I sometimes find myself caught in the trap of procrastination because I feel tension around making a decision. This tension can be because I’m waiting for more information but it can also be because I’m wanting to avoid making a mistake or avoid receiving criticism.

The reality is, while more information may or may not come, I more than likely have all the information I need right now and I just need to act upon it. In making a decision, you need to get as much information as possible and then move forward on the decision. Your information can come from the bible, people, books, google or God (in some cases all of them are needed) but decisiveness is ultimately needed.

What are you procrastinating on and why? Get on with it. Make a decision, stop wasting more time by avoiding the necessary. There is too much at stake for you to delay what you know you need to do.

Grace!

I’m very amused

It seems like criticism follows the individual who goes too far (in some people’s minds) but never follows the individual who isn’t prepared to go further than their thoughts. It’s far easier to hide in the shadows, then stand on a dock and give a reason for the hope that you have.

When it comes to the office of the sacred desk, there is no place for political correctness. Line up John the Baptist, the Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ against the majority of us preachers and we fall far behind their commitment to speaking the truth in love. Keep in mind, all three were killed by their enemies. There’s a price to pay for speaking the truth, even in love.

I’m not advocating arrogant rants or angry outbursts or being offensive for the sake of it (although a good shout in the pulpit, every now and then doesn’t hurt), I’m calling for a commitment to speaking and living God’s truth with Christ-like compassion, love, wisdom AND boldness.

Any preacher worth their salt will eventually have a long line of people wanting to offer their opinion on what they could do better or do away with.

Why? Cause the cross is folly to those who are perishing and Christ continues to be a stumbling block of offense for many people. When a preacher is committed to letting the biblical text speak for itself and systematically working through the bible, at some point, it’s going to hit a raw nerve. Preacher, rather than shying away from it, run to it and embrace it. It’s your job to herald such a gospel.

I pray for God’s grace, wisdom and boldness to mark gospel preachers everywhere to declare the full counsel of God’s Word without fear or favor, and to the end of God’s glory and the salvation of people’s souls, let the pulpit be a place of political incorrectness.

Grace! (Matt 13:57; Rom 9:33; Gal 5:11; 1 Peter 2:8)

Australia

Throughout history other nations like Wales, Scotland, England, Nigeria, Argentina, South Korea and the USA have been awakened by God’s Spirit working through the proclamation of the gospel and the prayers of the saints.

Australia is one of the most popular and prosperous nations across the world and yet we are one of the most spiritually impoverished nations on the planet. We are steeped in materialistic comfort and spiritual apathy. We are consumed with our houses and holidays and care little for eternal matters. While we seemingly have everything, we seem to be more bored and miserable than ever before.

I had the privilege of visiting Calcutta, India in 2012 with Compassion Australia and had one of the Indian professional development program students comment, “I want India to become like Australia because Australia is heaven.” I understood where he was coming from but I thought to myself, “Ahh, you probably wouldn’t think this if you knew the spiritual climate in my nation.” I remember hearing Ps Wayne Cordeiro respond to a Chinese Christian on a ministry trip to China when it was said to him, “I’m praying that China will become like America”, Wayne said, “Well, I’m praying that America will become like China.”

There is the misguided perception that western nations like the USA and Australia have it all going on for them. While this may be true from a material perspective, it is very far from the truth when it comes to the decline in mission, church attendance and biblical fervency.

I have a strong conviction that Australia needs pastors, preachers and believers to remain on these shores and pray and proclaim the gospel and plant churches like never before. We are more pagan than ever before but never has there been such an opportunity in our history when the church can rise up and march forward into mission engagement than right now.

We are facing the same dynamics of the early church in the book of Acts. It’s in these pagan lands that the faithful, powerful proclamation of the Gospel abounds in much fruit and kingdom advancement. I refuse to believe that just because the spiritual plains seem harder here than other lands, that the Holy Spirit can’t move as he has in other countries throughout history. We have got to stop making excuses and continuing contending for the gospel, whilst we contextualize it in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart,  Darwin and beyond.

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chron 7:14)

Grace!

The theme was “Preaching to be heard” and the key special guest was Ed Stetzer from the USA who is a missiologist and President of LifeWay Research. Mikey Lynch from University Fellowship of Christians (University of Tasmania) also shared on Preaching Knowing Nothing.

Ed challenged us on engaging culture by embracing biblical preaching, Christ-centered preaching and contextual preaching. He exhorted us to commit to biblical authority and cultural engagement. I was reminded that I must contend for the faith but also contextualize my faith in the culture I live in.

Expository preaching, as a term, isn’t found in the bible but because the bible is what it is, we expound it to let the text speak for itself and not force the text to fit in with our pre-conceived ideas. A lot of contemporary preaching has become platform therapy or topical opinions, rather than simply letting the text speak for itself. At Activate Church, we are committed to expository preaching. This looks like preaching through books of the bible 75% of the year and preaching thematically or doctrinally 25% of the year. The goal is to let God speak for himself and remove the barriers to people hearing God in a clear and compelling way.

In a culture where the authority of the bible is under-minded, sometimes, even in the pulpit, conferences like this are too important to dismiss. If you are remotely interested in preaching or you are a pastor preaching week in and week out plan to attend Xpose Preaching in 2013. You will benefit greatly for doing so.

Grace!

Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God written by J.I. Packer is a classic book, first published in 1961. It answers with biblical evidence the questions, “If God is in control of everything, can Christians sit back and not bother to evangelize? Or does active evangelism imply that God is not really sovereign at all?” Important questions from an important book. Packer answers them brilliantly from the bible.

quote of the week

“The Gospel isn’t about what you did but about what Christ has already done.” (Ed Stetzer)

moment of the week

My soon to be published video interview with Allan Meyer was a highlight for the week. His insights into life and ministry are brilliant and very helpful. He is also very funny.

news of the week

Hillsong Church is coming to plant in Melbourne late 2012, early 2013. Great for the city and the body of Christ in Melbourne.

This exercise is perhaps one of the most important and demanding activities that you could ever engage in. Your T-Shirt statement is the BIG Idea narrowed down into one, pithy, overarching sentence that brings definition and meaning to your world. You must be able to fit it onto a T-Shirt. Your T-Shirt statement is all about bringing focus to your life and purpose to your activities.

Every month I interview a leader from across the Body of Christ and my last question is always, “What is your T-Shirt statement?” I get a range of answers, including scripture verses, motivational statements and ‘one word’ answers. Regardless of the form they come in, they all mean something significant to the people sharing them.

Your T-Shirt statement will be different to mine and it should be. You are a different and unique person to me and every other person on the planet. Whatever it is, are you living it, embodying it and sharing it with the world around you? Would the people you work with and live with be able to identify you by your T-Shirt statement?

Your T-Shirt statement is likely to change in different seasons of your life. As you mature and grow, you will develop more and more clarity around your BIg Idea, so don’t feel like you have to get the perfect statement. Just work with what’s burning in your heart and mind currently.

Let me share with you my T-Shirt Statement?

“I’m a nobody, telling everybody about somebody.”

I would love to get feedback from you on what your T-Shirt statement is. Send in your T-Shirt statements via comments and wear your T-Shirt proudly.

Grace!

How we approach this issue is largely determined by how we read the bible. I think it’s important that we not talk about anything of significance, regardless of the issue, unless we acknowledge the need to be absolutely dependent on God’s revelation of himself through the Scriptures. This creates a heart of humility in us as we approach any issue.

Without the bible, believers would be as lost as anyone else. Had God not revealed himself to us, we would be blinded by our own sinfulness. R. Albert Mohler suggests, “The gift of God’s revelation explains why Christians have something distinctive to say.” The authoritative and perfect knowledge of life, especially sex is revealed in the Scriptures.

The Bible doesn’t present humanity with a multiplicity of optional sexual lifestyles but what it does do is present marriage as a mandate and receiving the mandate requires that we obey God’s commands as the best and only intelligent way to live. The bible’s commands and guidelines help us guard against our propensity toward destruction because of our inherent sinfulness. The Genesis account and beyond gives us a clear understanding of how God’s glory is to be displayed in creation, including the coming together of a man and a woman in marriage.

When it comes to the issue of homosexuality, the bible is clear and unequivocal. 1 Corinthans 6:9-10, Romans 1 and Jude 7 all comprehensively and candidly identifies homosexual acts and even desire as sin. While many liberal theologians and homosexual advocates have attempted interpretive maneuvers to subvert the plain teaching of Scripture, the bible stands firm in its rejection of such reductionism. Rather than performing interpretive gymnastics to justify our sinful behaviour and make ourselves feel better, we should be simply allowing the bible to speak for itself.

R. Albert Mohler states, “If the bible doesn’t speak clearly to the issue of homosexuality, it doesn’t speak clearly to anything.” The bible calls us to be concerned as believer’s to see all sinners, including homosexual sinners, come to terms with their total depravity and turn in repentance toward God and embrace the grace of God through the gospel.

We are called to be utterly dependent upon the authority of Scripture because the fallen human mind is supremely capable of infinite rationalization. The principle of Sola Scriptura (Scripture Alone) applies to the question of homosexual marriage, as it does to everything else.

Grace!

Whilst I know that my own performance doesn’t earn me any brownie points with God, I do have a deep desire and conviction that spending time with Jesus on a daily basis is fundamental to everything called LIFE.

Allan gave an interesting insight into his own journey with devotions and identified the need for an upgrade in his current devotional life. He commented on the seasons of intensified prayer that lasted 7 years post a visit to Yonggi Cho’s praying church in Seoul, Korea. He reflected on the impact of his son’s poor life choices on his devotional life and how it was brought to a standstill by his anger and confusion with his sons behaviour. He reflected on the SOAP method of devotions (Journalling through Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer). Allan’s response to my question was very revealing and very helpful.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind:

It’s unique – How you connect with God will be different to how others connect with God. While, I think, there are some fundamental keys to knowing God better, we are all wired up in different ways and will express our worship and love for God accordingly.

It’s seasonal – How you engage with God in one season might be different to how you connect with him in another season. Rather than building a tradition that is inflexible, build a lifestyle of intimacy that reflects what God is doing in you in each season of your life.

It requires a daily appointment – You can connect with God anywhere at anytime but I have observed and found for myself that If I schedule it in my diary, it is far more likely to happen than if I simply hope or wish for it to happen. For me I get up early each morning, because I am more of an morning person and I spend a couple of hours meeting with God.

It could look something like the following – Reading through a daily bible reading plan or a book of the bible, praying what’s on your heart, prayer walking, worshipping God while listening to music, watching or listening to a sermon podcast, reading a book that compliments your bible reading, viewing blogs and articles that point you toward Jesus, meditating on one verse of the bible for an extended period of time and then sitting in silence and allowing God to speak to you out of it… The possibilities are endless, however, I would suggest that the foundation of whatever you do is built on a daily dose of Scripture and prayer.

It will occasionally need an upgrade – Anything we do can become stale if we don’t continually pay attention to it. What served you well last year, might not serve you well this year. Don’t be content to go through the motions but refresh your devotional life and ask God to give you an upgrade in your intimacy with him.

It must focus on Jesus – The hero of the story is Jesus. Anything that brings you closer to Jesus and connects your heart to his and refocuses your mind on him is worthy of pursuing. The Holy Spirit guides us into the way, the truth and the life of Jesus.

Grace!

As I have reflected on this many times in my own preaching ministry, I think about Jesus’ words in John 10:10 “The devil comes to steal, kill and destroy but I have come that you may have life and have it in all of its’ fulness.” Unfortunately, some of us have wrongly mis-interpreted this verse through our western context and concluded that God’s goal for us is our happiness, which surely must mean, health, wealth and prosperity… Ah, NOT!

As I read the Scriptures, I don’t find the emphasis of my personal comfort being consistent with the biblical account of Jesus’ life or the Apostle Paul’s life or any of the other apostle’s life, for that matter, as is recorded in the New Testament. Money, success and well-being are all gifts from God and should be stewarded accordingly but God’s goal for me isn’t the obtaining of these things, alone. Me becoming more and more like him is his goal and this can be accomplished through a variety of circumstances and dare I say it, is often accomplished rather well through suffering.

The joy of the Lord is my strength but God’s joy is available whatever I am facing or going through, not just when things are going my way. As preachers, our goal should be to be faithful to the text and expose what the text is simply declaring in the most compelling way possible, not to proselytize people to a mirage of false hope.  As pastors, our goal should be to lead people into Christ-likeness and a biblically based worldview that equips them to grow in spiritual maturity and gospel grace, not to encourage growth in spiritual immaturity.

Churches that promise happiness and bliss to their congregation alone, if they follow Jesus and perform for him are setting people up for massive disillusionment. Following Jesus in the real world does fill me with joy but sometimes I do face circumstances that are quite the opposite of happy. When a close family member of mine attempted suicide in 2001, I wasn’t happy. When I didn’t get the outcome I was hoping for as a budding athlete, I didn’t feel warm, happy fuzzies. When I get criticized and ostracized by others for my faith in Jesus and commitment to my calling, I don’t necessarily feel happy but my joy in Christ remains intact.

What’s your goal in life? If happiness is your goal, then you will live a misdirected and self-pre-occupied life but if God’s goal of Christ-likeness and knowing him is your goal then you will live life on purpose. Refuse to settle for anything less.

Grace! (Video Interview will be uploaded very soon)

I read an interesting book this week titled, “The pastor as scholar and the scholar as pastor”. It’s co-authored by John Piper and Don Carson. The book has grown out of a conference on the subject many years ago held in Chicago. It’s broken up into two parts and written as a testimonial and personal reflection on the topic from the two authors. It particularly interests me because of the current emphasis on pragmatics in pastoral leadership and the de-emphasizing of the theological and scholarly responsibility of the pastor. This book responds to this issue.

quote of the week

“If you think you are too small to make a difference, you’ve never been in a tent with a mosquito.” Unknown

moment of the week

My wife and I deciding to embrace a radical relocation that would ensure we would save a lot of money so we can purchase our own property in 12 months time. Eyes on the goal.

news of the week

Special guest speaker Sy Rogers confirmed to speak at Activate Church Friday 30th march to Sunday 1st April. Very excited.