Man
The deliberate Christ
To be deliberate is to always move forward with the destination in mind. Perhaps the most striking picture of the deliberate Christ is found in Luke 9:51: “He set his face to go to Jerusalem.” This is at least six months before his crucifixion, and yet Jesus Christ—the deliberate Christ—is moving forward with the destination [...]
Deliberate living
Every believer is responsible to conduct himself deliberately. Let me explain what I mean. To live deliberately is to live on purpose. It’s the opposite of letting life happen to you. It’s the opposite of going with the flow. To be deliberate is to be careful, not careless. To be thoughtful, not thoughtless. To be [...]
Whose Hero?
Remember in the Princess Bride when Miracle Max pumps the mostly-dead Westley’s mouth with air from the bellows and bawls at him: “Hey! Whaddya got that’s worth living for?” With the miracle man leaning on his chest, the prone Westley replies: “Tr-u-e l-o-v-e.” If someone tried the same procedure on you today, what would [...]
On Christian Weddings
Dale Morgan married tonight, and as usual, I came away soured. Twentieth-century Christian weddings are the vainest, most meaningless forms. There is no vestige of reality. The witnesses dress for a show. The flesh is given all the place. The songs are absurd if one paid any attention to the words, but no one does; [...]
No place for pain
• We didn’t want to see our children go through pain, so we coddled them until they grew up to be lawless brats. • We didn’t want to cause our friends pain, so we refused to ever confront them about their self-destructive patterns. • We didn’t want to cause our bodies pain, so we collectively [...]
Abraham the Separated Dad
A couple of weeks ago I heard a message on the Patriarch Abraham in our church. There was a point made in the introduction of the message that utterly intrigued me. It touched on an episode of Abraham’s life that I had never given much thought to. It concerned the incident in Genesis 21 when [...]
The Ten Marks of a Flesh-Pleaser
I recently read this thoughtful, convicting article by 17th century English pastor Richard Baxter and want to share it here: “The Ten Marks of a Flesh-Pleaser” by Richard Baxter Romans 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. The signs of a flesh-pleaser [...]
When to tell…
One thing I’m learning is that everyone has something dark in their past… or present… that almost nobody knows about. Sometimes it’s hard to know whether you should tell someone else or not. Here are a few thoughts on when to tell. You should consider telling someone else… 1. When you haven’t told anyone. You [...]
A Great Gospel For Great Sinners
Ivan Milat is currently serving seven life sentences for murdering seven backpackers, with many other murders attributed to him. He is one of Australia’s most prolific serial killers. Now suppose Milat actually repented and trusted in Christ to forgive him. Then pretend he was miraculously released on parole. How safe would you feel this Sunday, [...]
I’ve Got Everything. Now What?
A 2007 survey of 5500 Australians aged 14 to 30 reveals: “They have greater disdain for advertising, yet are brand conscious and many actually like living with their parents. This allows them to have the best of both worlds.” … “They clearly like to spend money on the latest gadgets, going out and new clothes, but [...]
A Day with the Disabled
Earlier this week I spent some time with an organisation that provides work for adults with disabilities. There were about a dozen people who had a broad range of disabilities- some physical, some neurological, but most with both, from what I could work out. Interestingly, I found these people just like any group that society [...]
The Power of Personal Choices
At a camp a few weeks ago I brought two successive messages on the life of David. In one message I dealt with David’s submission to Saul and in the next message, I looked at his friendship with Jonathan. When one considers the enormous disaster Saul made of his life, it is simply remarkable that [...]
