Stewardship and the Gift of Giving

Stewardship is a word to describe the management of someone else's property. We are all stewards - since everything (including our lives) belongs to God. Good stewards not only preserve other people's property, they add value to it. This was the point of Christ's Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25. He commended the steward who multiplied his master's talents (a talent is a measurement of gold which equates to about 25kg).

We steward many things on God's behalf: our minds, our bodies, our family and relationships, our resources, our finances, our abilities and our opportunities. The goal of this stewardship is to glorify God. Therefore, it is incumbant upon us to ask God for His help in how we manage these various God-given blessings. It is my hope and prayer that we a can be the best stewards of God's resources that we can be. I hope this can increasingly happen on a personal level (that we enjoy what God has given, 1Timothy 6:17, share what God has given, 1Timothy 6:18, multiply what God has given and use what God has given for His glory, Revelation 4:11), and as a church.

As a pastor I want to help equip people and make room for them to use their gifts. And this has got me thinking. Gifts. I want people to realise, accept, and use their God given gifts. But even though this is what I want, I don't think I've achieved this very well in our church. Over the years I have tried to encourage those who I have observed having one of the gifts mentioned in Romans 12. Except for one of those gifts. This was reinforced to me last week when I had a regular lunch with a Christian businessman. He said to me that doing business was a gift from God. Unwittingly, he provoked in me thoughts of my own ministerial failure in omitting to encourage all the gifts mentioned in Romans 12. But before I make full confession, I need to preamble some more...

"Stewardship" to many Christians simply means the church asking for a bigger donation. Some preachers have even turned this into a prominent international money spinner. These preachers are called "Prosperity Preachers". They preach "The Prosperity Gospel". I deal with this false Gospel in a little more detail on our Finding Truth Matters site. Needless to say, that the Prosperity Preachers appeal to miraculous-quick-fix-formulas to solve their problems and grant their wishes. And this formula is usually very simple: give to this ministry and you will prosper. Giving to get is not the Biblical motive for giving.


And this brings me to my confession. Of all the motivational gifts mentioned in Romans 12:6-8 (like: teaching, prophecy, leading, encouraging, serving, or mercy) there is one that I have omitted. Of these six motivational gifts, they are easy to identify, celebrate and encourage. But the spiritual gift which I have omitted, giving, has always seemed to be a different type of gift to the others. After all, Jesus said that giving should be done quietly and secretly (Matthew 6:2). This seems to put the ministry of giving in a different category. But upon closer examination I'm not sure that what Jesus said in Matthew 6:2 doesn't apply to each of the spiritual gifts- not just giving. Either way, I have not given due consideration to how I encourage those with the spiritual gift of giving. My recent interactions with Mr Peter Daniels, whom I have long admired, have added to my realisation that I have not been very good at equipping those with this gift. With Mr Daniels' upcoming visit to Tasmania, I am planning to learn how to rectify this personal ministry shortfall. I would especially encourage other pastors to attend the luncheon on Monday 10th November where Mr Daniels will address this issue and show how churches can more wisely fund their missions.

One of the most precious stewarding opportunities we each have is to care for each for other. Our love, our fellowship, our friendship for each other is something we all must give and steward. As we meet on Sundays and through the week in our small groups, I pray that we can all reflect on the wonderful gift of Christian fellowship that God has given us all by connecting us together. Over the coming weeks as we welcome Mr Peter Daniels (who is an expert in stewardship) and Mike Berry, perhaps we can deepen our ability to be better stewards of all that God has given us. And hopefully I can grow in my ability to steward my gifts by learning how to better encourage and equip people with any of the spiritual gifts.

Andrew Corbett

Being Led By The Holy Spirit...

Please excuse the understatement in the next statement: When we become a Christian we are totally changed by the Holy Spirit. Those who have even a partial appreciation for what the Holy Spirit has actually done in the believer will probably be aghast at the depth of such an understatement. Becoming a Christian is a transformation achieved by the Holy Spirit within us where we we become "brand new" (2 Cor. 5:17). We then become Spirit-led followers of Christ. This is no small thing. Before conversion, an unbeliever is led by all different kinds of things (passions, appetites, whims, feelings, ambitions). But so encompassing is the transformation of the Holy Spirit in our lives that we are not only re-identified internally but it becomes obvious to all that we are now re-directed as well. This is not merely an event, but an ongoing work of the Holy Spirit within us. The Bible doesn't say we have been led by the Spirit, but that we are being led by the Holy Spirit. And this leading is not some mere theoretical idea or even a theological topic for indepth Bible study- it is a dynamic power that makes authentic Christianity unique.

But when was the last time you were led by the Holy Spirit? How often do you ask the Holy Spirit to lead you? Do you know what the Holy Spirit is saying to you?

Paul told the Romans that the mark of a true believer was that they were led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:14, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God."). To the Galatians he said that true Christians did not live under the Law, but rather they were led by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:18). But listening to and being led by the Holy Spirit is frought with hazards: How do we know it is the Holy Spirit speaking to us and not just ourselves? How can we be sure of what the Holy Spirit is saying to us?

For some Christians the answers to these hazards is to simply avoid the issue all-together or simply reject the idea of any ongoing activity of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. They appeal to the need to only live by the Word of God (the Bible) and there is no need to seek any further leading or guidance. This phenomenally timid approach to Christianity can look highly religious, very dignified, and very respectful. But could these descriptors be applied to the first Christians?

Hardly! These first century Christians were deeply spiritual and more importantly: Spirit-led. To be sure, they produced the fruit of the Holy Spirit, but they clearly exercised supernatural, spiritual gifts that were literally phenomenal (prophecy, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues, casting out demons). They were led by the Holy Spirit to go out into remote areas to meet with foreign diplomats to share the Gospel with them at just the right time. They were inhibitted by the Holy Spirit from entering certain territories. They were given dreams, visions, and revelations from the Holy Spirit which served to build up the local church and extend the Kingdom of God. Did this "charismatic" ("Spirit gifted") phenomena cause problems in the early Church? Absolutely! But the apostles didn't then prohibit believers from being Spirit-led, rather they issued instructions that such activity be carried out wisely, maturely, and "in order".

How could Paul prescribe wisdom, maturity and orderliness with Spiritual phenomena? He could do this because of his understanding of "authority". He did not place such gifts or leadings on the same level of authority as the Bible. Neither did he regard such things as equal in authority to Old Testament prophecies (which are from God and without error). He seems to regard the gifts described in the New Testament as being of a different kind of authority. As such, he assumes that it is possible for believers to miss, misunderstand, or misinterpret the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, he says that when someone exercises a gift they feel that the Holy Spirit has led them to share, other Spirit-led believers should evaluate and discern whether this believer has missed, misunderstood, or misinterpreted that leading.

1Corinthians 14:29 ¶ Let two or three prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said.

Paul the apostle would not have stood for the absurd rubbish that is sometimes offered by immature believers who say: "I couldn't control myself- the Holy Spirit just me took over" or "I had to prophesy - I had no choice!" To this, he responded-

1Corinthians 14:32 Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can wait their turn.

Knowing the hazards of being "Spirit-led", I still want to be a Spirit-led believer! I want to hear/sense/feel the voice/impression/prompting of the Holy Spirit. I want to pastor a church that is Spirit-led where we want to hear, sense, feel the leading of the Holy Spirit as a church and respond appropriately- as well as produce the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Romans 8:14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.

Andrew Corbett.

FRANK C. LAUBACH, Missionary for Christ

Dedicated To Christ, Minute By Minute...

Last Sunday morning I mentioned an interesting man who left a great legacy and inspired multitudes to surrender to Christ. Frank C. Laubach determined that he would utterly commit his life to Christ. He wrote to his father from the missions field in Philippines that he was going to demonstrate a greater commitment to Christ than his Muslim audience demonstrated to Mohammed. To do this he told his father, he would take one second out of every minute and pray to God for help to do the will of God in that minute.

Frank Laubach had a distinguished career as a missionary and served with great effectiveness. He returned to the United States and was soon recruited as an advisor to the Whitehouse on US Foreign Policy and education reform. His incredibly sharp mind and public prominence may have caused many in power and the public arena to miss the true source of Laubach's inspiration and effective life: his utter devotion to the will of God, minute by minute.

Rather than being daunted by the idea of minute by minute surrender to God, when we view our walk with Christ as something that the grace of God enables us to practice, we realise that it is this same grace that forgives us, empowers us, and sustains us to go on even when we fail. That is the nature of "practice".

1Timothy 4:15 Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that all may see your progress.

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.

May God help us to practice living in His presence.

Amen.

EROTICA IN THE BIBLE?

Almost without exception, preachers promote the idea that the Song of Solomon is loaded with sexually erotic symbolism and allegory that extols the joys of monogamous marriage. If this be true then it is completely out of step with the overall revelation of God's story of redemption!

The story goes, according to some preachers, that Solomon sees a girl, falls in love, takes her, has his way with her and she is entirely complicit with this erotic liaison. The language of the Song of Solmon, these preachers argue, is allegorical so as to show some decorum about what is usually not often talked about: the act of sex between a husband and his bride. I would like to debunk this myth and propose a different story that not only fits perfectly with the text but also the overall message of Scripture...[more]

MR ETERNITY, ARTHUR STACE

Some years ago a self-confessed alcoholic homeless man in Sydney was gripped by the dire condition of his soul after wandering into an Anglican church where he heard the Gospel for the first time. The question that provoked Arthur Stace was Where will I spend eternity? He couldn't think of anything else. He intuitively knew that there must be more to life than this.

Convinced that the human soul lives on after departing this dimension of space and time, he set out on a course to find peace for his soul. He walked out of the church and went across to Victoria Park and sat under a tree. He soon discovered what Jesus promised, and what he sought, he found. He came to know Jesus not just as The Saviour, but as his Saviour.

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Luke 11:9

This newfound peace through his conversion to Christ transformed the way this man saw other people. Having found that Christ had found him, he wondered why so many had not found that they were lost. For him, it wasn't religion that people needed. They needed a Saviour and the only Saviour was Jesus of Nazareth.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
John 3:36

Frustrated that he wasn't eloquent enough to convey all of the implications of the Gospel, he thought he would provoke people in the same way he was provoked to consider the condition of his soul. Stace told his pastor, Rev. Lisle M. Thompson of the Burton Street Baptist Church, that after his conversion to Christianity, he heard a sermon in which the evangelist John G Ridley said "Eternity! Eternity! Oh, that this word could be emblazoned across the streets of Sydney!" So he set about on a life quest to get people to consider where they would spend eternity. He did this with a piece of chalk.

His hand-written E t e r n i t y was seen all over Sydney and only eternity will reveal just how many were provoked into a Christ surrendered eternity. In the meantime, the City of Sydney honoured this mysterious mystic by taking his message and emblazing it across Australia's largest coat-hanger for the opening of the 2000 Olympic Games. However many people were moved by this man's chalk may well have paled into insignifance once it was illuminated across the Habour Bridge.
Today, this man's humble effort to provoke people has been made into a major motion picture and bumper stickers. Thus, proving again, what we sometimes start in our lifetimes as a small, simple, humble effort can grow into something that becomes global in its impact perhaps years after we've gone.

Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead, were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore,
Hebrews 11:12

Amen.

WHY DID JESUS PRAY?

According to Luke (the Gospel writer) Jesus prayed often.

But he [Jesus] would often withdraw to desolate places and pray.
Luke 5:16

Jesus wasn't merely praying as an example. His praying was Him entering into time and space and making a difference. His praying actually resulted in Him, at times, being strengthened (Luke 22:41-43). He told His disciples that it was a result of His praying that they would be able to continue in their relationship with God -

...but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.
Luke 22:32

There is so much detail of the life of Christ that we don't have. But we do have the repeated record that He was a man who prayed. We know what He prayed, how He prayed, when He prayed and that He prayed. But we are less clear on why He prayed.

Some teach that He prayed because He was just a man. Others teach that He prayed because, although He was God, He had relinquished His deity and was not able to use His rights as God. But neither of these positions is Biblical. While Christ became man, He never ceased being God. He as God in the flesh.

The fact that He prayed at all is very striking. The fact that He prayed as a lifestyle is even more striking. At the very least we should be motivated to pray as a lifestyle. This means praying purposefully (setting aside time to pray, even if its only a few minutes), praying silently (while about our daily routines and activities), praying through a list of requests, praying the principles of the Lord's Prayer and making the prayers of the Bible our own.

pray without ceasing,
1Th. 5:17

Amen.


Andrew.

MEDI-CARE or MEDI-KILL?

Abortion is a blight on our nation. It is a highly emotional issue for many people who in their shrill, abandon ordinary decency and plunge into irrationality. The widespread view held in the 1970s that a fetus was simply a part of a woman's body or that the embryo was not human, or that the unborn in the womb feels no pain, have all been debunked now.

Recently a Australian university banned the display of a poster on their campus which pictured an 8 week old unborn baby ("human embryo") and only had the caption- "An 8 Week Old Embryo".



Abortion is probably now the greatest social injustice in the world today. Its legacy is the trauma that thousands of women who have had an abortion (even decades ago) are now experiencing. This is one reason why we launched Hope For Women - to help some of those women who are experiencing Post-Abortion Trauma. The unborn are not the only casualties of abortion.

This Sunday in our church we will have an urgent petition regarding Medicare funding for abortion which I urge you to sign.
Senator Guy Barnett will be presenting a Bill in the Senate to withdraw Medicare funding for abortion. In an interview on ABC radio this morning, Senator Barnett noted that in up to 20% of current abortions in Australia, the child in the womb is older than 20 weeks and is actually birthed alive and left to die. "I find this galling" said Senator Barnett to ABC radio's Tim Cox.

And so should we.

If you wish to download the Petition yourself, then visit-

Download Petition

I commend this petition to you.

Dr. Andrew Corbett

BE SKEPTICAL, NOT CYNICAL

It might sound strange for a Christian minister to encourage skepticism. But I do. In fact, I don't think it's possible to live a fruitful, faith-filled, Christian life unless we are skeptical. At first glance it might appear that to encourage skepticism and faith is an irreconcilable contradiction. But I think that we can see that faith is grounded by skepticism. Let me explain...

To be skeptical is to be slow to believe. This slowness has to do with processing the proof. Any proof offered for a claim must be tested to determine whether it is sustainable (1Thess. 5:21). While Christians are commended to believe all things (1Cor. 13:7) this does not mean we should be naive in our thinking (1Cor. 14:20). It is reasonable for a Christian to wait for (testable) evidence before they believe a claim such gold-dust falling out of thin air during a worship service, dramatic healings, resurrections, or prophetic messages given supposedly by angels.

In this sense, skepticism in a Christian sense is not being "closed-minded" but rather: "open-minded". That is, the Christian is not "closed" to the idea that what is presented by some sincere (but naive) believers as "from God" may have some quite natural explanation. A Biblically grounded Christian is open-minded to both natural and supernatural answers to certain phenomena.

Yet, despite even the best attempts by mature, Biblically-literate Christians, deception is still possible. It is even more possible when the one deceiving has some credibility. For example, when the son of a highly regarded pastor dupes thousands into believing that he is dying from cancer, it is expected that his claims have been substantiated. This makes his duplicity all the more painful. It is painful for the cause of Christ. It is painful for his family, especially his dad (who deserves to be highly regarded). It is painful for the wider Body of Christ.

Unfortunately, this most recent deception may cause some Christians to move from naiveté to cynicism (refusing to believe despite the evidence) rather than to skepticism (which the Bible encourages). If any Christian feels tempted to become cynical because they have realised their naiveté, they firstly need to be commended for having applied the first part of 1Corinthians 13:7. They now need to apply the last part of 1Corinthians 13:7 which encourages us to endure all things which surely includes the failings of men.

This deception is going to cause a severe loss of credibility for many people who had applied 1Corinthians 13:7 to "believe all things". This is especially so for his family, and perhaps due to his high public profile, his father (who is a genuinely great bloke). One small consolation in all this is the relatively swift and transparent conduct of the ACC Executive. They are to be commended for this.

Skepticism should help us to keep our eyes on Christ and not on the shortcomings of others. This is because we have every reason to trust and believe in Jesus of Nazareth. His claims of peace and true joy through the salvation He offers can be tested and be shown to be trustworthy and reliable. For the person who has come to realise the truthfulness of Jesus Christ yet still doubts, there is an offer from God who loves to help skeptics with their doubts.

Mark 9:24 ¶ Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!”

"Faith" to overcome doubts is described in the New Testament as a gift from God that can help transform not just skeptics, but even cynics.

Ephesians 2:8 ~ "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God"

If you are skeptical that this gift of faith from God is for you, then test this claim for yourself and ask God for it.

Andrew.

DO YOU MIND?

This week I took a day out of the office and attended a one day Theological seminar with Prof. Andrew McGowen from Scotland. He gave a series of talks on the role of the Holy Spirit. His opening question asked what did a person need to do in order to become a Christian. The simple answer to this question, according to Dr McGowen, was: believe. But he then presented us with an exposition of Romans 1 which teaches that it is simply impossible for the natural mind to receive the Gospel. According to Romans 1, the mind of an unsaved person is "darkened", "futile", "hardened", "debased", "depraved", "reprobate" (depending on your translation). The natural mind is at enmity with God and His Word (Rom. 8:7).

Dr McGowen went on to explain that the difference between a Christian and a non-Christian was the condition of their mind.

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.
Romans 8:5

To be a Christ-follower is to receive and develop a different mind. In Hebrew 8:10 it says that the believer has received the Laws of God written into their minds. And Titus 3:5 implies that our minds are washed and regenerated when we become believers.

What we do with our minds reflects what God has done with our minds.

Dr McGowen said that the mind of an unbeliever can only be opened to the truth by a work of the Holy Spirit. It is only then that they can receive the Gospel as "the word of truth".

because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel,
Colossians 1:5

Until this happens the unbeliever regards the Gospel as foolishness even though Romans 1 says they intuitively know that the Gospel is the truth. Despite this intuitive knowledge, the unbeliever "suppresses" this knowledge of the truth -

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
Romans 1:18

Dr McGowen then urged us to acknowledge that it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit at work through the witnessing believer and in the mind of the unbeliever that the word of truth can be received. This, he said, should encourage us to pray. We should pray that our witness is effective-

and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.
Philemon 6

And pray that the minds of those being witnessed to would have their minds opened to the truth-

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2Corinthians 4:4

Without prayer, Prof McGowen said, our evangelism is powerless and bound to be unproductive. God has ordained prayer as the ministry aid of the Church's witness. It is our praying that opens our minds to the work of the Holy Spirit so that we can be taught the Word of Truth, and it is our praying that opens the minds of unbelievers to similarly receive the Word of Truth: the Gospel.

As we consider some of our church's outreaches, let's pray. Without prayer inviting the Holy Spirit to intervene in our church's outreaches, it will be powerless. Please pray.

Amen.

Andrew Corbett