WITHIN THE PALE OF ORTHODOXY...

Getting The Big Rocks In The Jar First

First Timothy 6:3-4a If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.

The professor had a jar of sand, a jar of stones, and container of rocks. He asked a student to come forward and empty the contents into a jar not too much bigger than the ones already on the table. The student emptied the jar of sand into the jar and could then only empty about half of the stones into the jar. The professor asked the student if it was possible to fit the rest of the stones and the rocks into the jar. This question seemed ridiculous to all present and met with an emphatic and humoured "No!"

The professor then placed on the table duplicate jars of sand and stones along with a duplicate empty jar. Instead of putting in the sand first, he placed the rocks into the empty jar. He then poured in all the stones. Giving the jar a tap he then poured in all the sand. The students were amazed. The professor then uttered these profound words: Always get the big rocks in the jar first!

John 6:29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Jesus Christ said that the most important work of God a person can do is to believe in Him. Not do penance. Not make sacerdotal confession. Not meditate. Not fast. Not join a church. Just, believe right. What we believe can be of eternal consequence. What is believed is referred to as "doctrine". It is a person's doctrine that determines how they live. For example, with the exception of a certain man named Clark, if a person has a doctrine that flying bullets can not hurt them they will enter a war-zone differently than most soldiers. Similarly, if a person believes that God requires a person to add their own religious efforts to Christ's redeeming work, then they will serve God with a completely different heart and mind than the person who believes they can can add nothing to the salvation unfairly bestowed upon them by God.

In the formative years of the church, the first sixteen centuries, the Church met in Councils to assess whether certain doctrines being introduced agreed with Scripture. Sometimes the governing bodies themselves were challenged by those who considered that they had veered from the teaching of Scripture. This is what happened during the period known as the Reformation. Beginning with John Wyclif who dared to make the Bible available to the common person by translating it into English, it continued with William Tyndale and culminated with Martin Luther. These men saw something in Scripture that led them to conclude that the Roman Catholic Church had gone beyond the pale of orthodox Biblical doctrine. This led several of the Reformers to write a systemised collection of Biblical doctrine where they pieced together what the revealed will of God in the Scriptures was for people seeking to please its Divine Author.
One of the most prolific of these authors was Martin Luther. He wrote commentaries, polemics (long articles that defended a Biblical position), and several significant hymns. The other was John Calvin who wrote a four book set called The Institutes Of The Christian Religion (I recently went through a course of 28 lectures on 'The Institutes' from Covenant Seminary). These writers and Christian thinkers saw that the Bible provided certain essential doctrines that led to a sound faith and practice of that Christian faith. John Calvin was particularly interested in getting the order of these doctrines in a logical sequence. He saw that Scripture itself seemed to reveal certain doctrines in order and also stressed some as being more important for faith and practice than others. For example, at times Calvin says that there are some things Scripture is silent about and therefore the believer should not too be curious about those issues.

There are some essential doctrines that are necessary for correct belief unto salvation. But within these essential doctrines there is scope for a range of Biblically possible opinions. We might call this range- being within the pale of orthodoxy. We might state these essential beliefs and their scope of opinion as-

DOCTRINE	On One Hand	On The Other Hand
1. God is Creator	God created everything quickly only a few thousand years ago (Creationism)	God patiently created in successive epochs beginning with the Big Bang (Progressive Creation/Intelligent Design)
2. Man was created innocent but rebelled	God created mankind in His image with the ability to choose good or evil, to respond to the Creator in voluntary love or to disobey and despise the Creator.	God ordained that mankind would use his freedom to rebel and introduce sin into the human race.
3. God has provided redemption for mankind	God redeemed an ethically distinct group, Israel, and His plan of redemption is largely about them.	God established under the Old Covenant precursers to His Ultimate Redemption of people through Christ in the New Covenant.
4. This redemption is made available on the basis of God's grace	We must choose to accept God's offer by turning from our sin, confessing Christ as Saviour and living a sanctified life. We are then made a child of God and assured of right standing before God for all eternity thus securing our home in heaven and the resurrection of the righteous.	God must open the eyes of a sinner for them to be regenerated and call out to God for salvation and forgiveness from their sins. We can add nothing to the salvation of our souls that God hasn't already made available to believers through Christ's finished work of redemption. Our regeneration and adoption by God assures us that we will live with Him forever both in heaven and in the Resurrection.
5. God has revealed Himself and His will to mankind	This is through nothing other than the Scriptures, the 66 Books of the Bible. Scripture is the only authority on earth for the believer.	This is through the 'book' of nature (what God has created), the Canon of Scripture, and the person of Jesus Christ. Scripture is highest authority on earth for the believer.
6. God has sent His Holy Spirit into the world	The extraordinary activity of the Holy Spirit such as miracles, signs and wonders including the charismatic gifts of First Corinthians 12 have ceased. The main role of the Holy Spirit today is conviction of sin and encouragement for faithfulness. There is however no subsequent experience to salvation with the Holy Spirit for the believer.	The Holy Spirit is still active miraculously as God's grace directs including the spiritual gifts of tongues and prophecy and the like as mentioned in First Corinthians 12. He guides the believer, illuminates the Scriptures, and convicts the sinner. He also baptises the believer subsequent to regeneration that some believe is initially evidenced by speaking in tongues.
7. Jesus Christ will return	This will be in two parts with the first being the rapture of the church and the second being His return to vanquish at Armageddon and set up his earthly kingdom ruling from Jerusalem. This will probably happen imminently.	As the ancient creeds state, Jesus shall return to judge the living and the dead. But this could be a long way off into the future so in the meantime while we look forward to His return we do not make ourselves idle but rather we labour to extend His Kingdom while we wait.
8. Christ has established the Church	All believers must belong to a church for their faith in Christ to be regarded as genuine.	All believers are baptised into the Body of Christ at their conversion and are called to come together as a prayerful, Word-based, Spirit-led community of Christ glorifiers who freely submit to the God appointed leadership that Christ has ordained to provide oversight and care.

Within our church we probably have views on these doctrines that fall between the acceptable pale of orthodoxy. Our doctrinal objective is not merely Scriptural precision but Scriptural practice. We want to live out the freedom that comes from pleasing God through right belief. These 8 doctrines are what we might consider "big rocks": God is Creator / Man was created free and good / Man fell / God has redeemed through Christ / God has revealed these things through the uniquely authoritative Scriptures / The Holy Spirit empowers the believer and convicts the world at times through signs and wonders / Jesus Christ is Lord of LORDS and will one day return / Christ has established His Church for the growth and care of the believer. By getting the big rocks of belief into the jar of our heart-mind we are better able to do the work that the Father requires of us- to believe in His Son for our salvation. The other things, well they might just be sand that will find their place among the rocks. The trick is to love your brother and fellowship with him despite the grit of this left-over sand between you.

Father, help us to read Your Word and understand it. Help us to obey it not because we have to but because we desperatey want to please You. Lord, show us Your will and make us able to do it. Please grant that our lives can be fruitful, holy, and attractive for You. Give us the wisdom to know what the 'big rocks' of Biblical doctrine are and how we are to respond to those who have different opnions from ours. In Jesus' Name,
Amen

God is...

God is... How would you complete this sentence? On what basis would you know how to complete this sentence? How would others who do not really know God answer this question?

The other day I was contacted by an emailer who challenged my belief in the Biblical God. He intimated that the God of the Bible is a cruel and harsh God. He asked me why this God of the Bible would send "billions of [innocent] people to be tormented in Hell for eternity"? When I hear a question like this, I have to wonder where did this person get this idea from? Not only does the Bible present God as all-wise, all-loving, all-powerful, all-present, but I have come to experience enough of these attributes of God to know them to be true. While we live on this earth we are all candidates for God's mercy and forgiveness. Added to this, God ensures that every person receives sufficient revelation of who He is to begin a relationship with Him (Romans 1).

Romans 1:20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.

But we know that God is a just and fair God. He will not violate a person's right to exist (since they are created in the image of God) thus, the choices a person makes in this life will be be validated for eternity. The stern warning of Jesus Christ to the world was that unless a person repents, they will "perish" for eternity (Lk. 13:1ff). Rather than obstinately telling God that this is "unfair", we should instead be thanking God that He has made it possible for any one of us to be forgiven of our sin and to be adopted into His family as a joint-heir with Christ!

John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

This is the God we are coming to know. A God who has revealed himself in the Book of nature and the Sacred Book of Scripture. It is this God who sent His eternal Son to the world to reveal to us the most complete image of God we will have in this lifetime. Once a person experiences this God through revelation (Eph. 1:18), prayerful communion, a community of grace, and the living Word of God they can confidently say that they know who God is.

Father, we want to know you more. Help us to know you. Help us to make you known. Teach us Your ways and give us the grace to follow You.
Amen

Finding The Will of God

Movies With A Message

"...even some of your own poets have said..."


Acts 17:28b 

Preachers watch movies differently to most folk. We're always looking for illustrations to complement the important and sacred life-changing truths of God's Word so that the application becomes more relevant and meaningful to our hearers. For example-

Avatar. This movie stars Sam Worthington and Sigourney Weaver. It is perhaps the greatest demonstration of computer generated graphics the world has ever seen. It explores an intriguing science-fiction idea of merging human consciousness with a created life-form. It has a message which is hyper-politically correct and exaggerates all that is stereotypically bad in human endeavour, foresters, miners, and colonisers. It champions betrayal and pantheism (that everything is God), but decries the deficiencies of human biological design. It has a very predictable ending and the movie caps off its pantheistic worldview by virtually reincarnating the hero. Lesson: Stereotypes are however not always an accurate way of forming an opinion about someone.

Sherlock Holmes. This movie stars Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law. I am actually a bit of a Sherlock Holmes fan. But this movie is about a desperately depressed hero who finds solace in his solitude and eccentricity. He revels in ungloved boxing for sport and supports a gambling addicted side-kick. Sherlock Holmes purists will find this movie slightly unrecognisable. But putting that aside, it is a story of a brilliant man who is so bored with being a genuis that he explores other interests such as solving crimes, disguising himself and figuring out how to overcome larger and stronger opponents. He uses his abilities as a scientist to debunk what appears to be a series of supernatural events. Lesson: There is a powerful message in this movie about the uniqueness of Christ's resurrection and the utter implausibility for it to be anything other than unique.

Vantage Point. This movie stars Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, and Saïd Taghmaoui. One of the cleverest movies I've seen. It's a very simple plot but with more twists than an Afghan rug. Lesson: Proverbs says that the first one to speak seems right until another states his case. The clear Biblical lesson from this movie is that we should not be too qick to jump to conclusions until we have gathered all the facts.

The Prestige. This movie stars Hugh Jackman, Michael Cain, and Christian Bale. It is about a feud that gets dark between two magicians. It incorporates a fictional story with actual historical characters. It explores the bounds between conjuring, wizardry and science. Lesson: If we are just the sum of our material make-up - that is, if we are not also spiritual beings, there are no rights and wrongs.

UP. This is an animated movie. I loved this movie. Its the story of an awkward boy who grows into an old and sad man who ever pursued his childhood dream. Lesson: Don't settle for a life of mediocrity. Pursue your dreams and never give up. Take the time to get to truly know someone.

TINKERBELL. This is an animated movie. It is the prequel to the Peter Pan story. Well done Disney!  Lesson: God has given us gifts, abilities, and opportunities that we should be thankful for and use for His glory.

Paul the apostle often cited and quoted the poets of his day when he illustrated his sermons to his audiences. In Acts 17:28 he does this. The next time you watch a movie look for a redemptive illustration that you might be able to use when you witness to someone about your faith in Christ.

Lord, I pray that you would help us to sow the Gospel Seed more frequently, widely, and appropriately. May our witness provoke people to ponder the condition of their soul and their dire need for You. Help us to use movies, books, and songs that our culture know to illiustrate Your truth. 


Amen

The Book of Revelation Explained

This is a copy of Disc 1 of our new 2-Disc Set on Understanding The Book of Revelation. It shows why most popular "Bible Prophecy" teachers nearly always get it wrong when it comes to interpreting the Book of Revelation. In fact, their speculation about Bible Prophecy has led to much embarrassment.

Understand The Book of Revelation from Andrew Corbett on Vimeo.

You can read my explanation of the Book of Revelation in my eBook THE MOST EMBARRASSING BOOK IN THE BIBLE. In this eBook I take the reader through the entire Book of Revelation and show that by following the ordinary principles of Biblical interpretation and doing sound exegesis we can discover that the Book of Revelation was written to 7 churches around 65AD. By understanding this we can avoid silly speculation which tries to force the Sacred Text to say something that it was never intended to say. Read the Book of Revelation exegetically, and you won't find a Rapture, a Tribulation to come, a one world government, or a future global Anti-Christ!

WHY NO MIRACLES

In the classic Christian tale, Charlotte's Web, Mrs Arable is concerned about her daughter, Fern, becoming too attached to a runt pig who is destined to be butchered. This concern culminates in them going to see a doctor after a spider named Charlotte wrote the words "SOME PIG" in a web over the barn door. Mrs Arable protests to the psychologist that people are calling this a "miracle". "You don’t think it is?" the psychologist asks. "The web itself is a miracle, don’t you agree? Can you spin a web?" Mrs Arable replies that she can crochet a doily. The doctor points out that she was taught to and continues, "Nobody teaches a spider how to spin a web. That’s a miracle." Mr Arable agrees with the doctor and says, "A miracle in a time when we don’t see too many miraculous things. Or maybe we do. Maybe they’re all around us and we just don’t know where to look." But there is something rather spectacular, not ordinary, not naturally occuring that the Bible specifically calls a "miracle".

Miracles followed Jesus. Miracles followed the apostles. Miracles accompanied many of the great outpourings in history. Missionaries often bring back reports of extraordinary miracles. Jesus told His followers that miracles would accompany their preaching (Mark 16:17-18) So why aren't we seeing miracles everytime we pray?

I guess there's three responses to this apparent dillemma. Firstly, we could dismiss the possibility of miracles for today. This is called Cessationism. Secondly, we could take a Word-of-Faith position and claim that miracles will always happen if we get the faith-formula right. Thirdly, we could adopt what I'm calling a "Sovereign Grace" position where we regard miracles as still possible and given as acts of God's wisdom and grace.

First Corinthians 12:29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 

THE CESSATIONIST VIEW

The Cessationist view regards miracles as having occured at any extraordinary time for the purpose of establishing the New Covenant. According to this view, miracles ceased the New Testament was completed since the New Testament became the basis of the New Covenant. This idea is based on a reference in First Corinthians 13 which says that when the perfect has come that which is imperfect, such as miracles, will be done away with (1Cor. 13:10). But upon closer examination of that text it seems that it is refering to the Final Resurrection ("that which is perfect") not the formation of the New Testament Canon (the completion and compilation of the 27 books of the New Testament). This is supported by the context of First Corinthians which goes on in chapter 15 to discuss the Final Resurrection. Besides this, a strong case can be made from history for divine miracles continuing to occur long after the New Testament was compiled.

Acts 8:13 Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

THE WORD OF FAITH VIEW 

The New Testament teaches that faith is essential to the outworking of miracles. "All things are possible to those who believe" Jesus taught. "Ask and you shall receive" He also said. Based on these and other references, "Word of Faith" teachers promote the idea that if we have sufficient faith we can always see miracles because we have a legal right to the promises of God for such. When you combine faith with the promises of Scripture you have, one Word of Faith preacher taught, "mandated results". When the promised miracles do not occur there are range of reasons offered by Word-of-Faith teachers which include: "lack of faith" on the part of the prayed for, "sin" in the life of the prayed for, unforgiveness, bitterness, having a grandfather's nextdoor neighbour's best-friend's milkman who was a Free-Mason, or the most often used one~ confess that you have it even though you don't.

The Scriptures do not teach that miracles occur because someone used "the law of faith" or got "the faith formula" right. 

Galatians 3:5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith—

Associated with this view is the Pentecostal idea of "Healing in the Atonement" which teaches that Christ died on the Cross for our sins and sicknesses. This is based on Scriptures which refer to Christ's "stripes" bringing healing and how He "bore our sicknesses".

Matthew 8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” 

But this Matthew reference occurs before the Cross (the Atonement), not because of it. The First Peter reference about Christ's wounds ("stripes") bringing salvation and healing is often used to support the doctrine (teaching) of healing in the Atonement-

1Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

But the context of both the Isaiah prophecy and Peter's citation of it is not physical healing but spiritual healing (salvation). The Atonement brings salvation from sin, not physical healing. Physical healing comes from God as an act of His Sovereign Grace.

THE SOVEREIGN GRACE VIEW

The Sovereign Grace view of miracles regards miracles as an act of God's grace which He wisely bestows appropriately ("sovereignly"). In this view, miracles still happen. We can ask God for them - but we don't deserve them - hence they are an act of God's sovereign grace.

And it seems that God is more likely to work miracles when it is appropriate. That is, when there is deep spiritual activity (both good and bad) God seems to work miracles. Dr Hugh Ross, President of Reasons To Believe, points out that where Christianity is in hostile territory God most usually supports the preaching of the Gospel with miracles. Dr Ross asserts that the greater the opposition to Chrisitianity from spiritual opponents the clearer the miraculous from God is. He cites foreign missions' examples where dominant religions of witchcraft and animism have held sway over the population through occult activity such as fortune-telling, healing, para-normal activity, levitation, voices, visions and trances, that Christian missionaries often find their prayers dramatically answered. Dr Ross's theory is interesting and seems to fit what we see in Scripture, history, and the mission field today. He offers the following advice for those Western Christians craving an increase in regular miraculous activity- Be prepared for steep increased spiritual opposition within your church! He offers the opinion that if a church is seeing frequent miracles they need to be very careful about what else is going on in the spiritual realm.

Why no miracles today? The question is ill-informed. There are miracles happening today. We Western Christians are too narrow in what we classify as "a miracle" and perhaps too star-struck by the spectacular displays of God's grace in foreign fields. Having recently returned from India where we heard amazing testimonies of resurrections, death-bed healings, village-wide visions and the like, it is all too tempting to wonder why we don't experience similar here in the West. But I then am reminded that these Indian Missionaries are beaten, killed, slandered, driven out of villages by militant Hindus, and have to "compete" with the dubious occult activity of certain gurus. Meanwhile in the West, our concept of "persecution" is generally pathetic in comparison. But even still, the miracle working power of God in the midst of rampant materialism is still taking place all around us. People are being miraculously saved and delivered from sin. People are being healed and physically sustained in the midst of life-threatening conditions. People are being blessed with Goshen-like provision. Miracles are happening!

Lord, we pray that You will meet people's needs with miraculous provision. Please heal the sick. Please deliver the oppressed. Please provide for those in need. Help us to be like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego who knew the secret of trusting the God of Miracles even when He doesn't answer with miracles. 


Amen

OUR PRIORITY OF PURPOSE

The Church, says the Apostle Paul, was God's secret (read: "mystery") plan from the foundation of the world (Romans 16:25). Paul taught this. He promoted this. He preached it. He wrote about it. He called the local church the revelation of God's mystery (Eph. 3:3) and will according to His purpose "in Christ" (Eph. 1:6).

Ephesians 5:32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 

God's purpose in the earth today relates to the local church. The local church is, to paraphrase the Apostle, God's Plan A. God loves the local church! He wants us to love the local church as well (Col. 2:2).

Having ministered in over 20 local churches this year on three continents, I have been blessed to see the differing expressions of God's purpose through the local church. Some of these churches were large. Some were quite small. Some were in cities. Some were in remote areas. Some were literate. Some met in homes. Some were well established while some were church-plants. It's hard not to be impressed from a casual reading of the New Testament that the local church is God's purpose and the hope of the world. Everywhere the apostles went they preached the Gospel and gathered the converts into an organised, structured community called "churches".

Acts 14:21-23 When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.

We can see from the New Testament that the will of God for all people is that they receive Christ through the preaching of the Gospel and become a member of a local church. This is why being a part of a church community is not an option for the Christian. And being "a part of" should be read as: "serving with my gifts and abilities" in the local church. A Christian is a servant. Being a servant is developed within the local church. For some people this might mean handing out newsletters in the foyer. For others it might mean the high position of leading a small group such as a Bible Study Group. For some this serving might mean a ministry of special financial support as God blesses and prospers their life. Perhaps for some it means gathering with a few others to pray together regularly for the needs of the group and the church. We should all be serving in the church in order to be a part of the church. When we serve within a church it causes our attitude toward our church to be sweeter (Romans 12).


WHAT CONSTITUTES A LOCAL CHURCH? 
Some people hate the local church. These people despise the New Testament notion of an ordered community being led by a God-ordained authority who lovingly lead, feed and care for the church. Some of these people who reject what the New Testament prescribes for the local church distort Scripture to justify either abstaining from being a part of a sanctioned church or develop such a critical, independent spirit that they reduce "church" to them + their bible + their lounge room. While there are some Christians living for Christ in countries which are hostile to Christ, where there are no other believers, the normative practice for any Christian is to be a part of a local church. This raises the question then- what constitutes a legitimate local church? The local church is legitimate, said the Reformers, when-

1. It is an ordered assembly of God's people who gather for the Word of God to be proclaimed.

2. It is sanctioned through the ordination of a minister to conduct the sacraments of the Lord's Supper, Water Baptism and Marriage.

3. It exercises godly discipline (both positive and negative, that is, through encouragement it disciples people into Christlikeness and corrects people when they stray into error).

Since we are all required to be in a local church, it is also imperative that we understand what Christ's purpose for the local church is.


THE PURPOSES OF THE LOCAL CHURCH 
Based on the Great Command and the Great Commission we can see four foundational purposes for every local church.

1. To gather together for collective worship of God - "to love the Lord your God with all your heart..."

2. To gather together for the Word of God to be taught - "teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"

3. To gather together as a witness for God - "preach the Gospel"

4. To gather together for fellowship - "love your neighbour as yourself"

There are different ways to state these four purposes- "Up, In, Out", "Praising, Preaching, Proclaiming, Partnering", "Worship, Teaching, Evangelism, Fellowship", for example, but at Legana we put it this way: To Enthrone, To Empower, To Engage and To Encourage. While each purpose is important, there does seem to be a priority of purpose. This priority is clearer once we realise we can continue in three of these purposes once we are in Heaven, but one of our purposes can only be carried out in this life. Therefore, we must prioritise evangelism. We should pray for the lost to come to faith in Christ. We should live questionable lives to provoke the lost to consider the power of the Gospel to convert a sinner into a child of God. We should invite lost souls to our homes and events. As a church we currently cast the seed of the Gospel out into our community through our radio program, TV ads, church events, youth activities and in 2010 we will be introducing other vehicles for increasing our evangelism effectiveness. Thank God that this year we have baptised a tremendous number of people subsequent to their conversion to Christ! May we see more people publicly committing their lives to Christ in the coming year.


YOUR PURPOSE, YOUR CHURCH 

Psalm 92:12-13 ¶ The righteous flourish like the palm tree

and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. 

They are planted in the house of the LORD; 

they flourish in the courts of our God.

God's purpose for your life is intimately linked to the local church. This is the place where we are taught (read: "strengthened"). The local church is also the place where we not only are taught, but more importantly, where we learn. We learn to get along with others. We learn to serve. We learn to forgive. We learn to share. We learn to pray together. We learn to care. This takes place within the community of the church (our small groups). There is enormous spiritual benefit to being a part of the congregation of a church, but there is even greater spiritual benefit when a believer is a part of the congregation and the community (a small group) of the church. It is in a small group of the church (that meets to discuss Scripture and to pray and share together) that transformational discipleship happens. And this is God's purpose for your life- to be transformed into the likeness of Christ within the community of a local church.

Please join with me in prayer that we will be a part of building a strong, vibrant, healthy, Biblical local church that glorifies Christ and effectively reaches out together to see people reached with the Gospel.

Colossians 2:19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

I pray that we will continue to grow as a church. I pray that we will grow in number. That we will continue to see new people come to our church. That they will be welcomed and that those who don't know you personally will be challenged and will accept you as saviour. I pray we will continue to grow in knowledge. I pray we will be a disciplined people in reading your word. In committing your word to memory. To have wisdom in recalling the words we have read appropriately when speaking to our friends and family. I pray for those who speak and teachi in this church to be looking to you and your word for inspiration. That we who hear will know the truth when we hear it and likewise will be able to discern any untruths and know how to respond. I pray that indeed it is your word that is spoken from the pulpit and that people will be confronted with your word and your truth each week. I pray we will grow in love for our fellow man. I pray that we will be the good Samaritan of the new testament. We will show compassion and love for those around us. When we see others in need we will reach out. We will go beyond the norm in caring for others. We will be active in our good deeds. With our words we will uplift and encourage. With our actions we will help and support. We will continually lift others in prayer. Your love in us will be obvious to those around us and will lead to discussion and opportunity to witness. I pray we will grow in strength and boldness. We will have confidence in our salvation and speak out against those intent on tearing down the moral fabric of our society. When we see something wrong we will have the courage to speak out. When we see something wrong we will have the words to speak and the clearness of thought to act accordingly. Help us Lord to be true to your word. Help us to see things that prevent us from doing your work. Help us to recognise sin in our lives and help us to give it to you for forgiveness. May we seek a fresh touch by your Spirit to see your will accomplished in our lives. May our hearts capacity for you increase that we can compliment your work in this community. We love you and we love your people Lord. Amen

[Prayer submitted by Stephen Hill, Elder at Legana Christian Church]

Revealing A Big Secret

Want to know a secret? It's the secret to achievement and success. Those who know it are very reluctant to share it with others (for reasons that will become obvious shortly). Once you understand the enormous power of this secret your potential to fulfil your life's dreams and goals and help the most number of people can be realised. But this secret is not for the faint-hearted. In fact, some people become aware of this powerful secret and put their fingers in their ears and start "La, la, la" -ing, because it is a secret that comes at a great cost. But it's not one of these New-Age fluffy notions. This is a secret that has been known by the great for millennia. Once you hear this secret you'll probably dismiss it with a wave of your hand and a "Oh that's not a secret - everyone knows that!"

Here's the big secret to success and fulfilment in life: bouncing back. The difference between people who achieve their goals, grow, and succeed and those who do not often comes down to resilience (the ability to bounce-back).

The Christian Gospel is perhaps the greatest bounce-back story ever told. Consider Jesus. He came to be King and Messiah. But, He was rejected, despised and scorned by those He came to help. Eventually He was put to death by those who should have accepted Him. But He resurrected! The Ultimate bounce-back! Then He consider His lead-apostle, Peter. He denied Christ three times before the cock crowed then met the searing eyes of His Master staring deep into his. His failure was rebuked without a word! He felt the pain of his mistake and privately wept "bitterly". But within a few weeks he stood before an entire city of pilgrims and boldly preached so that 3,000 were converted. He bounced back! But within a few years he publicly failed again. He cowered undered pressure from radical Jewish Christians who insisted on a two-staged conversion for Gentiles. This led to a publicly embarrassing rebuke from the novice apostle Paul. But Peter learned from his mistakes and bounced back. He would see out the rest of his days as one of the greatest preachers and church planters that the world has ever seen.

I remember hearing about the recruitment of a captain for the Titanic. The captain of the California was considered. He had a lot of experience crossing the Atlantic. He had sailed various types of ships. He was renowned for his leadership of crews. He was known to be a level-headed man. But...he was rejected because he had captained a ship that had hit an iceberg and sunk. Instead, the owners of the Titanic went with a captain who had never lost a ship. Of course we all now know that the Titanic did indeed sink on its first crossing. Ironically, surviving passengers were rescued by the California which raced to its rescue (it was slightly delayed because the captained had sailed so far around the icebergs that were known to be perilously interferng with the general shipping route). The captain of the California was a man who had learned to bounce-back.


HOW TO BOUNCE YOUR WAY TO SUCCESS... 

Proverbs 24:16 for the righteous falls seven times and rises again,

The first step to bouncing back is making mistakes.

The second step is to get some rest. Pondering things when they still hurt and we are run down emotionally and physically will not help us to process them well. (In fact, when we are tired and idle and we then mull over things we are likely to become very emotionally unwell.)

The third step is to go through the pain and learn from what went wrong. This involves the language of hope- "Next time I do this, I'm not going to do it this way, instead I'll..." or "If I'd been more prepared this would never have happened. I'm going to make sure that I'm more prepared next time..." We need to regard our mistakes as practice. If you told a 10 year old child, "Try and jump over that two metre wide hole", you are saying something different than- "Practice doing a two metre long jump". "Try" and "Practice" carry different ideas. "Try" carries little room for error and an immediate expectation of success. "Practice" on the other hand carries abundant room for not getting it right and no immediate expectation of success.

Hebrews 5:14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 

The fourth step is to turn your critics into your consultants. This requires a different type of hearing. Most of us become defensive when we are criticised. This prevents us from learning how to do things better. But we have to hear criticism as "I want you to do better next time" rather than- "You're utterly hopeless!" By the way, the more people you want to help, the bigger the leader you'll need to become and the more criticism you'll receive! I'm not yet as big a leader as I want to be yet, but I already receive my fair share of criticism. When I grew up I had a pastor who repeatedly said that The person who never makes mistakes never makes anything! I also grew up hearing the TV pastor, Robert Schuller, say Turn your scars into stars. All great people have had to learn this fourth step in order to bounce back. As a kid I played a lot of tennis. Sometimes up to six hours a day. When I couldn't get someone to hit with I would take a bucket of balls down to the tennis courts and hit them by myself often just setting up targets to hit. I played in lots of tournaments and there was one other kid that also played in some of these tournaments- Kel. But Kel was not very good. He lacked basic skills. He didn't even seem to enjoy playing that much either. And did I mention that he was over-weight? Whenever my brother and I were drawn to play Kel we sighed a huge sigh of relief because we knew it would be an easy win for us. Kel was ridiculed by the regular circuit players. But then a strange thing happened...Kel disappeared. We didn't see him for about two years or so. Then he suddenly reappeared. He was leaner, using top equipment, and could now hit a ball. The transformation was remarkable. I later found out that Kel went to a Tennis Academy in the USA and underwent radical fitness training. He had bounced back! Everytime his coach helped him it must have sounded like criticism, but Kel was able to turn this criticism into help.

The fifth step to bouncing back is to face your giants. Your giant might be the person you offended or let down and need to apologise to. Your giant might be an audience you flopped in front of. Your giant might be a project you that you previously failed to complete for some reason. Your giant might also be some unrepented of sin (in which case your giant is actually God). Facing this giant may involve apologising, publically asking for forgiveness, completing a task or project even though you no longer have to, or even repenting.

Perhaps two of the greatest examples of bouncing back are Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill. Both men publicly failed and were humiliated. Both men suffered great loss. But they went through the process of bouncing back and became two of the greatest leaders the world has ever seen. Every preacher knows what I'm talking about! We all preach messages that flop. I recently had one of our young people within the church share a dream with me where I was preaching and sending people to sleep. The problem was that in the congregation were some of my greatest preaching and teaching heroes who were all sound asleep from a message that dragged on for several hours and bored everyone to sleep. What I didn't tell the young person was that I have similar nightmares like this which serve to keep me on my toes. But I actually don't need nightmares to remind me that I can preach duds! I have memories!!!! It's these memories and the resultant humiliations that now cause me to preach "with a limp" (Gen. 32:31). I'm sure we each have some painful memories that have the potential power to keep us from bouncing back. But if we confront these giants we can bounce-back and achieve the success we are truly looking for.

As a church as we might look back over the past year and think that for every two steps forward we took one back. But if we can commit to bouncing back we can learn from our mistakes and grow as a result.

Proverbs 12:1 ¶ To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction. (NLT)

CHANGING

We've seen some major changes this year. As a church we have several new people who have joined our church. We have made some physical changes around our church grounds - none the least the development of our Children's Education Centre. And personally we have changed our home quite markedly, special thanks to our builder- Geoff Hill, for doing such a stand-out job on our house.

Change will always happen even though we are reluctant to participate in it. Our bodies change and even do so despite our best efforts to prevent it. Our friends change. Our fashions change. Our expenses change. Our toys change. Our cars change. Change remains unchanging.

POSITIVE CHANGE IS CALLED... 

Ephesians 4:15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

Positive change is called growth. Positive change is intentional change. We consider where we are and then consider where we want to be. The gap is called change. At the start of the year, Kim and I looked at our 2.5 bedroom house and our 4.0 children and decided that we needed to urgently extend our house. By the way, we purchased our home not for what it was but for what we saw it had the potential of becoming. Shortly after buying our house, the back corner dropped leaving major cracks in the wall. I couldn't afford the thousands of dollars needed to do the necessary underpinning repairs, so I did most of it myself with a shovel and pick. As I was digging away I was complaining to the Lord about how unfair all this was. I then felt the rebuke of the Holy Spirit and reproving words- Leaders solve problems. I've called you to be a leader who solves problems now stop you're complaining! We had a choice to see our house as a continual series of problems and to throw our hands in the air and say that it was just all too hard, or we could look for the solutions to the problems and begin to start implementing the solutions one by one. In one sense, the solution to our house problem was a "big" solution. But in another sense it was really a lot of little solutions which made up the overall solution. Sometimes we can see how things must change but we can only see the "big" solution not the series of small solutions that make up the big solution.

I look at my own life and consider where I am at now compared to where I want to be. My gap is very big. I have a lot of changing to do. I have to grow in my consideration for others. I have to grow in my knowledge of God, His Word, and the collective thoughts of His teachers who have written great books (2Tim 4:13). I have to grow in wisdom. I have to grow in physical fitness and endurance. I have to grow professionally as a pastor, writer, speaker and steward. I have to grow as a husband and father, provider and protector. I have to grow in my ability to grow the church and all those who are partnering with us.

Ephesians 4:16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 

FORCED CHANGE IS... 

Ultimately we know that God directs our growth (change). He not only allows what we consider "negative" change, He ordains it! He causes us to have to change. Circumstances constrain us to make sometimes sudden changes. My father in-law was a refugee. He was forced to flee communist Hungary. This change was forced upon him. And thank God that he did because it meant that he would eventually come to Australia with his new bride and have a drop-dead gorgeous you-gotta-be-kidding-she's-so-pretty daughter who would become my wife. Throughout history, it seems that like a mother eagle who forces her comfortable eaglets out of the security of their cliff-top nest, that God sometimes forced change upon people as well. Martin Luther was forced to change because he saw abuses that he could no longer tolerate. This change brought out the Reformation and the dawn of the Enlightenment era. Abraham Lincoln was forced to change the way African-Americans were being treated, and this resulted in the formation of the modern United States of America.

As we conclude 2009 and prepare for 2010 we can expect change- even unforeseen changes. But perhaps we need to embrace positive change where we take deliberate steps to change what needs changing.

Colossians 2:19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

Father, please help us to grow as a church. Give us the grace to change individually as we must. Sanctify us in this life so that we are continually changed to the likeness of Christ in both our hearts, attitudes, and responses toward others. Grant us the willingness to be conformed to Your will, even when we are most resistent to it. May we each see clearly how we must change and also be blessed with the vision to see each smaller component change that we must make. Give us increasing love for each other. Cause us to delight ourselves in repentance and prayerful surrender to You.

Amen.