Here We Go Again

When The Past Keeps Presenting Itself

The Past has power. It defines. It reminds. It hurts. It invades the present. Like a trendy ageing rock-star’s weirdly tinted glasses, the Past colours how we see our present and discolours our future. As a result, we often treat others based on our past experiences with them. We also treat our present problems based on how we’ve dealt with similar past problems. But the Past, just a little more than the present, and quite unlike the future, has the unavoidably bad habit of becoming out-of-date and even obsolete. Have you allowed the Past rent-free occupancy in your life?

In the Past when a patient was suffering from high blood pressure, physicians would use leeches to “blood-let” their patient (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloodletting). This practice started with the ancient Greeks and continued up until the 1800s. Someone had the courage to examine the Past and realised that patients got worse and not better as a result bloodletting. Have you ever considered that what you’ve been doing in the past hasn’t worked? Like the person who grew up watching their parents fight whenever they had a disagreement and then faces a problem in their own marriage and is almost instinctively guided by the Past, resorts to this futile strategy to solve their own crisis. Just as the end of ancient medical bloodletting came when courage was used to realise that this strategy didn’t ever work for their parents and it has never actually worked for them either! 

The Past has a cousin called Nostalgia. Nostalgia loves talking about his cousin but does so in a very distorted fashion. Nostalgia magnifies the good times and attempts to convince us that these good times were far better than they actually were, and at the same  time tries to tell us that the bad times weren’t that bad! It’s hard to spot Nostalgia - after all, it always creeps up behind us and begins with a whisper in our ear with a pleasant memory. But there is a kind of Nostalgia that is closer to sorcery than Remembering because it takes a damaging past event and reinvents it as the present solution to a similar difficulty. For example, I know of a person who was introduced to drinking. Initially they felt somewhat guilty for accepting the introduction but as time went on that drinking session became a Nostalgic memory which helped them relax. They then experienced some unwelcome stress and Nostalgia whispered in their ear that a drink would help them to relax. They struck up quite a friendship with Nostalgia and accepted Nostalgia’s suggestion that they now “needed a drink” in order to feel happy, gather their thoughts, and cope. Meanwhile Nostalgia is sniggering behind their backs as another victim is now fully duped.

When the Eternal Jesus came to redeem mankind His atoning death had the effect of reaching into the Past, changing the Present, and redirecting the Future. This was illustrated on the night He was betrayed when He took bread and said, “Do this” (Present) “in remembrance of Me” (the Past) “until I come” (Future). Christ’s Cross transcends time! He deals with our Past, aids our Present, and gifts our Future.

Because of the Gospel (the supernatural life-giving message of Christ’s work and offer) we can break free from our negative Pasts, live an overcoming Present and have a brighter better Future. The Gospel shows us that people change. You may think that you have no hope. But the Gospel gives us hope. It teaches us that the angry can become easy-going, the downcast can become joyous, and the despairing can become optimistic. The next time you find yourself saying, “Here we go again” remember the Gospel you have accepted - and remember that the Gospel has delivered you from your Past, given you guidance for your Present, and invested you with hope for a better future.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Second Corinthians 5:17

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old. 

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

Isaiah 43:18-19

Andrew Corbett

CAN YOU HEAR IT?

Have you ever watched one of those "talent" search TV shows where someone who is convinced they are a world-class singer gets their big break to sing to the world and when they do, despite the desire and determination to be a pop-star, they obviously can't sing?!

Before millions of people watching on television they are then humiliated and made the object of YouTube mockery! But I wonder how people can go through so much of their life and not ever have someone tell them the truth about their dire lack of singing ability? Or maybe some did...

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

Ephesians 4:15

Some people are convinced that they are good (even great) at something (such as singing) when, in fact, they are not. I suspect that some people, not wishing to offend, will simply tell someone what they want to hear becuase they want to encourage them. I love people like this! They are encouragers through and through. Thank God for them. I suspect that there are some other people who form a judgment about someone's lack of ability and say nothing. These people are not naturally encouragers but neither are they liars - they can't tell someone they are good at something they are clearly not. Then I suspect that there are some people who just tell it like it is. Their primary motivation is to be truthful - not to be encouraging or even caring.

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
but a false witness utters deceit.
Proverbs 12:17

HOW TO SPEAK THE TRUTH

So I've been wondering: How do you tell a bad singer that they are a bad singer? After all, singing is a window into the heart of the singer and criticising a singer is therefore an injury felt in their heart. But as these various Talent TV shows prove, if no one convincingly tells a bad singer that they can not sing, they are going to have their heart hurt even more painfully and this time on national television before millions of mocking crtics. However we answer this important question, it will probably be done best when we do our utmost to apply Ephesians 4:15 - speaking the truth in love.

Speaking the truth in love rarely means being rude, blunt, or harsh. But neither does it mean lying. The fact that I am thinking out loud about this important problem should probably indicate to you that I don't do this well. Therefore anything I say about this has come about not becuase of any great wisdom I pretend to possess, but from the hundreds of times when I have got it horribly wrong. In this light, interpret my advice as a confession of my many mistakes.

• TRUTH SOUNDS LOVING when you have developed a relationship of trust with the person you are speaking to.
• TRUTH SOUNDS LOVING when you get permission to say it.
• TRUTH SOUNDS LOVING when you separate the person from the problem.
• TRUTH SOUNDS LOVING when highlight positives while pointing out the negatives.
• TRUTH SOUNDS LOVING when you haven't told everyone else before you've said it directly to the person you're talking about.

HEAR, HEAR

As tricky as it is to speak the truth in love, it is no where near as tricky as hearing the truth in love. In fact, based on my random guess, I would say that hearing the truth correctly and accepting it is about 63% of the determining factor involved in the Truth With Love equation. In all probability, many of the bad singers who audition for these TV Talent shows have more than likely had several people try to tell them that they can't sing. But what if they hadn't? This was a topic of discussion for our small group this week when our Bible Study group was considering the verse in Romans 12 about forming a "sober judgment" about yourself and not "thinking of yourself more highly than you ought." The question was asked about such talent show contestants whether others had tried to tell them the truth about their lack of talent. "Surely", said someone in our group, "surely they have people who care about them?" The question presumed the Truth With Love principle is going to be best practiced by those who care for the person. But this question also makes another presumption: that the person being told the truth will receive it in love.

¶ For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.
Romans 12:3

Receiving the truth requires hearing well. As difficult as I have found it to speak the truth in love to someone, it pales dramatically compared with my general thin-skinned lack of ability to hear the truth with love from someone. Sometimes I just don't want to hear the truth. Sometimes, although I know that what I am being told is true, I won't hear it because I don't like it.

The follower of Christ is commanded in Romans 12:3 how to think and therefore, by implication, how to hear what others tell them. How well do I do this? How well do you do this? Our truth-targets may not be our singing. It may be our attitude. It may be our punctuality. It may be our level of sacrifice for our family, for our church, for our State. It may be our workmanship. Our ability to hear the truth and our attitude about hearing it from others is a large factor in whether others even attempt to love us with the truth.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
Second Timothy 4:3-4

¶ Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 
James 1:19

How we speak to others is a refection of how we love others. But how we hear others is a reflection of how easy we are to love. James links listening with speaking and getting angry. I imagine that he experienced what many of us have experienced when we've tried to talk to someone we love about something that needed to be said because it was true. In our attempt to say something true to them, they get defensive and do more talking than listening - and then eventually get angry with us. [Sigh] And while I find this frustrating in others, I am far less able to hear how others might find it frustrating when trying to be truthful with me. The sober judgment of Romans 12:3 calls the follower of Christ not to be defensive ("I can't change now ... This is who I am ... If others don't like the way I do it then they can ... I'm too old to change now ... Who do you think you are to talk to me like that! ... Well that's just your opinion - there are many others who love my singing!" ... ). Can we hear the truth? Hearing the truth is one of the first steps in letting others love us. And as strange as it sounds, there are many people looking for love who actually make it difficult for others to love them because they don't hear well - if you hear what I'm saying?

Ps. Andrew

5 Mistakes Pastors Make

There's a lot about life which is counter-intuitive. There's more about pastoring (than many other professions) which is even more counter-intuitive. This is why many pastors commit mistakes that actually hamper their ministry. Here's five common mistakes that many pastors make that don't necessarily sound like mistakes.

MISTAKE #1
The pastor regards himself as the minister to his church.
Most pastors I know are plagued by guilt about their pastoring - Am I doing enough? … Am I caring enough?… What more could I do for my congregation? … and so on. It is one of the most common mistakes that pastors make. The problem is it creates a bottle-neck in the church and stifles individual congregational members from growing.
#everymemberisaminister

MISTAKE #2
The pastor delegates too quickly.
It sounds like the remedy to Mistake #1, but it is the second most common mistake that pastors make. Delegating quickly involves selecting someone not trained or qualified for the task. It then abandons the ill-prepared person to whom the task/project has been delegated, with little to no support or supervision.
#modeltrainreleasesupervise

MISTAKE #3
The pastor is threatened by the initiatives of others.
It seems like strong leadership to ensure that the pastor initiates or approves of every ministry endeavour in his church. The pastor who insists on everyone going to or through him before they take initiative is creating a rod for his back and ensuring that his church can only grow to a certain size. Insecurity causes a pastor to feel that others who take initiatives are undermining his leadership authority.
#apastorsauthorityandidentitycomesfromGod

MISTAKE #4
The pastor is not predictable.
I know that many of the Pastors' Conferences have mega-church pastors share that the pastor has to be continually surprising and innovative. But the reality is that all of the mega-church pastors are highly regular and predictable. When a pastor is all about something one day then preaching against it the next, it creates more than confusion in those he's trying to lead and shepherd - it creates serious questions. When a pastor announces a vision for the church then changes it each week for the following four weeks, it undermines his people's ability to have confidence in him. It might seem counter-intuitive, but the pastor's ministry regularity, predictability, and consistency all provide social and emotional security for a church.
#pastorsneedtobeconsistent

MISTAKE #5
The pastor owns the problems of the people in his church.
Most people's problems don't last. Most pastors carry other people's problems more intently than the person with the problem. It sounds counter-intuitive, but pastors need to discharge their pastoral duty toward those battling with problems using wise and appropriate Biblical counsel and then not own or carry that particular person's problem(s) by leaving that person to accept and act on that counsel. People are more resilient than even they realise. Pastors have to deal with more life problems than most other professions. Marriage breakdowns, bereavement, illnesses/injury, job losses, wayward children, relationship dysfunctions, all take their toll on the pastor who inappropriately carries his people's problems.
#pastorshelppeoplewithproblems


Andrew.

HOW SOME SUCCEED

How does someone become "successful"? Whatever your field, you probably know of someone doing what you're doing, who is, to your bewilderment, far more successful than you. How many of us can make a better hamburger than McDonalds? Probably most of us!

...But how come Ronald is the richest clown on earth and we're scratching for parking-meter money? In studying the successful, one thing becomes clear: Success is not the domain of the most educated, the most beautiful, or even the hardest working.

¶ I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn't always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn't always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don't always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time. 

Ecclesiastes 9:11 NLT

Success means different things. Despite what many think, attaining "success" is not merely a matter of 'luck'. Success nearly always has its reasons. The Successful know what these reasons are and how to implement them. But when the reasons and causes of success are not obvious, often survival takes precedence over success.
For example, I see this too many times with parents. They end up feeling frustrated that their kids won't do as they're told. No matter what bribes are offered or apparent levels of discipline exercised, these parents just don't seem to succeed with their kids. Similarly with some people who go into business and end up working long hours and losing money. They often blame the economy, their staff, or the government in their frustration. And we've all met people who tell us how they are trying to lose weight, but instead, put more on. These people are unsuccessful at losing weight. The difference between the successful and the unsuccessful is not simply effort.

¶ Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all.
Ecclesiastes 9:11

MISTAKES ABOUT SUCCESS

If you've ever attended a leadership or success seminar, you will undoubtedly hear that in order to succeed, you have to have a "Strategic Plan". A Strategic Plan is developed after a process of discovering the vision, the mission, and the goals a person or organisation has. The Successful have all done this formally (or at least informally). This includes successfully married couples and parents. This is why when I prepare a couple for marriage, I take them through a strategic plan process(although I don't call it this). But this is not the formula for success. It is one of the mistakes that people striving for elusive success make when they go through the process of Strategic Planning and think that the process itself is the formula for certain success. For a couple preparing for marriage, who want to succeed in their marriage, they need to answer the 'why' question (agree on their marriage's purpose) and the 'where' question (where is their marriage going to end up?). Parents need to do the same. But, to repeat myself, it is a mistake to think that this is all they need to do to succeed. Planning is considered by many to be "the key to success". It may be the 'key' but it only works if it's put into the right door-lock! It is a mistake to think that having the "key" is the same as being successful.

Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.
Joshua 1:7

It is not uncommon for this mistake to be made even bigger when Christians are involved! Here's why…

All too often Christians generally make a simplistic series of mistakes when it comes to achieving success - thinking that they are being "faithful" Christians. Attend most Church Leadership (Success) Conferences and you'll hear why Vision is important, and Mission is equally important, and Goals are necessary. But the biggest mistake many Christians make is to think that they themselves play no part in whether they are successful or not (believing that God - and God alone - determines whether someone is successful). Of course, they don't call success: "luck" (they call it "being blessed") but they way think of "blessing" they might as well call it "luck"! The fact that Scripture commands believers, surely means that believers have the privilege to make choices and play a role in the direction of their life.

And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him.
First Samuel 18:14

The third biggest mistake that Christians often make is to think that every problem is solved by prayer. "I guess all we can do is pray about it", they say. But this is rarely "all" we can do about it. Parents might pray that their pre-schooler learns the alphabet. They might pray really long and hard. But this is not all they can do in order to see their prayer answered! Similarly, pastors who want to see their church grow, should not think, "All I can do is pray." Pastors. like everyone else need to ask and answer the "how" question. Under the Old Covenant when God told Moses to construct the Tabernacle, Moses selected skilled and intelligent men who knew how to build. No one would accuse Moses of neglecting to pray, but praying isn't all that Moses did.

¶ "Bezalel and Oholiab and every craftsman in whom the LORD has put skill and intelligence to know how to do any work in the construction of the sanctuary shall work in accordance with all that the LORD has commanded."
Exodus 36:1

The fourth mistake about success, that is in risk of being worn-out, is that any success can only come about with the latest technology. Bear Grylls catches fish out in the wild with a long shoelace and a paper-clip, yet our local boating/fishing store advertised a fishing rod on our local TV station last night for $499! Hollywood has at times spent millions of dollars to produce viral YouTube clips and flopped more times than they care to admit. Yet some bored bloke with his $40 flip-phone, videos himself tickling his kitten and it gets 24 million views overnight! My racquet company of choice, Babolat, has just released a tennis racquet that is WiFi connected to a player's iPhone via an app which is allegedly going to help someone to play better tennis!

HOW, THE KEY INGREDIENT TO SUCCESS

Parents need to ask the 'How?' question in order to learn the skills necessary to foster happy, disciplined, polite, teachable, cooperative children. The Bible is replete with "How" advice for parents (such as, train, teach, counsel, discipline, establish boundaries, model the fear of the Lord, demonstrate reverence for God's Word and God's House, and so on). Business people need to also ask the "Yes, but how do we do it?" question. The Bible has things to say about this as well (invest appropriately, do your research, work diligently, treat staff well, sell at a fair price, remember the poor, and so on). But the Bible does not restrict the answer to the "How?" question merely to its own pages. The Bible encourages us to find wisdom and understanding beyond its pages in nature, in others, and in the writings of others.

¶ Go to the ant, O sluggard;
consider her ways, and be wise.
Proverbs 6:6
When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.
Second Timothy 4:13

'HOW' TAKES COURAGE

Discovering how to do something is a two-stage process. The first stage is learning. It involves being instructed. It takes humility. It means acknowledging and discarding poor practices and adopting new ones. Thus, answering the 'how?' question demands change and it will not negotiate our terms of surrender. As difficult as this first stage of answering the 'how?' is, it is a walk in the park compared to the second stage: implementation. To implement a correct (but different) strategy requires great courage. The person who has tried and failed to lose weight is shown how to actually lose weight and is then expected to be at a friend's birthday party that night. It takes great courage to implement the proven plan in the midst of great temptation to do other.

¶ So here's what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale.
Second Corinthians 8:10 MSG

The Pastor who learns 'how' to lead his church into growth must change what he has been doing (or what has been done), and then have the courage to wisely pastor his church through this period of change. Most pastors realise that for a church to grow past 200 people it must do several things better (AKA: "different"): train the church to care for each other, develop gifted leaders who are able to lead and exercise decision-making, connect everyone into a small group, shift the focus from 'meetings' to spiritual growth and health, phase-out insecurity and phase-in 'team' and, develop a "How" Strategy that everyone in the church knows and implements.

...we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 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.
Ephesians 4:15b-16

For a church to grow in this manner it too must get the 'how?' answer. This is called being strategic. It's one thing to want something, but it's another entirely to know how to get it, and an utterly entirely other thing to have the courage to persist in doing it - even though in the short-term it looks like a complete failure! Parents will experience this when they introduce long-overdue boundaries for their children. Businesses will experience this when they implement new management structures and systems. Churches will experience this when they begin to implement the above list. And those trying to lose weight may even find they initially gain weight as their body-fat converts to the heavier body-muscle!

If you have ever discovered how to do something after a time of frustration in not knowing how to do something, you'll know the sheer joy and delight that comes with it. Finding out "how" comes from finding someone who does know how, and asking them to share their 'know-how'. It also comes from reading books written by people who know how. And one of the most accessible ways to discover 'how' is in a good church where teaching things relevant to living well are frequently addressed directly and modelled by many indirectly.

WE ALL SHARE THE QUEST FOR 'HOW'
TO FULFIL THE GRANDEST MISSION

There is a holy problem which causes all Christian leaders to continually ask: "How?" It is referred to as The Great Commission. Christian leaders who think deeply about this sacred problem, ask "How can we fulfil the Great Commission of discipling nations?" It soons becomes apparent that the answer is far bigger than one local church. It encompasses the health of churches in a community, the level cultural receptivity to the claims of the Bible, the way the media and arts portrays the claims of Christ and His followers, how these churches engage with the broader community, and the means used to communicate the Gospel with the world. Even the Apostle Paul asked the "How?" question about these issues. And so should we.

¶ How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?  And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"
Romans 10:14-15

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU
LEARN HOW TO SUCCEED

As one of these Christian leaders who does continually ponder "How?" we can fulfil our part of the Great Commission, it is my hope that more and more followers of Christ will learn how to succeed individually, in their marriages, in their families, in their careers, in their businesses, and in their churches -- so that this kind of success becomes the training ground for the realsuccess that we must somehow find when it comes to discipling the nations of the world. This is why I have always told my children they can have whatever they want - we just have to figure out how.

Ps. Andrew

THE HABITS OF BORING BUT EFFECTIVE PEOPLE

"But He would often withdraw to desolate places and pray."
Luke 5:16

Exciting people claim to detest routine and habitual behaviour. They thumb their noses over their sidewalk skinny decaf soy lattés at those boring people whose lives are regulated by such plain things as habits. But, on behalf of the boring people of this world, I feel it is time to offer a defence of habits and say something positive on behalf of its boring cousin: routines. You see, Habits and its cousin Routines have saved my life more than once. I have them to thank for my amazement that I can get anything done.

¶ Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.John 6:15

Jesus had two outstanding habits. He often went out by Himself to pray. Dr Luke tells us that He often went out at night to pray to His Father all night. Jesus made spiritual disciplines a habit. From about the age of 15, over these past 35 years I have tried to copy Christ's practice of making certain spiritual disciplines a habit. I honestly cannot recall a day in my life in all that time when I have neglected the habit of reading Scripture. I confess, there have been times when I have practiced this spiritual discipline because it was a habit rather than for more noble reasons. But I can also say that in not just a times I have received delightful illumination that has nourished both my soul and mind.

"Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place."
John 5:13

Christ's other notable habit was to withdraw when He was crowded. Jesus made it a habit to be alone. He didn't build His identity or worth on what the crowds thought about Him. (I wonder if Jesus would have had a Facebook account if it was available then?) The Son of God withdrew when crowded by people to be alone, but not just alone - alone with His Father. This is a great habit to develop for those who feel their emotions are somehow determined by others.

DANIEL AND HOME

In the account of Daniel we learn that this exiled statesman developed habits which were well known. He habitually prayed. "Habitually" means that he adopted a certain place and a certain time to pray. His enemies knew it and attempted to use it for their advantage. This of course led to Daniel being thrown into the lions' den. But even with knowledge of this threat, Daniel maintained his habit of prayer - in public view (in front of his window!).

¶ When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously.
Daniel 6:10

I have a habit of Bible reading as a first thing in the morning practice. I have a habit of praying when I move. If you ever embark on a car trip with the Corbetts, you'll discover that we have a habit that we always practice (you'll have to ask my children what that is). The other day, my 22 year old son came home from University. He got in our family car and immediately initiated our family habit. 

At our family dinner we continue to welcome Habits into our home along with its cousin. In fact, we have made Routine an adopted member of our family! Each night at 6PM, Kim has our family dinner on our dining table. Our family assembles. We hold hands and give thanks to God for our food and blessings, and ask Him to provide for our sponsor children. Then we eat. Bt while we're eating we have Habits remind us of its presence at our dinner table. We then answer then 'the question of the day'. (If you're familiar with our Romans Bible Studies you will see that we have included many of our family's questions of the day at the start of each of these Bible Studies.) 

BAD HABITS

The New Testament warns against bad habits. One in particular the writer of the Hebrews raises where he states that some believers had developed the habit of neglecting to assemble on Sunday for the church meeting. Conversely, he reminds his readers that attending church each Sunday was a spiritually good habit because it resulted in strengthening, encouraging, and ministry. He seems to say that some had made it a habit to neglect church because they were ruled by their feelings, whims, and energy levels - rather than by doing what was right. Attending church because we love Jesus and want to love what He loves is the noblest motive for church attendance, but attending it because its a good habit is commended by Scripture.

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:25

Jesus habitually withdrew when corwded in - but He habitally went to the synagogue each Sabbath to worship with God's people - even when that Synagogue was full of people who wanted to kill Him! (Luke 4:28-29) To follow Christ is to form the habit of attending church each week. 

Good habits save you time (putting your keys in a regular place). Good routines save your life (washing your hands before eating, brushing your teeth after meals). The Bible encourages both. The Scriptures offer examples who developed good habits of prayer, Bible reading, and corporate worship. 

As many of you know, I have a lot of demands upon my time: a live weekly radio program; production of a weekly audio podcast; a major sermon each week; an article each week; the producing of a documentary on FW Boreham; supervising dozens of Bible school students undertaking their diplomas and degrees; organising the Tasmanian tour of Dr Hugh Ross; coordinating the Launceston Easter Community Festival; hosting the Bass Meet Your Candidate Forum; managing105.3WayFM; pastoring our church; being involved in junior tennis development in Tasmania; completing a graduate course in Biblical Greek; and consulting to various organisations. The only way I can manage each of these is by developing habits and routines. The only way. 

"But Habits and Routines are boring!" you scoff. "Yes they are", I might reply. But sometimes 'boring' looks good compared to the ups and downs of trying to be "random" / "spontaneous" / "exciting". As Warren Buffett said, his method of saving and investing his money was way too boring for most people. Warren Buffett recently retired with a net worth of $60Billion! I think there is a similar spiritual application. It might be 'boring' to develop the habit of daily reading your Bible. But it will build the wealth of your soul. The routine of taking time to pray each day might seem to be tedious and dull, but it's what our Lord did and it too will add wealth to your spiritual bank account. This is why I say "Thank you" to everyone who compliments me with the accolade, "You're boring!" Of course, not everything I do is "boring". I'd like to say more about this, but I have to meet Bert at a routine meeting of The Button Collectors' Club so I'll just leave you at this point of exciting suspense in our conversation. 

Ps. Andrew

Oceanic Journeys Through Sovereignty, Striving, Love

NAVIGATING THE OCEAN OF LIFE

"The LORD will reign forever and ever."
Exodus 15:18

Have you ever considered how differently someone would live if their life utterly loved God? Every decision they made would be filtered through their passoinate love for God. The use of their time, talent and treasure would be reprioritised to maximise their love of God. They would be difficult to offend and yet easy to disappoint. They would not be able to remain indifferent or even silent when others are being hurt because of God dishonouring decisions. They would rest in the knowledge that the God they love utterly is incomprehensively powerful and in sovereign control of His universe, and in particular: them. But there is a mystery that those who love God are often left to ponder.

But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.Deuteronomy 4:29

How much of your life do you control? What, with circumstances, people, accidents, weather, opportunitites, all being often unpredictable variables in the shaping of your brief life, how much do you actually control? It's one of the great mysteries. How much of our life direction do you actually control? Our lives are not merely shaped by our actions and decisions, but by other even more immediate factors such as, upbringing. This is why sarcasm says a person must choose their parents well! Our lives are also shaped by the decisions of others, including corporations and governments. This is why sarcasm pipes up again and adds its sage advice:choose your country of birth and upbringing carefully! With so many factors not in our control how can we possibly order our lives in the direction and shape we want them to go and become? Here is part of the answer.

"Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able."
Luke 13:24

Because God is Sovereign and directing His universe, it might sound like we are merely pieces of flotsam and jetsam being tossed about by the waves of life's ocean. I doubt that this is either an accurate or helpful way to look at our lives though. Life is like an ocean. We are like a captain of a vessel attempting to navigate this ocean. The captain cannot control the waves, weather, traffic or obstacles. But he can control his vessel and the direction it needs to go. But to do this, he must strive with waves, weather, traffic, and obstacles and his vessel. Thus, to navigate across the ocean of life he must do two things: steer his vessel and adjust to the conditions he faces. Both require striving.

THE STRIVING OF JESUS

Jesus told us to enter into 'life' (eternal) by striving to enter through the narrow gate. When you love you strive. Christ didn't say to His followers, "Hope that you float on over and drift through the narrow gate." Jesus clearly demonstrated what striving looked like. He strove because He loved His Father.

The word "strive" conjures up an image of a pathway beset with adversity, opposition, and even strife. Jesus strove toward His ascension. He had to overcome adversity from governments, crowds, His followers, the Devil, and even His longing to return to His Father. It seems that the most valuable things are both earned and kept through striving. This is certainly the case for the most valuable thing: a relationship of eternal peace with God.

¶ I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf
Romans 15:30

THE STRIVING OF PAUL

The Apostle Paul had to strive. He strove in prayer for the Colossian Christians. He strove to  fulfil his ministry as a servant of Christ.

To this end  I labor, striving according to  his power that works powerfully in me.
Colossians 1:29

Paul describes his life journey and the ministry that fulfilled along the way as "pressing forward" (Phil. 3:12) in order to accomplish it. This doesn't sound as if Paul was unacquainted with striving!

NAUTICAL LIFE STRIVING

While we strive to navigate our ship across the ocean of life, every wave, every obstacle, every storm is yielded to God's sovereignty. When the caterpillar strives shortly after making its cocoon, I have it on good authority that when it tries to then break free from its cocoon, it is an utterlyunenjoyable experience! yet, it is this very act of striving which builds the strength it needs for the use of its wings.

When God gave Israel their Promised Land He designd for them to strive to take possession of it. When God used Samuel to anoint the sixteen year old shepherd boy, David, to be the next king of Israel, David could have been forgiven for thinking that it would be a walk in the park stright to the Throne. But yet he had to strive for it!

When Kim and I lived in Williamstown, Melbourne, we had a yacht moored in Hobson's Bay. Prior to solo-sailing it in Port Phillip Bay, I did a sailing course at Royal Mebourne Yacht Club. In this course I learned how to strive the yacht so that it could virtually sail into the wind. Striving through life sometimes like this sailing technique - it requires facing the winds of adversity head-on.

And if the Bible might be viewed nautically as the 'Captain's Log', we might notice that it is God who directs, guides, and inspires the striving involved is sailing the oceans of life. To me, it's both a mystery and an undeniable fact that God even uses those who strive against Him for His glory!

But for this purpose I have raised you [Pharaoh] up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."
Exodus 9:16

It's an undeniable fact because it's so obvious. At the height of the Evangelical Awakening, the period around the 1960s to the 1980s (known as The Charismatic Renewal) the Church lessened its striving to take the Gospel into the world and simultaneously ceased striving for the truth in the Public Square. Europe seemed to fair worst. The result of this apathy (lack of striving) was not immediately apparent, but twenty to forty years later it is now painfully obvious. The rise of militant secularism capturing the political and academic landscape where policy decisions were made so that the populace were hoodwinked into accepting the assumption that atheism meant: "rational", "unbiased", "reasonable" (and conversely "Christianity" meant "biased", "irrational", "unreasonable"). Thus, in the last few years atheists have been emboldend by believing their own irrationality and have launched brazen attacks against the Church. But God had not only foreseen this, He had designed this for His glory! What these atheists did not count on, was that the Sovereign God would stir in the sould of those few who utterly love Him, to strive for His glory.

This Sovereign stirring to strive shapes people and societies. I hope that this will awaken a new awareness in parents, teachers, politicians, pastors, business people, students, and the retired, of the need (and benefit) to strive. History mournfully warns us that ground given up is not easily won back.

As I ponder this mystery of how God's sovereignty interacts with my ability to choose and even strive while I write this sitting in seat 5C of VirginAirlines VA1380, on the screen in front of me pops up a movie trailer where the character, Spiros, says-

Some day, somebody's going to have to take a stand.
Some day, somebody's going to have to say, "Enough!"

Indeed! Somebody's going to have to take a stand. Children need parents who strive to take a stand. Congregations need pastors who strive to take a stand. Electorates need politicians who strive to take a stand. Schools need teachers who strive to take a stand. And students need their God-loving fellow students to strive to take a stand. Parents must discipline. Pastors must instruct. Politicians must explain. Teachers must inform. Students must dialogue. And if this striving be for the glory of God it must be motivated by a fresh, passionate, fearless love for the infinitely Magnificently One. Somebody's going to have to say, "Enough!" and this means that someone who loves God is going to have to strive. This won't solve the mystery of how God's sovereignty interplays with your freedom, but it does help you to celebrate this wonderful mystery and gladly strive for the One you love.

Ps. Andrew

HOW TO BE REFRESHED

REFRESHING THE WEARY

The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
and good news refreshes the bones.
Prov. 15:30

Ever wondered why you feel more drained when you experience setbacks and/or people are letting you down? There is a little discussed connection between what we feel and how it makes us feel. Rather than being thanked for our efforts we are criticized causing us to feel hurt and leading to us feeling physically drained. Someone makes a mistake and looks to you for help and while you're helping them get out of their mess they do it again ... and again ... and you soon feel tired ... drained. But this connection between what we feel (emotionally) and how we feel (physically) goes two ways. Our physical energy levels are bolstered by positive emotional experiences.

Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
is a faithful messenger to those who send him;
he refreshes the soul of his masters. 

Proverbs 25:13

Your soul facilitates your mind, your 'heart', your drive. Today we have a growing phenomena in the West. People are feeling increasingly weak and weary. This has given rise to growth the modern 'gym' ('fitness centres', 'work-out stations') industry. Yet people still feel weary. Perhaps it's because in the West we generally take such little regard for our soul. When your soul is well nourished and refreshed through God's Word, your soul is restored.

He takes me to lush pastures,
he leads me to refreshing water.
Psalm 23:2 NET

He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.
Psalm 23:3 ESV

Church is a 'gym' for the soul, a 'fitness centre' for your spirit. It is in the assembling of the church that the believer joins in worship. This act of devotion is refreshing to the soul. We live in a world where individuality is prized. This can be healthy. But the way it is practised in the West, it is rarely good for our souls. It fosters self-centredness, selfishness, and hyper-introspection. These things are spiritually carcinogenic!

HOW TO BE REFRESHED

Your soul longs for strength. The Bible reveals that strength for the weary comes from encouraging words, encouraging company, and encouraging others. Your soul is designed to be nourished by those things which God has designed to enrich it. This includes not only His life-giving Word, but good literature, beautiful music, beatiful art, harnessed nature, and periods of rest. At the height of his ministry, Dr. F.W. Boreham would go to the National Gallery of Victoria and sit for hours in front of particular paintings and be refreshed by them. He often shared why he was so refreshed by particular paintings in many of his essays.

¶ So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
Acts 9:21

It's possible to be refreshed even in the midst of deep distress. In Acts 9, the Church was experiencing persecution and distress, yet it was refreshed bywalking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit. In actual fact, the best time to be refreshed (have your soul nourished, rested and restored) is in the midst of distress!

In Daniel 7:25 (NLT), it predicts that the Enemy would attempt to "wear down the saints". What a devilish strategy. One of the most predictable strategies of our Enemy is to wear people down and have them think that it is purely physical tiredness. But what a glorious solution and preventatitve cure the Lord has provided: be refreshed in God. This is why one of the sweetest and surest ways to be refreshed in your soul and thus (somewhat) revitalised physically is to take up Christ's offer- 

¶ Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light."
Matthew 11:28-30

Ps. Andrew

IN THE SPIRIT

AN INCREDIBLE DIFFERENCE

¶ You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit,
if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.
Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ
does not belong to him.
Romans 8:9

Christianity is often popularly thought of as being basically the same as all other religions. To the informed this assertion is literally: incredible. There are three outstanding reasons why Christianity is incredibly unique in the world of religious thought. The first is that Christianity alone has a divine Saviour. The second is that this divine Saviour graciously bestows God's favour on those He redeems. And the third is far less known outside of Christian circles...

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.Romans 14:17

NOT MERELY ABOUT DEVOTION

All religions require devotion - a deep commitment to certain beliefs and practices. Christianity is certainly no exception in this regard. But there is a world of difference when it comes to how and why this devotion is done. Unlike every other religion, Christian devotion is supernaturally empowered by the Holy Spirit. The Christian is uniquely enabled to live their devotion in the Spirit. This is the secret of the Christian life. To be in the Spirit is to have "power" to be devoted to God.

[That you might know...] what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might.
Ephesians 1:19

In fact, becoming a Christian begins by a transforming work the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). A person cannot become a Christian by merely by turning over a new leaf. It requires a deeply transforming work by the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's work in the heart of the redeemed is often referred to as being "born-again". When a person is born of the Spirit, their life-focus changes; their priorities are dramatically re-organised; and they become aware of things previously unnoticed.

FOCUS, PRIORITIES, PERSPECTIVE

The Christian journey begins uniquely. While other religions have "rights of passage" or "initiation rites" or ceremonies, Christianity begins with a profoundly supernatural transformation. It translates the redeemed from being lost, purposeless, and blind to in the Spirit. This causes the redeemed to be focussed, prioritised, and spiritually enabled to hear and see spiritual things.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
Revelation 1:10

In 65AD, the Apostle John had just been banished to the Isle of Patmos by order of Caesar Nero. This followed a failed attempt to martyr him with boiling oil. Now on this rocky, isolated, outcrop, John had every reason not to 'feel' particularly spiritual or even glad to be a Christian! But he took the steps to be in the Spirit (Rev. 1:10). Being in the Spirit changes your focus. Rather than looking at what was going wrong and making his life uncomfortable, John chose to be in the Spirit through prayer, stillness, and worship. On the Lord's Day, John went in the Spirit. This Sunday, as you prepare to meet for worship, get in the Spirit.

At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.
Rev. 4:2

Being in the Spirit changes your priorities. After our focus is shifted off us, our problems, our circumstances, our priorities are re-ordered to The Throne of God and we are left to do what we can only do when confronted with the Throne of God's presence: worship. You can tell when someone is in the Spirit because they are worshipping. As the Apostle John set himself to be in the Spirit amidst his negative circumstances, he was once again in the Spirit when he witnessed the most dramatic scene of worship the universe has ever hosted.

At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne...¶ "Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created."
Revelation 4:2, 11

When someone is in the Spirit their life is re-prioritised. The unappreciated important things now become appropriatedly important. People are no longer problems to be avoided but objects of consideration, care, and blessing. Difficult circumstances which previously determined our mood undergo a gaussian blur as they give-up their foreground position and retreat unnoticed into the background. Words offered thoughtlessly and uninvited increasingly become words of profundity, life and encouragement.

This might give the impression that living in the Spirit makes a person weird. I guess this is why people striving to appearspiritual end up looking and sounding spooky. But living in the Spirit is utterly natural - in fact, supernatural. When King David wrote Psalm 110 I suspect he was offering an idea bouncing around his head. But when Jesus cites David at this instance He says, "How is it then that David, in the Spirit, calls him Lord, saying..." (Matt. 22:43). Being in the Spirit doesn't make you strangely weird, but it does make you strangely natural.

And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns.
Revelation 17:3

After John's time on Patmos, he was able to return to Jerusalem. Being in the Spirit his perspective of Jerusalem had now changed. He saw it as "Sodom and Egypt...where they crucified their Lord" (Rev. 11:8), and in the language of Jeremiah, as "Babylon...the Harlot" (Rev. 17:5). He was now aware of true reality. In this instance, what many people thought of as pure, holy, God-approved, John, in the Spirit, now saw for what it really was. Discernment is not just a special gift of the Spirit, it is theperspective of the Spirit. Being in the Spirit makes you aware of spiritual opposition so that you maintain your focus on worshipping God! People who discern evil at work and get distracted by it are not fully in the Spirit. John was made aware of Jerusalem's Spiritual Leaders being like a Prostitute who was full of 'blasphemous names' but he remained in the Spirit to continue to focus on God - His glory, and His plan of redemption.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God
Revelation 21:10

While it seemed like 'all hell' was breaking loose against the Church of the Apostle John's day, he was able to be in the Spirit and thereby given a different perspective. Does life feel like 'all hell' is breaking loose at the moment? Walk in the Spirit. A major component of this is opening yourself up to God to be in the Spirit is others. When you arein the Spirit you adopt a concern for others despite what you are going through. Note what Paul the Apostle says happens when a believer 'prays in the Spirit' -

praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
To that end keep alert with all perseverance,
making supplication for all the saints
Ephesians 6:18

The things that help a believer to get in the Spirit are the things that a believer is led to do when they are then in the Spirit:

- Prayer

- Openness to hear God (note the constant exhortation in the opening chapters of Revelation, "...let him who has ears, hear what the Spirit is saying...")

- Yielding to God and asking to be used by God.

Ephesians 6:18 starts off in the Spirit and ends with supplication for all the saints. Once in the Spirit the believer becomes focussed on God and His glory, reprioritised to worship, and spiritually aware. They way they speak becomes life-giving. Their acts of kindness for others become divinely-timed - all because they are in the Spirit. This is the incredible difference between Christianity and all of the world's religions. While Christianity is a unique religion because it is birthed and lived out in the Spirit, what is largely unknown, is that this unique difference can only be accepted by someone when there is a work of the Spirit in their heart. And while we can see that following Christ is religiously unique and a profoundly divinely-spiritual enterprise, this does not justify the redeemed taking a posture of arrogance. On the contrary, the incredible difference that Christianity makes to a human soul also tames pride and infuses child-like humility.  

¶ In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.
Luke 10:21

It is my hope that every believe can only show theoretically how (in)credibly different Christianity is from other religions, but that by living in the Spirit they make this incredible difference incredibly obvious.

Ps. Andrew

Using Science for Evangelism