable means of testing its conclusions.

Some of us turn to the only true and reliable source, the Word of God, to find there the only authoritative and satisfying answer to man’s perpetual quest for immortality. We cherish this hope as the established answer. Our hearts vibrate within us as we contemplate Paul’s climatic cry, "O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be unto God which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!" 

- John White

Our Blessed Hope

There rests within the breast,

Of those who wait for Him,

A fervent, burning hope for rest,

From sin in every limb.


Longing ever to be free,

From the prison of the flesh,

Through faith’s eye the empty tomb we see,

And our hearts are filled with bliss.

And echoing as we pause and listen,

The angel’s cry - "He is risen!" - John White

Over-comers In Christ

God has never guaranteed Christians immunity from trouble. Although Jesus said we could come to Him to have life more abundantly, He wasn’t inferring that life would be a rose garden or that we would be borne to heaven on flowery beds of ease. The person was right who said life wasn’t meant to be easy.

But just why is this so? Jesus says that in this world we shall have trouble didn’t He? We are, as the writers of the New Testament said, in the world, but are not of the world. This world is not our home. We are just sojourners, pilgrims, seeking a city whose build and maker is God. Paul envisioned us a colonisers in the Phillipian letter. And as ambassadors and living love letters from heaven in his Corinthian letters.

As the old saying goes, we are cannot hold on to God with one hand and the world with the other. We cannot be neutral. Jesus said. “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matt. 6:24)

God is asking us to take a stand for Him in this world. You see Jesus called it like it was. The tug of the world and the pull of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God in\ opposite directions guarantees inevitable trouble for a Christian.

Experimentally we can all confirm the veracity of Job’s statement that man is born for trouble. He’s often caught up in the geography of circumstance and finds himself surrounded by the meteorology of trouble. He frequently feels the heat in the crucible of crisis.

He’s dropped into the test tube of trial. He’s called upon to navigate the shoals of loss and sorrow. Often he finds there is no easy way to build a detour around\sorrow or tragedy. He must go through it in order to come out safely on the other side. The three Hebrew children were not saved out of the fiery furnace, but in and through it. The lives of Daniel, David and all the patriarchs of the Old and New Testaments confirm the universality of this dilemma and the purifying experiences that often result form it.

In his Roman letter Paul gives a liturgy of the sort of tragic occurrences the Christian may expect in life. (See Ro. 8:35-39) In this list, He gives no indication any will escape trouble. Rather, he says we will suffer through them. He warned that Christian martyrdom was already becoming an everyday occurrence. He even mentioned two kinds of demonic angels. He indicated there are special kinds of demons whose primary mission is to bring us trouble. But he reassures us that by suffering we become more than conquerors in Christ Jesus.

Oh, To Be Like Him!

I John 3:2 “Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be LIKE HIM, for we shall see Him as He is”

In our century it has become increasingly clear that man’s desire to be free of the surly bonds of earth and soar into the heavens has brought him to the very brink of a new era. He has reached for the stars and seems to have taken a first feeble step into near space. Armstrong’s historical statement, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” seems to summarise man’s eternal quest for the heavens.

In spite of all the fantasising of science fiction, man is quickly becoming acutely aware of the many practical scientific problems posed in his penetration of outer space. It would seem that man is just too inhibited by the continuum of time, matter, energy and space to ever conceivably achieve his dream.

The time required for man to travel safely at the speed required, using any propulsion and environmental survival systems that can be envisioned today, far exceeds man’s survival capacity. The fragility of man’s frame and the sensitivity of his biological systems mitigate against successful extended space travel.

Man’s only real hope of breaking away from the forces of gravity and truly leaving the restrictive confines of this earth, lie in another direction entirely. Man has the answer he seeks and the freedom he desires, but he does not seem to be willing to understand it or accept it. Man is truly designed for the stars, but he does not seem willing to fully come to grips with or grasp his eternal destiny. A simple statement in the Word of God clearly settles the issue. John, in speaking of eternal sons of God said,“We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is..” If we are to know the fantastic future our Creator God has in store for those eternal sons He has chosen as the eternal objects of His love in Christ Jesus, we only need to know what He is like. What He is like, physically, intellectually and spiritually is the key to our eternal existence.

To really explore our future we must examine what He is like in His resurrected body. Because, as even Job understood two thousand years before the event, eternal sons and daughters of God will be given a completely new resurrected body - like Him.

Paul made sure we understood that this new body entailed an entirely different and glorious sphere of existence. Physically, that automatically entails repealing or setting asides the laws of nature that normally place restrictions or limitations upon our human body. The record of all the observed activities of our resurrected Saviour during the days He spent among upwards of five hundred of His followers before His ascension gives us some indication of that fantastic future. Evidently he travelled from earth to paradise, to heaven and back to earth in an instantaneous manner. We can only speculate about the vast stellar distances involved. He also demonstrated the ability to appear and disappear. The account of His walk with the two disciples to Emmaus clearly illustrates that as well as His appearance in the midst of His disciples, evidently without walking through a door!

In doing so laws relating to matter and energy would of necessity be negated. Because our finite minds cannot comprehend such fantastic phenomenon we are hesitant to fully accept it or speculate upon its full implications. Perhaps it is enough to rejoice in being the eternal sons of God who will see some day Him as He is and be like Him in eternity!

The Geography of Happiness

Perhaps one of the greatest of the Bible preachers and teachers of the past generation, Vance Havner, once said, "The business of a doctor is not to make sick people happy , but to make them well. When they are well, they should be happy.

Christ came to earth not primarily to make everybody happy, but to save us from our sins. When we have been healed , we shall be happy. Moreover, getting sick people to act as if they were well does not cure them of their infirmity. We must deal with the trouble (sin) itself."

This philosophy of life is hard to find and even harder to place into practice in our day and time. We seem to feel that happiness is the great pursuit of mankind. But are somewhat like the dog chasing his tail in our perpetual quest for it. We seem to spin around in endless circles seeking it. I often think of this when I observe the things people are involved in and the places they seem to go in search of happiness.

Have you ever noticed that those who live in the mountains or outback seem to think happiness lies along the coast and beaches of this great land? Or that those who live along the beautiful coast line seem to feel that happiness must lie over the horizon in the mountains or outback? Or that those who live in the north seem to think the geography of happiness lies southward and those in the east think it lies westward and vice versa? And that during holidays all these people meet each other on congested highways in a frantic scramble to squeeze the last ounce of happiness out of each precious moment? Or is it that everyone feels that variety is truly the only spice of life?

But Biblical philosophers such as Vance Havner are not the only ones who see the truth that the geography of happiness has a vertical rather than a horizontal dimension. Most psychologists and counsellors of any note and worth now seem to agree that the best therapy man can receive is to experience freedom from guilt (sin) and a sense of oneness and rightness with His Creator.

The fountain of happiness does not flow from some mystical and magical garden to be found at the end of a ceaseless earthly quest, but from the very throne of God in the garden of God. In spite of all those who would deride and decry the quaint idea, the paradise lost in the garden must truly be found by each individual before happiness can flow in life, both in the here and now and the then and there. This idea is not just someone's wistful vision of pie in the sky by and by, but the only basis for true and lasting happiness. And all those who say they are not looking for that pie in the  sky by and by, but will grab theirs right now, seem to be doomed to continue their sad, senseless and ceaseless quest.   - Pastor John White

Three Wise Men

Why has the story of the wise men who travelled far and brought gifts to 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 fulfilment 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 realise 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?

Have A Good Christmas!

"Have a good Christmas," the shop keeper said. I responded in kind as I turned away with my first Christmas purchase safely in hand. But I could not help wondering, "How many people using that expression this season really know what makes a good Christmas?"

Just what is involved in a good Christmas? Store aisles crowded with eager shoppers making the registers ring with the shrill sounds of shopping success? Bank accounts and credit card limits stretched to the breaking point? Post offices overflowing with those anxious to send that late card or package to family or friends in faraway lands? Bus and train stations, airports and highways congested with record crowds? Christmas parties resounding with ribald humour and reeking with fumes of an alcoholic revelry? A table groaning with a load of culinary delights and Christmas goodies guaranteed to break any diet or exhaust any medicinal remedy? An annual visit to a Christmas pageant or carol sing?

A good Christmas must mean much more than any of this. It must be a Christmas centred upon Jesus Christ, the person whose birth is being celebrated. A Christmas focused upon the greatest of all gifts; God's gift of His Son to a lost and dying world. A Christmas magnifying the meaning of the mission of God incarnate to planet earth. A mission made crystal clear by the angel's announcement to Joseph, "They shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." And later clearly defined by Christ when he said, "The Son of man has come to seek and to save those who are lost."

A good Christmas must be one that has room for Jesus. The pathos involved in the paradox of a simple inn keeper turning away the Eternal Son of God has ever intrigued those who read the Christmas story. But how sad that our sophisticated contemporary culture still seems to have no room for Jesus in the homes or affairs of a nation.

A good Christmas must be one bringing real joy and peace to the world. Not the pseudo-peace or jocular joy that so often characterises earthly relationships and celebrations. But the spiritual joy expressed by the angels on the night of a Saviour's birth and the spiritual peace personally experienced by those who have been justified by faith in Christ.

A good Christmas finds its fruition in the human heart. The Saviour that was born into the world some two thousand years ago stands outside the heart's door during this season graciously seeking admittance. The Father said, "But as many as receive Him, to them He gives to power to become the sons of God, even to those who believe on His name. "Those who would have a good Christmas are those who would receive the Christ of Christmas into their hearts and homes the whole year through - and eternally. My sincere wish for you is that you will have a blessed and holy Christmas.

- Pastor John White

God Became Flesh

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 under-gird our faith year round.  Two great philosophers who predate 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 recognise 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 paid 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, Emmanuel (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?

And 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 do 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  God, 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) "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.  (Matthew 1:21) 

-50 Wonderful Years- Click on image to view a larger image

Click on image to view a larger image

Some Reasons To Thank God

In Australia we do not have a national Thanksgiving Day. We do not have a day set aside especially for giving thanks and praise to God for His blessings upon our nation. Of course, this does not mean that the people of God in our land do not have as much to be thankful for as others who have a national day of thanksgiving. Nor does it mean we should not pause at every opportunity and especially give thanks to our great God for His bounteous blessings upon our great land.

We should thank God for His gracious protection. Sometimes we are like Elisha’s servant and are blinded to the reality and dimensions of the great blessing of His gracious protection. In order to really see it we need to understand the vindictive war Satan’s wishes to wage against us. He would like to see the terrorists succeed in their quest to obtain and explode WMD’s in large cities and population centres of our world. He would like to see epidemics of aids, bubonic plaque, small pox, anthrax and other more deadly exotic diseases, sweep planet earth and especially hurt and destroy the people of God. Since he is the god of this world and we wrestle against his principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in high places, why does this not happen?

When we consider Job’s experience we could ask in a more personal and practical sense, “Why didn’t Satan destroy you, your loved ones and your home last night, since he would obviously like to do so?The psalmist gives us the only viable and believable answer, “Bless the Lord O my soul who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth the life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies . .” (Psalm 103:3-4) And again, “The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” (Psalm 34:7)

Just think for a moment about the times injury or death has perhaps brushed you by. Most of us can remember times when a split second made the difference between destruction and survival. I can name a few, but I am sure there are many more that only God knows about. Perhaps when we get to heaven we will be blessed to have a “video replay” of the times the Lord’s hand has been upon us, protecting us from disaster and giving us a new lease on life on earth. “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb. 1:14)

When we thank God for His gracious protection we should always remember the blessings of good health. Why are we not overcome with disease and illness every day of our life? It is because He neutralises and negates the effect of sin upon our environment and our body and graciously gives us good health. “He heals all our diseases.” Do we have to meet a man with a white cane and seeing eye dog before we can truly thank God for our eyes and good sight? Do we need to see a paralytic in a wheel chair before we can thank God for the use of our lower limbs?  Even when old age may afflict our  body we still have much for which to thank Him.

Do we need to hear the awful wail of an ambulance before we can thank God for daily giving us travelling grace? Do we need to visit the intensive care ward in a hospital before we can thank God for the health to live an abundant life? Do we need to see a hearse go rolling by before we can thank God for sparing our loved ones that we might enjoy their companionship for one more day? I have been asked a number of times, “Do you believe in divine healing?” I always reply, “Yes, all healing is divine!”

We should thank God for His gracious providence. This means we should daily gratefully recognise and acknowledge the operation of the central truth of Christian existence in our lives, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.” (Ro. 8:28)   - Pastor John White

His Eye Is On The Sparrow......

Our young granddaughter  had come up from New South Wales to spend holidays with us. She had gotten her first small watch for her birthday. One afternoon I took her to the beach. On the way down the long winding path through the sand and sea grass she somehow dropped her small watch without being aware of the loss. After her swim, she missed her watch and we spent a good while searching the sand all around  the beach where we had placed our towels. But to no avail.  On our way back to the car, with the innocence of a child, she asked me to stop along the path and pray with her that someone might find her watch or that her mother, who had given her the watch, might not be hurt because she had lost it.

As we knelt together to pray, she placed her hand in the tall grass growing along side the path. We had only been praying a minute or so when she felt something underneath her hand and I heard her cry, "I've found it! God has answered my prayer. He's given me back my watch!" I believe the so-called "odds" against this happening in an accidental way would been mind boggling. So did my granddaughter. We should have Thanksgiving to praise and thank God for even His smallest mercies!

So As By Fire

I believe it was in the Summer of 1966 while we were planting Avalon Avenue Baptist Church in Muscle Shoals, Alabama that I was invited by Pastor Ben Powers and Zion Baptist Church in Winfield, Alabama to participate in a revival in that Church.  I can still remember the blessings of that experience.  But there was one incident that was not altogether a happy occasion.   As was the custom, Pastor Powers and myself spent a few hours each day of the week knocking on doors and sharing the gospel with the lost and encouraging Christians to support the services.  As was and I assume still is the normal practice of Pastors there,  we also made daily visits to the local hospital to visit members and friends and relatives in particular who were ill.  One such visit was a real blessing but also placed a heavy burden on our hearts.

The patient was terminally ill and obviously had very little time left on the earth.   Brother Powers gave me his background.  His wife was a faithful member of the Church.  She and the members had been praying for her husband for a number of years.  A number of Pastors had tried to lead him to the Lord but to no avail.  His attitude had been stubborn and defiant,  But Pastor Powers was not ready to give up and ask me to challenge him to be saved if the man would allow me to do so.

The Lord was gracious and loving and the Holy Spirit was present in all His power and the man was gloriously saved on his death bed. Jesus said there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels when one soul is saved and  we Pastors were rejoicing as well.  But after a few moments the newly born Christian began to weep bitterly.  Puzzled, we asked him why he was doing so.  He responded something like this:  "My wife and her friends and a number of Pastors have shared the gospel with me and begged me to be saved.  But I have stubbornly refused God's love.   Now I know for sure I am saved and will stand before Jesus at the Judgement Seat.   Here I am in this bed and cannot even be baptised now and will really soon go to see Jesus but I will have nothing in serving him.   I will be empty handed there."   Even though he was happy that he was on his way to heaven he was sad that he would be ashamed before Jesus at the Judgement Seat.  (See I John 2:28, II Cor. 5:10, I Cor. 3:1-5)

This from a Mission Report Shared With

Supporting Churches In 1975

".....But the highlight of the month had to be the service held at the Kilbride Nursing Home. About 60 people from our group went bearing gifts and the gospel to the lonely old people there. For weeks the people had planned and saved and made and bought enough gifts that we were able to give at least two gifts to every person there. In addition each one was presented with a gospel of John. The children's choir sang for them. Scripture readings and testimonies were interspersed and God really blessed us with a spiritual blessing. At the end the ladies of the church served all of them with "Christmas Cake" and punch and the very warm response of these so very lonely people was touching. In spite of their obvious longing for us to stay, we finally had to leave.

Five of us remained behind and were able to share out testimony of Christ with a few who could not leave their rooms for our service. Of all we met that day we only had two to tell us they were born again Christians.  I will never forget the testimony of one of them, an eighty year old man. As we talked to him about Jesus he began to cry. We tried to comfort and reassure him  but he would have no part of it. Here is exactly what he said, "I was a young man, and once thought I was called to be a missionary, but I would not go. I have lived a checkered life. I have done nothing for my Saviour and now I will never leave this bed. It's too late to serve Him now. I am ashamed to meet Him face to face." And this man, who according to his wife  had been a hero of Gallipoli, and had been severely wounded in two World Wars, cried like a babe. May we all read again I John 2:28 and dedicate ourselves anew to His service.

A Glimpse Of Heaven

It is tremendous that in the midst of the unveiling and revelation of all the apocalyptic events of the great tribulation and all the terrible judgements to be poured out upon the earth, God allows us a glimpse of heaven and what it will be like. What a contrast and what tremendous words of comfort and assurance He provides in His Word.

Until I had the privilege of staving a few weeks with a pastor friend and preaching in a number of rural churches in the pristine and beautiful mountains of West Virginia, I could not appreciate the words of John Denver's beautiful song, "Almost heaven, West Virginia..." Until my daughter and her family moved to North Carolina, the history, geography and contemporary nature of the place were of little interest to me. But now I find the place has a strange attraction and fascination for me. Perhaps it's because I have loved ones there.

Until I was sure God was calling me to plant churches in the great land down under, I knew very little about it, nor did I have any particular desire to make the long and exhausting plane trip to see it. But now, since I have so many loved ones in Australia, both in the physical and spiritual sense, the Lord has given me a deep love and affinity for the country.

Of course, although there are many beautiful spots on God's green earth, none could compare to the marvellous wonder and beauty of heaven. Even so, the main attraction of heaven for the Christian is not the place but the people. And the main Person Who draws us heavenward is Jesus Christ. In heaven, we shall see Him face to face. Just as our roots sometimes tug at us, drawing us back to the places and people of our origins, so does our heart draw us heavenward and homeward.

But even if the most important aspect of heaven is the presence of God and His people, we should not minimise the awesomeness of heaven itself. Imagine the amazement of our rural forefathers if they could have seen the wonders of our modern cities. I am sure the wonder and awe of heaven will amaze us even more. Heaven is a place designed and built by the architect of this vast universe. "For we know that if our earthly house of [this] tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." (I Cor. 5:1)

Just imagine a place that multiples infinitely the beauty of this earth. Imagine a place without sin or all the sorrows and sadness of earth. Imagine a place of absolute unity and harmony. Imagine a place where all will be equal. Equally rich, equally happy and equally contented. Imagine a place where all will be busy, yet blissfully at peace and rest.  We could go on imagining, but we could never really get more than a glimpse of the wonder of it all!

The Call To Preach

God's calling me to preach was a very special experience.   As I have shared in giving my testimony in times past, the calling was so clear and conclusive that it seemed at the moment I recognised and surrendered to it that He laid a clear life path before me that left me no doubt nor choice but to obey His will!  

It was a dark night after a service and I was sitting with the evangelist who had preached a revival at New Friendship Baptist Church in Benton, Arkansas.  We were sitting on the back-steps of the church overlooking the cemetery.  He was trying to help me determine what had been convicting me all week during the services.  Since I was saved and I knew it and had confidence in my security in Jesus Christ, he was exploring possibilities.  In doing so he just casually said,  "Do you think the Lord might be calling you to preach."   The next thing I knew it was just as if a light flooded my soul and I was sprawled on my face on the ground thanking the Lord for calling me to preach!   Until that moment I had not even entertained such a possibility;  especially since I could not see how a shy country boy like me could be called into the ministry.  After this,  we immediately sought out my Pastor, Gilbert Heflin,  who had been waiting on us on the front steps of the church.  We had a great time of rejoicing and praising God.  

Mom had not attended the services that night.  She was home with the children. Although it was  getting close to midnight the two preachers followed me home to share the good news with Mom,  When she opened the door to let us in Pastor Heflin said,  "Do you know what happened tonight?"  She replied without hesitation:  "My husband surrendered to preach!"  She then said that she had felt this was happening for quite sometime but did not want to mention it to me for fear of influencing me one way or the other.

But this was what might be termed a general calling.  Each step along the way since has been a specific calling to go to a particular place and do a particular work:  the calling to Australia being the greatest challenge.   As far as being called as a missionary is concerned, this has been a matter of specific and special guidance along the way.  I believe we have a permissive will of God as well as a directive will of God for our lives.   I do believe I have always been blessed to be in the directive will of God  but that if I had taken different steps God still could have allowed me to serve Him in a different place.   For instance,  I was tempted to stay at the church we successfully planted in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, Avalon Baptist Church,  and try to build a larger soul winning church for the Lord there.  I believe He would have blessed such an effort.  But He called me specifically to Australia.   For instance,  I served at Sherwood Hills Baptist Church in Campbelltown as a Missionary Pastor,  and then got off the mission field and stopped my support from overseas and was an Australian Pastor and Christian School Principal from 1980 to 1989.  Then I felt God's specific leadership to come to the Gold Coast and plant our fourth church for the Lord. Which we successfully did, establishing Hinterland Baptist Church.   My testimony is that the centre of God's will is the safest, most blessed and productive place for any child of God.  God called preachers especially!

The Reason Why

I think it was in 1962. I was in my early thirties. We had four very young children. I was taken to the hospital with a very severe bleeding stomach ulcer. The loss of blood was tremendous and I was given transfusion after transfusion. It was touch and go for a few days. They could not easily stop the bleeding and I well remember one night when the night nurse checked me. It seems my blood pressure was dangerously low and my pulse was scarcely detectable. I faintly remember her cry for emergency assistance. Then the doctor standing over me, surrounded by other medical staff, and my wife standing behind them. The doctor giving me an injection and saying something to effect, "If he doesn't respond in ninety seconds, he is gone".  I also remember the peace I had with God. But I recall as well my concern for my lovely wife and children. I did not want to leave them. Although I was ready to meet the Lord, I asked Him to spare me if it was His will. Praise Him, He did.

A couple of nights later a purpose for it all became crystal clear. God blessed my witnessing to the young nurse. I recall as if it were yesterday that beautiful young night nurse kneeling by my bedside in the wee hours of the night and pouring her heart out to the Lord in true repentance and faith, then rising to her feet, with her face shining and a new song in her heart. I have often wondered about her life since then. I do expect to see her over there and we can rejoice together and fully understand the reason why! - John White