Is His Word enough?

Below is a confronting illustration on how materialistic the church in the West is - yep even here in Australia. We may think we're doing better than the world around us, and we probably are. But our culture is so soaked in consumerism, maybe we still don't realise how consumeristic we really are. Take a look at this story of visiting a Chinese house church.

Just imagine going to a worship gathering in one of those house churches... The Asian believer who is taking you gives you the instructions. "Put on dark pants and a jacket with a hood on it. We will put you in the back of our car and drive you into the village. Please keep your hood on and your face down."
When you arrive in the village under the cover of night, another Asian believer meets you at the door of the car/ "Follow me," he says.
With you hood over your head, you crawl out of the car, keeping your face toward the ground. You begin to walk with your eyes fixed on the feet of the man in front of you as he leads you down a long winding path with a small flashlight. You hear more and more footsteps around you as you progress down the trail. Then finally you round the corner and walk into a small room.
Despite its size, sixty believers have crammed into it. They are all ages, from precious little girls to seventy-year-old men. They are sitting either on the floor or on small stools, lined shoulder to shoulder, huddled together with their Bibles in their laps. The roof is low, and one light bulb dangles from the middle of the ceiling and as a sole source of illumination.
No sound system.
No band.
No guitar.
No entertainment.
No cushioned chairs.
No heated or air-conditioned building.
Nothing but the people of God and the Word of God.
And strangely, that's enough.
God's Word is enough for millions of believers who gather in house churches just like this one. His Word is enough for millions of other believers who huddle in African jungles, South American rain forests, and Middle Eastern cities.
But is his Word enough for us?
~David Platt, Radical, p25-26

"Forgive me..."

How often do we say those words? How often do we consider ourselves in need of forgiveness? Both from Jesus and people around us?

Sometimes I think we take for granted the fact that people (and Jesus) do forgive us, so we don't seek it.  Maybe we need to.

If I have upset you or wronged you in anyway, can you let me know... so I can seek forgiveness.

Thanks

He is Risen

I believe it because I have experienced it myself. I don't know what you believe, but check out this spoken word poem... it's kind of epic.

Tweet of the Week

Timothy Keller ‏@timkellernyc  9h

If Jesus is who He says He is- everything in your life will and should change.

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As we celebrate Easter (even if all you're celebrating is a 4 day weekend) just stop for a second and think about that tweet.  There's plenty of evidence out there, even apart from the Bible, to show that Jesus lived an extraordinary life, and you'll find even secular historians giving the Bible more historic kudos that mainstream media would let on.

So if that evidence points to truth, and Jesus is who He says He is, then change is needed, but that change is GOOD!

It Is Finished

Three words (one in the Greek) that make everything ok.

Three words that mean that you can have peace with God

Three words that mean nothing stands between you and eternal life

Three words that cost God more than you could ever imagine.

I find it hard to hold back the tears any time I read the Gospel account and read those three words, "it is finished", but even more so on Good Friday as we set aside a day to remember the cross and all Jesus went through there.

Even as a believer my life fails to glorify God so many times on so many levels, but I can turn again and again to the cross because on it Jesus took all the punishment for sin... all of it! It is finished!!!

I remember, and I turn to your grace once again Lord Jesus

Thank you.

Hope does not disappoint.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
~Romans 5:2-5

This past week has forced me to see the power of hope.  Last Friday my 20 year old cousin had a motorbike accident.  He was headed to work when a car failed to give way at an intersection, his bike exploded and he was flung into a pole.

He was airlifted to Brisbane with a major leg injury, there was no other injury praise God (no organ, spine or head; apparently he had even be awake and talking with police officers on the scene), and my father and I were his only relatives in Brisbane so we went to the hospital and sat with him until his family could make the four hour trip down.

It was confronting to see a strong 20 year old man (who was only a gawky teen of 14 the last time I saw him) unconscious, on a respirator and about to have surgery to remove the bottom part of his right leg.  Unfortunately there was no way to save the leg.

As the week has gone on he has had further surgeries, and to this point has remained in an induced coma.   There's been some complications with his leg and I believe yesterday surgery was done to remove even more.  It has been a time of shock and high emotion for the family... and for the most part a sense of hopelessness.

This is all very personal as I am sure you can understand, but the thing that has been very apparent to me as I personally deal with this is the truth of Romans 5.  As Christians we do stand on grace and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  To be so close to people trying to deal without standing or being able to rejoice highlights to me that hope never disappoints, but a lack of hope is a constant disappointment.

Romans 5 starts with the amazing truth that because of Jesus' actions on the cross we can now have peace with God.  That is our biggest need, before any physical or emotional need the one thing that is most vital for us is to find peace with God... because that peace allows all other things to be handled by the fact we can stand on His grace [so we cannot be condemned or defeated or accused or pulled down] and rejoice in His glory [no matter what situation we find ourselves in we have something much greater we can hold onto].

In that sense sufferings can build endurance and character and, ultimately, hope, because it is all seen through the lens of having our eternity secured through being at peace with God, because God's love has now been poured into our hearts.

This week I have physically experienced the Holy Spirit doing that, pouring love into my heart. It is such a gift to be given the Holy Spirit (God Himself) to dwell inside me.  That's where unwavering hope comes from, not a strong nature or character, but from God Himself.

Hope does not disappoint.

Tweet of the Week

Louie Giglio ‏@louiegiglio  7h

Everything great begins with a tiny, fragile seed. Every seed takes time. Plant well. Stay faithful. This is the way of God.

Patience is a thing I keep learning time and time again as I continue the work of pastor. I look up to Louie and his ministry greatly, the Scriptural focus (even a midst the flood of popular music and that pressure) is core to everything he does. "Dropping people at the feet of Jesus" is one of his little points, it's not about people following Louie, or Chris Tomlin, or Kristian Stansfield... The Passion Church wants to drop people at the feet of Jesus... and let Jesus be their inspiration, teacher, corrector and everything.

But that huge movement started as a seed.  But a seed with good intentions. I want to make sure I am planting seeds of Gospel intentions too.  I think more churches need to consider this before starting new things, or even ending older things.

Remembering The Gambia 2004

I can't believe it's been 10 years since I was in The Gambia working with WEC International.

These videos (though short) still stir my heart... as to the many photos I have.  Gambia, I pray for you often and in many ways you still have my heart.

A Psalm of True Intimacy.

Psalm 139
Search Me, O God, and Know My Heart
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.
7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
 If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is bright as the day,
for darkness is as light with you.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
 Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.
19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
 Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

I have been meditating on this Psalm and it's context and influence on my life.  A song of David, written to worship God, and lead the people in worship, Psalm 139 really expresses well this expanse of God's greatness, the fact that he is beyond our comprehension but still relatable and approachable.

I love that it starts with the fact that God has searched and known me - I can't stop Him from doing that - but the psalm then ends with an invitation for God to come and search and know me.

David knows you can't stop God from knowing you, and he expresses that by expressing there's no play he can hide from God, that God knows our thoughts, that He knows what we are going to say... verse 6 is amazing!!! "Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot contain it" - wow - David expresses so well the unattainable place God is, the fact He is high, we can never expect to comprehend all that God is.  God knows us, and searches us no matter if we want him to or not.

He can do so because we are "fearfully and wonderfully made", our inner most parts constructed by God Himself.

All this acknowledgement of the hugeness and awareness of God leads David to verse 17, "How precious to me are your thoughts..." - if God is so amazingly above everything else, then His thoughts have to be the most precious thing we could ever experience - the thing we need to hold most dear.  It's only when we understand how amazing He is, then we will know all that comes from Him is the very best for us, and then as verses 19-22 show we see how utterly worthless the ways and words of the world are.

So that brings this amazing formula of an intimate relationship with God to conclusion...

• we grasp how God's power and greatness is beyond what we can ever imagine or understand.
• we accept He knows and searches us and there's no way we can hide anything from Him.
• we accept that is ok because we know He has created us and intrinsically knows and cares for us (even more so in the light of the Gospel and what Jesus has done for our salvation).
• we then see the foolishness of the world's point of view...

...and finally we invite God to search and know us. There's such a huge difference from just accepting God does know everything; to inviting Him to know everything.  Because when we invite Him, then we can ask Him to "see if there is any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting".

That is true intimacy with God.

DWYL - Chapter Six

What is the nature and aim of glad-hearted, Christian giving? It is the effort - with as much creativity and sacrifice as necessary - to give others everlasting and every-increasing joy? - joy in God. If God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him, as we argued in Chapter 2, then living for the glory of God must mean that we live to gladly make others glad in God. Our gladness and pursuit of  their gladness glorified God. And since gladness in God is the greatest and most lasting happiness, pursuing it is also love. Since the same joy in God both satisfies man and glorifies God, we never have to choose between the motive to love people or to glorify God. By gladly pursuing the gladness of others in God - even at the cost of our lives - we love them and honor God. This is the opposite of a wasted life.
~John Piper - DWYL, p102-103

This is where the rubber hits the road.  The point where something is laid out in front of you and you have a choice... a choice to agree or disagree... then a choice to change or not.

If you don't agree then there's no need for change.  If you agree but choose not to change I can't say I see any good in it.  If you agree, then to avoid any kind of hypocrisy or laziness you must then choose to change.

Chapter six is a real hinge point of the book. We have been motivated through chapters 1-5 to not have a wasted life, and here Piper outlines what the opposite of a wasted life is.  In the last chapters he will show us what we can practically do to not waste out life.

So chapter six leaves us at the point of decision.  Do I agree with the motivation, does it in fact move me to not waste my life in the way Piper outlines.  If you are motivated but don't change then you are either too lazy to do anything (which is a sin) or hypocritical because you expect others to do something you are not willing to (which is a sin).

So ask yourself the hard questions.  Do you think that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him? Are you motivated to glorify God?  Then why do you search for satisfaction elsewhere?  What has to change in your life so that you are most satisfied in God?

Because once that change happens and you act on your motivation, then the making others glad in God will be a natural by-product of you being totally satisfied in God.

You can hear the chapter six sermon here.

I did it...

The lame man could walk. The leper was healed. The shriveled hand was restored. All were miracles accomplished by the power of God. But what if each individual had taken the credit instead?
The lame man bragged, "I used to be a cripple, but I did a lot of physical training and over time I strengthened my legs so they could move on their own."
"I use to be a leper," another said, "but I cleaned myself constantly and eventually the spots went away."
The man who had the shriveled hand said, "I used to have a deformed hand, but I stretched it and put lotion on it every day for years and it healed."
Sounds ludicrous, doesn't it? Yet so often we take credit for blessings that come to us from God. Pride tells others that we accomplished the miracles in our lives - whether a healing, a renewed relationship, or some other success - on our own, when the credit belongs to God.
~Francis Chan

Oh Lord please take away my pride and allow me to always give you the credit and glory you deserve.

At the Cross

Needed this reminder this morning.

DWYL - Chapter Five

We missed our study last week due to my youth pastor retreat. So we have preached chapter six, but only covered chapter five last night in our Connection Group.

So you can listen to the chapter five sermon here.

Risk is Right.  Last night we talked all about good and bad risk. We simplified it down to having a child like faith in God. A child asks his daddy for lunch, fully expecting his father to be able to provide. There is no doubt in his mind that if he asks his daddy for lunch he will get something to eat.  That's child like faith seen as child like dependence.  However, the father knows what is best for the child, so while the child may want chocolate for lunch, the father instead provides a cheese sandwich.  There might be a little grumbling, but the child will eat what the father provides.  This is child like faith seen as child like acceptance that daddy knows best.

When it comes to risk, good risk happens when there is childlike dependence on God and childlike acceptance from God.  In that way we are in His plan.

Bad risk happens when we ignore dependence on God... or act in nonacceptance to His plan.

Consider the context of 2 Samuel 10. The Amalekites had shamed the messengers of Israel and made themselves odious in the sight of David. To protect themselves they had hired the Syrians to fight with them against the Israelites. Joab, the commander of Israel's forces, found himself surrounded with Amalekites on one side and Syrians on the other. So he divided his troops, put his brother Abiashai in charge of one troop of fighters and led the other himself.

In verse 11 they pledged to help each other. Then comes this great word in verse 12: "Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and mauy the LORD do what seems good to him." What do these last words mean, "May the LORD do what seems good to him"? It means that Joab has made a strategic decision for the cities of God, and he did not know how it would turn out. He had no special revelation from God on this issue. He had to make a decision on the basis of sanctified wisdom. He had to risk or run. He did not know how it would turn out. So he made his decision, and he handed the results over to God. And this was right.
~John Piper - Don't Waste Your Life - p82

DWYL - Chapter Four

We need a recap of the first three chapters before we can handle even the title of chapter four.  So remember in Chapter One we learnt that we need to search for a single passion to live by, that our own personal experiences aren't enough to develop a life that won't be a waste. There has to be something objective which we can grasp... cling to that gives us a single passion which will point to an unwasted life. We were introduced to the objective nature of Jesus, because in Chapter Two it was revealed that the Beauty of Christ is our ultimate joy. What Jesus has done for us is objective (it doesn't rely on any of our own personal experiences) and so we can look to Him as the ultimate truth, and He provides ultimate joy. And God is most glorified when we enjoy magnifying His Name.  In Chapter Three we then saw the very centre of the beauty of Jesus (which is our ultimate joy) is seen in the Cross of Christ.  What Jesus did on the cross is the ultimate act of love and grace... the most important objective thing that impacts our lives - so much so that anything else is a mere shadow and the cross is the single passion we must live by.

We need to remember all that, otherwise the title of Chapter Four will send us running for the hills. "Magnifying Christ through Pain and Death". Not something we might particularly look forward too... but why shouldn't we if we can magnify Jesus through it.  In some cases our timidness and scaredness of experiencing pain or suffering is the biggest hindrance to us sharing our faith.

Living to magnify Christ is costly. This is not surprising. He was crucified. He was treated like a devil. And he calls us to follow him. "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" (Mark 8:34).  He says it will probably not go better for us than for him. "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household" (Matthew 10:25).
But suffering with Jesus on the Calvary road of love is not merely the result of magnifying Christ; it is also the means. He is made supreme when we are so satisfied in him that we can "let goods and kindred go, this mortal like also" and suffer for the sake of love. His beauty shines most brightly when treasured above health and wealth and life itself. Jesus knew this. He knew that suffering... would be the path in this age for making him most visibly supreme. That is why he calls us to this. He loves us. And love does not mean making much of us or making life easy. It means making us able to enjoy making much of him forever - no matter what it costs.
~John Piper, DWYL, p61-62

Jesus tells us to go suffer because He loves us. A paradoxical idea to the world for sure, but Christians should realise that Jesus' love is shown when He gives us the opportunity to glorify Him (because we can always enjoy glorifying Him).

So the point a believer must come to is this; do you value Jesus about life itself?

Shine a Light of Slavery Day

Tomorrow - February 27th is 'Shine a Light of Slavery' Day.

The 27th is significant because there are currently 27 million people held in slavery today. What a horrible statistic!

"Awareness isn't everything, but without it, slavery will never end"
~Kristian Stanfill - Worship Leader, Passion City Church, Atlanta GA

That's what tomorrow is all about.  As a part of the END IT Movement I ask you to join me (and Kristian, and Louie Giglio, Chris Tomlin, and so many many others) in writing a red X on your hand.  As people inevitably ask why you have a red X on your hand you can then tell people the fact on slavery and that you are In It To End It!!!

Go to http://enditmovement.com and learn the facts... then tomorrow become an advocate.  Become part of the community by posting a photo to Instagram using #enditmovement and have a look at how many others want this generation to see the end of slavery... to see 27 million freed!

DWYL - Chapter Three

"If we desire that there be no boasting except in the cross, then we must live near the cross - indeed we must live on the cross. This is shocking. But this is what Galatians 6:14 says: "Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." Boasting in the cross happens when you are on the cross.  Is that not what Paul says? "The world has been crucified to me, and I [have been crucified] to the world." The world is dead to me, and I am dead to the world. Why? Because I have been crucified. We learn to boast in the cross and exult in the cross when were are on the cross. And until our selves are crucified there, our boast will be in ourselves."
~ John Piper - Don't Waste Your Life, p55

It is shocking! But sometimes we consider shocking things so often we become desensitized to them. As Christians do we end up taking this for granted, and we then end up not listening to Jesus when He says;

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me."
Luke 9:23

There's an important word in there that is forgotten when we become desensitized to the shockingness of putting ourselves on the cross... that word is daily.

Each day we need to lay down our lives... practically hang it on a cross and crucify it... allowing the resurrected life of Jesus to be our resurrection and guide our day.

That is shocking, but it is the only way not to live a wasted life.

[Listen to the Chapter Three sermon here]

Sermon - DWYL: The Beauty of Christ My Joy

This hadn't been uploaded in time for the Chapter 2 blog post.

DWYL: The Beauty of Christ My Joy

Click to listen to the sermon.

Being encouraged... and inspiring others!

I love the Winter Olympics, actually I enjoy regular Olympics too, but there is something special about seeing all the different sports in the Winter Games. When else do we sit and watch skiing, bobsleigh, curling, figure skating or ice hockey?

In regards to our Aussie athletes there seems to be a real ‘handing on of the baton’ as our first generation of really successful Winter athletes compete alongside a crop of young and first time competitors. Many of these young people are only in the sport because they were inspired by the success of the older Aussie athletes. These younger athletes have many years ahead of them to compete, and some have already found success—it gives a real positive outlook for the future of our Australian Winter Olympic team.

Hebrews 12:1 says

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run the race with endurance...” 

 Just like our Aussie Winter Olympic success encouraged young people to commit to the rigors of training and development (so they could achieve the same success), the witness of the faith of people who go before us encourages us to press on following God’s will so we can achieve the same success in bringing glory to His name.

Today think about who your heroes of faith are, who drives you to follow God till the very end? And then think about whether or not you are communicating your faith to younger people in such a way that it will inspire them to seek God’s will, follow Christ and spend their entire life glorifying His Name.

Tweet of the Week

❌ END IT ‏@enditmovement  5h

YOU are #enditmovement. Lets be the generation that says NO MORE SLAVERY. Together we can END IT. http://enditmovement.com/  ❌

This week my Twitter feed has been filled with tweets and retweets for the End It Movement.  27 Million people are still caught in slavery in our world today. What a horrible, horrible statistic!

End It is all about awareness. If more people are aware, more people will be disgusted... this is something we can't ignore, and we need to find ways to stop it.

Follow @enditmovement on Twitter and see what amazing work is being done world wide to put slavery to death!

I am in it to end it!

DWYL - Chapter Two

'The Beauty of Christ, My Joy': That's the title of this chapter and every Christian will acknowledge they know the truth of the statement - many of us have sung about it since Sunday School.  But where in our lives is that truth encapsulated??? Why are we depressed? Why are we stressed? Why do we give up? Why do we complain? How is the beauty of Christ being our joy reflected in ANY of that?

[Please don't think I am minimalising the seriousness of mental illness, but even so there is nothing completely helpless in this world]

It's one of those things we just acknowledge but don't apply... or we don't truly find that joy and we just say we do so we fit in.  Maybe the first step to finding Christ as your joy is to actually confess that at the moment He is not.

Last chapter we looked at a single passion to live by, but did you know God has a single passion which He lives by as well.  God lives to bring glory to God.  That sounds a little self centred - until you understand the nature of God.  God's nature is for Him to be totally true - which means He must do what is best, He must acknowledge what is best - and God's nature is also completely holy - which means He is set apart from everything else, because He is perfect, He is the best!

So if God is the best, and in His truth He has to point to the best, then logically, and naturally, He must point everyone to Himself.  It's not about ego, or arrogance, but it is about truth and wanting the best for everyone... it is just that the best He wants for everyone simply happens to be Himself.

With these discoveries I now felt free to affirm God's purpose for my life revealed ion the Bible. I didn't have to be afraid that I must choose between what is right and what is inevitable - between pursuing his glory and pursuing my joy. I was free to experience the single passion for God's supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples. I was rescued from the wasted life. Now life could have an ultimate meaning - the same meaning God's life has: enjoying and displaying his greatness.
~John Piper, Don't Waste Your Life, p37

Humans inevitably pursue their own happiness. That's our natural progression - to be happy.  For so many, they cannot align seeking their own happiness and glorifying God... what makes them happy could never bring God glory.  Many Christians fight with this as well, for some it means a wasted life - 60 years sitting in a church but constantly seeking your own happiness and having no Gospel effect.  For others it leads to complaining, stress and depression as they cannot find happiness on their own, knowing God can provide but still trying to do it themselves.

But what Piper is saying in this chapter, and the truth that is revealed in the Bible is that you can be happy pursuing God's glory.  Think about it... the reason God glorifies Himself is because He knows He is the best thing that could ever happen to us.  If God knows that - then we can experience it.  Through Jesus, our relationship with God is the BEST THING THAT CAN EVER HAPPEN TO US! We need to stop looking for more, because 'more' just disappoints. Spend your time contemplating that the beauty of what Jesus has done will bring you ultimate joy, and you won't be able to help but glorify God.

Whatever you do today, before you do it... remember the beauty of Christ - and what He has done for you - then do whatever you have to do, but do it to glorify God... and you will find your happiness and your passion to glorify God will become one and the same.