March 6th, 2010
- Do Good and Evil Have the Same Face?
Our Sunday reading was the Genesis account of Abram and Sarai, and I was totally struck by the aptness of the story toward this point: We can act in our own understanding (As Abram and Sarai conspired to produce their son Ishmael from Hagar the serving woman) or we can act on God’s understanding, (as the renamed couple later did when Isaac was miraculously born to 90 year old Sarah and Abraham).
- Two Decisions, Two World-Changing Consequences
From Ishmael sprang the 12 Princes that became the Arab nations, the prophet Muhammad (Mohammed or Muhammed), and the whole of Islam. From Isaac came down the 12 tribes of Israel, Moses the OT prophet and law-giver, and the line of King David which led to Jesus Christ, and to the whole of Christendom today.
Present world conflict consists largely in the Jihad, or holy war that Islam appears to want to impose on Christendom: The ongoing Taliban conflicts in Afghanistan; the never-ending Palestinian battle; the September 11 outrage and its endless aftermath of copycat terrorism and skirmishes with Al Qaeda. These are the visible outworking of that fundamental conflict. Hardline Muslim clerics preach endless messages themed around “death to Christians”; and the saying, “that the only good Christian is a dead Christian”, is usually attributed to the followers of Islam.
It is apparent to me that if we act in our own understanding we run the risk of making decisions with possible far-reaching and terrible consequences – likewise if we act on God’s understanding, we court the possibility of doing acts that can have equally far-reaching consequences, but they will be the outworking of God’s love in the world, as we obey.
Abram’s own decision, the one that produced Ishmael, taken 4000 years ago, is continuing to have a major impact on the world events of today. This is a very clear illustration of the promise God later made to Moses that the sins of the fathers would be visited on the later generations. It is a chilling reminder that we are called to bear the consequences of ALL we decide to do; and it is a timely reminder to be very sure that what we do do, is in direct response to the will of our Loving Heavenly Father!
Tags: Abram and Sarai, Christendom, Christian, Ishmael, Islam, Loving Heavenly Father, Muhommed (Mohammed), Muslim
Posted in Hearing from God | 4 Comments »
January 24th, 2010
If you are going to preach anything in this world, this has to be your number one topic: Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have no other valid message if we don’t preach this Gospel. The good news of Jesus’ life and resurection is the fundamental tenet that we hang all our teaching on. It is the root of our testimony; the whole basis of all Christian outreach; and the essential ingredient in How to Preach.
By definition the word Gospel denotes “the good news”, and of course the Good News is that Christ died to save us and is sitting at the right hand of God today. The Good News is too that we need only to confess Him as our Lord and Saviour, repent and be baptized to have our sins forgiven; to have eternal life; and to live with Him in all eternity.
It’s a funny thing, but we can’t preach without Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ TO OURSELVES! Whenever we ponder the Word; whenever we pray for wisdom and guidance to preach; whenever we contemplate spiritually; we are teaching and blessing ourselves as well. It has been said that whenever we preach we are preaching to ourselves as much as to others. This is true for me, I know, because whenever I prepare to preach, I enlarge my own understanding. Any revelation granted to me to share also remains within me.
- Preaching Spiritual Revelation
I believe in preaching spiritual revelation. I do not believe in studying up some subject and sermonizing a whole lot of other people’s opinion about it. To share spiritual revelation, you must first get it, and the only way I know to do this is to take your Bible into your ‘quiet place’ and start in praying and reading and allowing yourself to be ministered to by the Holy Spirit of God. The truths you discover in this context will be inspired revelation, and will effectively be “God speaking to His people”; when you stand up to share on Sunday morning.
- Throw Away Your Concordance!
You do not need a concordance, you do not need a book of scriptural reference; you do not need to look up a whole lot of stuff on the internet; and you certainly DO NOT need any theological books written by other people. God is never boring, and He would never insult His children by offering them second-hand goods; what He will do is inspire you to share your convictions, your testimony, and your own intimate knowledge of His Kingdom – IF YOU LET HIM! His offer to ‘provide all you need’ includes whatever anecdote or experience you will need. Any preacher who starts off like this: “A funny thing happened to me this week…..” will be sharing right out of their own Christian walk. It will be real! If God has called upon you to preach this Sunday, He will always have ALREADY PROVIDED you with what ever you need to make your points! You will be obedient, and you will be preaching the Gospels.
- The Gospel is All You Need
If your circumstance requires you to preach from lectionary readings, and for instance, you are required to be preaching the Gospel of John; then the only resource material you will need is that very same Gospel of John. Likewise if you are needed to be preaching the Gospel at Christmas; then again, the only resource materials you will need are those very Gospel advent stories.
Tags: eternal life, God speaking to His people, preaching the Gospel of John, Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to ourselves, repent and be baptized, the Good News
Posted in Preaching | 7 Comments »
January 17th, 2010
Which version of the Bible should I buy? This is pretty much the same question as is dealt with in the previous post, “Which version of the Bible should I Use?” It is almost the same as which version of the Bible is the best.
Given that the Bibel is the inspired word of God, and as Timothy says; “….all scripture is God-breathed; and is useful for correction, instruction…” etc; then it doesn’t matter which version you use, so long as you are comfortable with the language in it. What is important is that you use a version that has English (or whatever language) usage that doesn’t confuse you with old fashioned, or obscure terms.
- The Best Bible is the nearest one!
Buy a version that uses language you understand. It is that simple! To be blunt: the “best” Bible is the nearest one! What does matter is that you use it, and of course it is important that you use it prayerfully, so that the Holy Spirit of God can minister to you while you read and thereby enrich your understanding.
One preference that matters with me, is using the same version as my local fellowship. I believe that this matters, because people will more easily recognize quotations, if they all come from the same version. Identifying scripture passages as ‘coming from the Bible’ is helpful because we can ‘hear God’ talking to us if we have identified a given passage as being from the Bible.
So if you ask yourself which version of the Bible is right for me? You can be assured that that it is an easily answered question. Just pick one you like the look of and start in and use it!
Tags: best Bible, scripture is God-breathed, Which Version of the Bible Should I Buy
Posted in Hearing from God | 2 Comments »
December 12th, 2009
Preaching the gospel is what this site is all about, it is the driving force behind any quest for “how to preach”. The gospel preaching that comes from seeking and telling the inspired Word of God, by prayer, and by the inspiration of the Holy spirit of God is the only valid form of Gospel Preaching that you would want to preach.
I belong to a union church that uses the common Australian lectionary readings, and we follow these Sunday by Sunday, and over a period of three years the principal portions of the Bible are effectively covered. I was suspicious of this ‘formalised’ system at first, but I have come to see that God works within that system to illuminate His Word and to meet needs as they occur. It never fails to awe me that I can see retrospectively, that the Word that came out of those readings was entirely appropriate for that day and in that place.
Given the subject, or rather the Gospel passage, we next need to put His spin on it. We are not here to gallop forth on our own hobby horses, nor are we here to relate secondhand experience from others (Sermons out of a book, or worse, off the net!). What we are here for is to share the wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit of God. By prayerful contemplation, we are to discern what God intends to say on this very day, and we need to contemplate that, and to digest it ourselves, so we can share it out on Sunday morning.
Paul explained to the Corinthians in Chapter 15 Verse 26 26 This is what I mean, my friends. When you meet for worship, one person has a hymn, another a teaching, another a revelation from God, another a message in strange tongues, and still another the explanation of what is said. Everything must be of help to the church. that when we meet together we each bring something to share. It is the duty and the privelege of the preacher to bring “a revelation from God”. I take this very seriously, and I invite you to share this conviction, thus being totally sure that what you are bringing, is indeed the inspired Word of God. This word, based on the scriptures, enlightened by God’s Holy Spirit, becomes truly the Gospel Preaching we aspire to.
Tags: Gospel Preaching, Holy Spirit of God, lectionary reading, Preach The Gospel, revelation from God
Posted in Preaching | 4 Comments »
November 11th, 2009
- Evidence of The Holy Spirit
How can you discern the Holy Spirit in others? This question is very relevant to our growth and spiritual well-being. Why? – Because we need to know when what we are hearing is the inpired word of the Spirit of God. If we just accept everything we hear we will soon be led down the path of spiritual error.
There is one fool-proof test you can apply to determine if what you are hearing is spiritual truth; and that is this. Consider what James says here in Chapter 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. From this we can reliably infer that we MUST have a peace about what we are hearing. If you can apply all the tests in this Bible verse to what you hear, you can be confidant that what you are hearing is from the Holy Spirit of God – it will be full of mercy, good fruits, impartial and above all pure and peaceful.
There is one thing the devil CANNOT fake, and that is love. You may be hearing stuff that sounds very reasonable at the time, but if it leaves you with an unquiet spirit, then you can be assured that it is NOT from God. If what you see and hear makes you feel restless, discontented, anxious or worried, you can be confidant that it came from that other kingdom – the kingdom of darkness. God is Love: Therefore anything from God must be pure; have an underlying theme of love, and leave you with a feeling of peace.
Jesus gave us a very reliable and simple test to apply when we are not sure what we are confronted with. In effect, He said; “Look at the fruit to see what sort of a tree it is” [Matt 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? .......20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them]. So if the visible fruit in the life of the person you are listening to are the fruits of Love, Joy, Peace, etc, of the Spirit, described in Galations, then you can be sure that the Spirit of God is directing that person’s life.
Tags: discern the holy spirit, Evidence of The Holy Spirit, fruit of the Spirit, Holy Spirit of God, spiritual error, spiritual truth, Unquiet Spirit
Posted in The Holy Spirit | 12 Comments »
October 12th, 2009
- How to Preach With Conviction
Preach With Power
How to preach with power;
Preaching with conviction;
How to know what to preach;
How to preach a good sermon; – these questions, and others like them are asked here all the time, so I now want to try and answer this point on how to Preach with conviction.
- Testify from Experience and Knowledge
For me, the conviction has to shine through from what I know, from what I have experienced, from what the Spirit is telling me now, today. When you testify, the conviction is there in your voice because of course you must believe your own testimony, and your listeners will recognize that conviction. You are telling what you KNOW! You are the ‘first hand’ witness.
- Conviction and Power From The Spirit
The other real source of power and conviction in your preaching is the Holy Spirit of God. When you have prayed about what you are to speak on, when you have allowed the Spirit to illuminate your understanding of the scripture, then the power and conviction will be present and they will come shining through.
God will never argue against Himself, so if what you are saying is based on pure scripture, and is expanding from that, then you have the confidence that it must be right. You know how it goes; God said it, I believe it! If you are quoting scripture, you are quoting God. I believe, along with Timothy [2 Timothy 3:16]All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness that The Bible is the inspired Word of God, and that is something you really can Preach with Conviction.
Tags: inspired word of God, power from the Spirit, preach a good sermon, preach with conviction, preach with power, the power of scripture
Posted in How to Preach, Preaching | 10 Comments »
September 17th, 2009
- Seek First The Kingdom
This was the question asked here this morning; “How do you seek first the kingdom of heaven?” It’s an easy thing to say; “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God“; but not so easy to understand, and harder still to put into practice! It is a companion verse to Psalm 1: Verse 2, that says;”But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night“.
My understanding of this text is based on this assumption: That I can, and do, have constant dialog with God [How Do I Pray] as I perform my daily routines. This being so, it is not so hard to consult with God about everything I do. Prayer, which is no more than conversation with God, need not always be formal, but can be frequent simple [mental] communion with Him, and in this way, it is quite easy to get His guidance on anything we might feel led to do, and as we do it, we will indeed “seek first His Kingdom“.
- Developing Mind Patterns.
If we cultivate the habit of constantly referring everything we do to Him, then it will become a habit of mind, a behavioural pattern that will shape our lives and eventually fulfill the two texts above that speak about seeking first the Kingdom of Heaven, and meditating on His law both by day and by night.
Why bother, you might ask?. I’m so glad you asked this question, because it goes to the root of our entire Christian motivation. Check out Psalm 1 “1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” where in Verse 3 it describes the life style of a person who does this – Wow! This is some promise, where you are guaranteed that everything you do will prosper! And again in the other scripture from Matthew 6: “25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. where the promise is that all these things [food, clothing, etc] will be added unto us. Wow again!
It is perfectly splendid to have everything you do prospering and to have “all these things” added unto you;” but the real pay-off, the “double whammy”, comes in the side effect of your obedience, the fact that you will be living in near perfect obedience, and thereby living a wholly fulfilled Christian live. Hallelujah!
Tags: Dialog with God, Seek Ye First, The Kingdom of Heaven
Posted in Hearing from God, Preaching | 4 Comments »
September 2nd, 2009
- How to Preach Without Sermon Notes
Preaching Without Notes is all to do with faith. If you are prepared to step out in faith, and say; “OK Lord, I will do this”; then you can do it.
The method I use to preach without sermon notes is outlined in the post “How to Preach“. It simply consists in prayerful preparation. It is outside of the scope of this post to talk about “What to Preach“; so we will assume that your subject is already decided. Now do this:
- Go into your quiet place and prayerfully contemplate the chosen subject/scripture. If you give Him the chance, the Holy Spirit will put ideas into your mind that are pertinent to the subject – and He may suggest passages of scripture that further illustrate the point in hand
- Examine these ideas/passages as they are offered, and the subject will expand and become whole.
- Continue this process until the flow of inspiration dries up.
God treats each of us in a manner suited to our personal learning nature, and very much as individuals; so you may require many sessions over several days to get a complete “handle” on your subject, or you may find the whole sermon drops complete into your consciousness.
I usually start at the beginning of the week by reading the allotted lectionary readings. There is always a common thread contained in the given readings and that decides the subject for sharing on Sunday morning. I need to have chosen the accompanying songs by Wednesday to allow the “musos” plenty of time to practice, so by the time that is done, the selected readings are digested and printed out for the scripture readers, and the order of service is set out, then the “bones” of the subject are already in mind.
I then use whatever “free” time I have during the rest of the week, and devote it to contemplation of the points already in mind. It is both surprising and enjoyable to find other little pieces of relevant material coming to mind during moments of mental free time, like in the shower, or waiting for someone, or whatever occasions there may be when the mind can be [prayerfully] open to suggestion.
I do not attempt to organise this material into a structured whole, but instead rely on the prompting of the Holy Spirit when I begin to speak. This allows some flexibility to “change direction” in mid flow as may be needed, and is truly a way to preach without notes.
Tags: How to Preach, Prayerful Preparation, preach without notes, prompting of the Holy Spirit, quiet place, Spirit led
Posted in How to Preach | 4 Comments »
August 27th, 2009
- Old Testament Armor Bearer
All Old Testament references to armor refer to actual armor as worn by soldiers in battle. Here are are some typical references. Judges 9:54-56 Abimelech – his armor -bearer. 
1 Samuel 14:6 Jonathan- his young armor -bearer.
1 Samuel 16:21 Saul – David became one of his armor -bearers.
1 Samuel 15:5-7 Goliaths Armor – 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels (about 57 kilograms); 6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7 His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. (about 7 kilograms) His shield bearer went ahead of him.
1 Samuel 17 38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.
1 Samuel 31:4 Saul – his armor bearer refused to execute him.
1 Samuel 31: 10 They (the Philistines) put his (Saul) armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths…………..
- Metaphorical Armor – Armor of God
The New Testament references to God’s armor are all metaphorical, where the item of armor represents some tool or weapon used by a spiritual warrior in God’s kingdom, and becomes part of the armor of God. In Romans 13:12 12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. Paul likens the “light” to armor and further suggests we “clothe ourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ“.
In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul is listing the characteristics of ministers of God and he refers to righteousness as armour* – 7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left….
Then in Ephesians 6 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints Paul is likening the separate items of armor to each of the main characteristics of a spiritual warrior. The full set represents the whole armor of God.
It is from the Ephesians chapter about God armor that we get the concept of a spiritual armor, where a spiritual warrior is clad in the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, bears the sword of truth, which is the Word of God, and goes forth with feet shod with the gospel of peace.
A spiritual Armor Bearer therefore is one who carries such armor, and is ready to come to the aid of a spiritual warrior as required and when needed.
* English spelling of armor = armour. (as used in KGV Translations above)
Posted in armor-bearer | 1 Comment »
Which Version of the Bible?
January 10th, 2010Some will argue that the original King James Bible version is more accurate, and some will argue that the King James Bible language is so out of date as to be almost impossible to understand. Americans tend to stick to the ASV(American Standard Version) which names God as “Jehovah”, rather than the slightly confusing “Lord”, so prolific in other translations. It contains some archaic word forms, but is still much easier to understand than the old KJV.
I tend to use the online Bible today because it is so easy to copy and paste anything I want to refer to later on. Having the Bible online is so good when it comes to searching for some text you can’t quite remember where to find. I used to have a disk with a lot of different translations and versions, but it took up a bit of space, and didn’t always work properly. Today there are many sites offering the Bible “online”, and it is faster to click their icon on my desktop, and start right in browsing.
Bible study with the World Wide Web is so easy when you can use any Bible commentary you fancy, attend Bible school, and do any Bible studies, take any Bible lessons you want – all on line, and all FREE!
However, to get back to the original question: “Which Version of the Bible should I use?” Here is the answer. It is quite irrelevant which version you use, provided you allow the Holy Spirit of God to illumine the Word as you read. Our God is perfectly able to make you understand what He means, regardless of your reading ability, or what version you use. As the Word says in 2 Timothy 3:16; “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness…..” If you take that on board, then it follows that however you may be sampling His Word, IT WILL WORK!
So this it what you do…. “then grab your Bible [any Bible], and head for your quiet place and just ‘wait on Him‘; and His Truth will be revealed to you. By all means buy a Bible version or Bible translation that you are comfortable with, but don’t worry about whether it is ‘accurate’ or not – the only thing for you to be concerned about is your own understanding of what you are reading therein. If you are being ‘helped’ by the Holy Spirit of God as you read, your understanding will be perfect!
Tags: Bible commentary, Bible online, Bible school, Bible studies, Bible translation, Holy Bible, Holy Spirit of God, King James Bible, KJV, the Bible
Posted in Hearing from God | 4 Comments »