God is with us?

Do you always hear the prayers, "God please be with us today..." "God we pray you'll go with us as we travel."

I wonder whether we've considered strongly the words of the Great Commission? Matthew 28:19-20 says, '...go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.'

Did you catch that? 'Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age'. He's promised to be with us. He's promised to be there for us. He will never leave or forsake us. Do we believe it? Do we truly understand this? We don't need to pray, 'Lord please be with us...' I mean.. 'Surely!! I am with you always...' Lets just believe it! The presence of Jesus is there! Hallelujah!

Lets rather pray and say, 'Lord Jesus, thanks so much that you're with us, empower us as we go about our day!'

Maybe this is semantics. Or maybe it shows we have a deeper faith in the promise of God's Word. Share

Calling all Apostles!

I once had an argument with a guy who insisted that there are no longer any apostles. The nice heated discussion started when I said something about being an 'apostle'. He didn't like that. I mean, how dare I equate my life to that of Paul or Barnabas or Peter.

But I believe in the Word of God.

Eph 4:11-12 says, 'So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up... (TNIV)

Just because I'm passionate doesn't make me an evangelist. I believe I'm an apostle. Someone who pioneers communities of faith. Someone who is 'sent' by God to fulfill a task.

Do you sit in church frustrated at times, and want to do something, or say something, to bring glory to God? Do you ever think of ministries you could start that could change the world? Do you ever dream of planting churches? Maybe you're an apostle.

CALLING ALL APOSTLES. It's time to step up and pioneer. It's time to innovate and create. It's time to invest in people's lives, so that people would come to faith in Jesus!

Would you pray with me... 'God, use us to change the World. Empower us by your Holy Spirit. May we live and breathe as Jesus would today. Salvation for the World, we pray in the name of Jesus! AMEN!'

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Simple Faith?

Everything's so theological! Well, for me anyway, at the moment. I study hard, discuss the ins and outs of how people truly get saved, what the Holy Spirit means for us, what The Salvation Army should be like in mission...

My head is about to explode. Don't get me wrong, I kind of enjoy the debates and the long-winded ever-circling talks on particular theological issues. There is just one question I have?

Do we have a simple faith? Do we believe that God can heal people? Yeah, yeah, through the doctors, God can use them... But do you simply believe God can heal people instantly? Do we believe God could deliver someone of deep, deep depression? Do we believe post-modern, 'no absolute Truth' wandering young people, could hear the gospel of Jesus ONCE and fall to their knees begging for salvation??

I'm ready and believing God may want to move in the miraculous. At least, I want to be very open to this possibility. God will never do a miracle in someones life if we never step up in bold faith, with the power of the Holy Spirit and ask in the name of Jesus. He won't. He probably can't, unless a bold Christian asks him.

Simple Faith... Simple really...

(Mark 10: 13 - 16) Share

Kingdom of God & The Church

The Kingdom of God phrase occurs more than 100 times in the New Testament. The word Church in some translations only occurs a few times. Jesus seemed to be very interested in things of the Kingdom, and many of his parables highlighted teachings about this 'Kingdom of God'.

Is the Kingdom of God like being in the rule of Christ, being within his reign... (Whatever that actually means)... ?

I ask the question: Is it more important for people to come into the Church or into the Kingdom of God?

Let me know your thoughts. The Kingdom of God seems to be quite confusing to understand, but it definitely has distinctions to the church itself. Share

Biblical Preaching

Any preachers in the house?

I've been reading some things about "expository preaching". Here's a definition:

"Expository preaching is the communication of a biblical concept, derived from and transmitted through a historical, grammatical, and literary study of a passage in its context, which the Holy Spirit first applies to the personality and experience of the preacher, then through the preacher, applies to the hearers." (Biblical Preaching, Haddon W. Robinson, 2001: p.21).

If you're a preacher, why don't you reflect on how often you preach an expository message. I found for myself that I have preached many topical sermons that choose to take a little bit of scripture to fit what I'm trying to say. Why don't I use passages of scripture and then preach from then? Maybe its harder. Maybe some of us don't believe in the power of the scripture we are reading, therefore we don't preach from it. Hard self challenge to do. Maybe the reason I do so much topical preaching is because I need an even more powerful revelation of the power of the Word of God. Hmm... probably very important for me to have, considering I am studying to become an officer in the Salvation Army.

Let me know your thoughts. Share

Isaiah 6 - Worship, Repentance and Mission

Isaiah 6:1-8 –
1 ‘In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.
--> This was about 740 bc. Isaiah is seeing a vision of the presence of the Lord!
2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
--> Some would say they were covering their faces because they were unable to look into the beautiful and powerful glory of God.
3 And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’
--> The word 'Holy' is used three times here to emphasize the fact that GOD IS HOLY! It's amazing that when the angels are in the presence of the Lord, they are somewhat speechless, and just find themselves calling out, Holy, Holy, Holy...
--> Have you heard people criticise the repetition of songs, such as singing over and over many times that God is Holy? I wonder whether when we're in Heaven, we'll be in awe of God and just find ourselves singing, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy, Holy... is the Lord!' What will happen for those that criticise??
4 At the sounds of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
--> Is this a biblical refernce for a smoke machine??
--> Remember in Acts 4, when the disciples pray, the place shakes where they were praying. Ohh Lord, let our prayers be powerful and effective and shake the World in which we live.
5 ‘Woe to me!’ I cried, ‘I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.’
--> Look what happens when Isaiah is in the presence of God. He comes to a point of repentance. The sin in his life comes to the surface and he confesses his sin to the Lord.
6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar.
--> A live coal, is a very hot coal! (Write that down and tell your friends).
7 With it he touched my mouth and said, ‘See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.’
--> God is offering forgiveness for Isaiah. Since Jesus came to earth, 740 years after this vision, the process of forgiveness, is now only through Jesus himself, by his death and resurrection on the cross...
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’’
--> We worship. We repent. Then the Lord asks, who will go for him, to fulfill his mission? There's no use just worshipping, we need to be available for Jesus to use us in mission.
--> There's a cyclical process going on here. WORSHIP --> REPENTANCE --> MISSION .... back to --> WORSHIP --> REPENTANCE --> MISSION.
--> Let us not give up meeting together for worship. Some in our churches have maybe forgotten that mission is only effective if we continually come into God's presence in Worship and always maintain a heart of Repentance. Lord we seek after your glory and majesty everyday, please forgive us for the wrongs we do in your sight, and Lord please make us powerfully effective to fulfil your mission of making disciples of all the World; in Jesus' name, AMEN! Share

This summer, it's good to be 3!

I know many Christians that are passionate about the Holy Spirit. They are passionate to see him move in power in their lives and the life of their churches and communities.

I know of many followers who are sold out to exploring philosophical ideas, questioning in depth theology and are strong believers in improving/sustaining God's creation.

Other Christians have a deep passion for reaching the lost; those that don't know Jesus. They are sold out to growing his Kingdom and believe that if you don't believe in Jesus you won't get into heaven.

So which is better? Which beliefs are valid and are any invalid? Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We need to be radically balanced in our view of the Trinity. One God: three persons of equal power and significance. All the above views are valid and need to be integrated forming a deep trinitarian view of God.

This summer it's good to be three. Share

This summer, it's good to be 3!

I know many Christians that are passionate about the Holy Spirit. They are passionate to see him move in power in their lives and the life of their churches and communities.

I know of many followers who are sold out to exploring philosophical ideas, questioning in depth theology and are strong believers in improving/sustaining God's creation.

Other Christians have a deep passion for reaching the lost; those that don't know Jesus. They are sold out to growing his Kingdom and believe that if you don't believe in Jesus you won't get into heaven.

So which is better? Which beliefs are valid and are any invalid? Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We need to be radically balanced in our view of the Trinity. One God: three persons of equal power and significance. All the above views are valid and need to be integrated forming a deep trinitarian view of God.

This summer it's good to be three. Share