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...

How can I know? God’s Warning The Lord tells us that many people are going to be lost, only few are going to be saved.  In Matthew 7:13-14 He says, "Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.  Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it".   Now this should get your attention.  According to the Bible the majority of people will be lost.  Sadly the majority of people still walk the wide road of sin into eternal damnation.  We must take this warning from God at face value.  The Lord says only a few people will be saved. So how few can few be? In 1 Peter 3:20 (KJV) we read, "When once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water."  The conservative estimate of the number of people on the face of the earth...

Nehemiah was the Persian king's cup-bearer. When God has work to do, he will never want instruments to do it with. Nehemiah lived at ease, and in honour, but does not forget that he is an Israelite, and that his people are in distress. He was ready to do them all the good he could; and that he might know how best to do them good, he makes inquiries about them. Point one: We should inquire especially concerning the state of the church and the gospel. Every Jerusalem on this side of heavenly will have some defect, which will require the help and services of its friends. Nehemiah's first application was to God, that he might have the fuller confidence in his application to the king. Our best pleas in prayer are taken from the promise of God, the word on which he has caused us to hope. Other means must be used, but fervent prayer of a righteous man is what is needed most. Point two: Communion with God will best prepare us for our dealings with men. When we have intrusted our...

There is therefore now no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus Rom-7:23. Waring against the law of the mind; burden and grief to the soul as the worst drudgery and captivity could be. I give my life to the Lord Jesus and it brings me into captivity. (Rom-7:25), with the flesh I serve the law of sin; that is, the corrupt nature, the unregenerate part, is continually working towards sin. Rom-7:24, O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? This is the body of death; either the body of flesh, which is a mortal dying body (while we carry this body about with us, we shall be troubled with corruption; when we are dead, we shall be freed from sin, and not before), or the body of sin, the old man, the corrupt nature, which leads to death, that is, to the ruin of the soul. (Heb-9:14), original corruption is a dead body. It was as troublesome to Paul as if he had had a dead body tied to him, which he must have carried about with him. This made him cry ...

The lord came and lived here on earth and ministered to people. Some loved Him - some did not love Him. No matter what think of Christ, He lived and ministered the Father's love. In the western world today we are in great need of the Father's love. The enemy has stolen the idenity of many men today - even among Godly men the temption to fill our lives with all sorts of ideas, instead of God's Word - To know the purpose of our life. The Lord left instruction to remember His death - In His death He fullfilled the requirement of the Law for all time. He did not ask us to celebrate His birth - the baby grew into a man to fullfill His purpose for coming to earth. The only way we find the purpose of our lives is to surrender our life to the Lord Jesus Christ - to the man who died upon a cross.

Several years ago Keith Miller wrote a book, A Second Touch, in which he tells about a twelve year old boy who had a conversation with his dad. The boy was unhappy and resentful. He had no friends. He was having trouble in school. He thought his classmates were the problem and they needed to change. This young boy noticed a change in his father. He wanted to talk to his father about it. His dad replied, “Well, son, I was making a mess out of my life. A big mess, and I decided to let God take it over and to show me how to live it.” And then he said, “I don’t know how else to say it, except to say that it has made all the difference in the world to me.” That boy said to his father, “Dad, I think I would like to do that too.” Then an interesting thing happened. The father was out of town for a couple of weeks. When he returned home from his business trip, his twelve year old son met him at the airport. As they were walking through the concourse the young man said something extremely perce...