Connecting to the world

  Courage! “I will at least have laid down my life for you and my country, which is the greatest privilege one can ask for.” (G. McCrae Aust. Light Horse 1916) One would have to admit that today’s society is more than a bit lacking when it  comes to anything requiring courage. We live in the ‘anxiety society’ – fear is rampant today, in fact it’s in plague proportions.  Indeed our modern world seems to breed fear, we are threatened by everything from Muslim terrorists flying planes into New York buildings, to the latest disease such as ebola, swine flu and AIDS. Not to mention global warming, nuclear reactor meltdowns, tsunamis, earthquakes, lunatic Middle Eastern despots threatening nuclear war or the elimination of Israel. There are problems with the sun, the water we drink, the food we eat, the earth is either warming up or cooling down (depending who you listen to) and on top of that we have a huge rise in crime, drugs, family breakdown and the biggest fi...

Each of us needs to develop a relationship with God – that way we develop the heart of God.. A scriptural example of this is found in 2 Corinthians 8 where Paul is talking about the churches in Macedonia says to the Corinthians in verse 1 "we make known to you the GRACE OF GOD bestowed on the churches of Macedonia:" that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality (generosity). The Macedonian churches TRUSTED GOD. They were only able to do this through the grace of God bestowed upon them and then as it says (in verse 5) "first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God".  Paul is using the Macedonian churches' giving as an example to the Corinthians. Paul exhorts the Corinthian church 2 Cor 9:4 "to prepare your generous gift beforehand, which you had previously promised, that it may be ready as a matter of generosity and not as a grudging obligation. May...