GOD SHOWED UP!

(November 13, 2019) Robert and Maureen McQuillan encourage expectation of the unexpected…

Remember the ‘The Spirit showed up!’ catchcry of a few decades ago when the Holy Spirit had freedom to move in any meeting he chose… and did?

A catchcry, yes, but an acknowledgement that God had moved in the church service and blessed his people through supernatural actions by his Holy Spirit! And Jesus was glorified.

At times it seemed that if the blessed Holy Spirit hadn’t ‘showed up’ the pastor, Bible teacher, evangelist, guest speaker or whoever would have floundered over whatever he or she was presenting!

And also at times, it all seemed a big surprise when the Spirit ‘did show up’ and a miracle or a healing happened, or prophetic words and words of knowledge were uttered (spoken genuinely and meaningfully!) and a wonderful dimension of heavenly bliss descended.

Others sayings come to mind… for example, ‘God shows up when you least expect it’ and ‘Everything was lost but out of the blue God showed up and saved the day.’

Yes we confess that we too have used the ‘God showed up’ expression… but only in the sense of acknowledging and confirming that God the Holy Spirit had done something wonderful, not us or any church leader or preacher alone.

Actually the reality of church life is that we should always be expecting the all-powerful third person of the Godhead to ‘show up’ with power at every meeting, not just Sunday morning, and bless us as we worship our Saviour Jesus and exalt our heavenly Father. (more…)

A BRAVE NEW WORLD AWAITS?

(October 26, 2019) Dr Jim McClure, straight shooting theologian, challenges brave Christians…

In 1931 the author Aldous Huxley wrote a novel called Brave New World (a phrase he borrowed from William Shakespeare). In his novel Huxley presented an alarming vision of the future.

But not even Huxley imagined a world intent on self-destruction by pursuing goals and embracing tainted ideals that ultimately result in dehumanisation.

Age of deception
We are living in an age when a spirit of deception is sweeping the world and millions of people are being caught up in it.

Atheistic Marxist philosophy, which is committed to social transformation, has penetrated and perverted a wide range of social values and scientific theory with the inevitable consequence of social instability and hostility.

How effective the media has been in disseminating this false gospel of social manipulation –

  • Movies and television series frequently (and inevitably) include sub-agendas that drip-feed incorrect information and corrupt values with the purpose of radically changing good and Godly principles that have served individuals and nations well for many centuries.
  • Television, radio and newspaper reports are increasingly interpretations of facts designed to shape the opinions of those who want to know what is really happening in the world. A duplicitous use of adjectives and adverbs in those news reports often corrupts the information from the dissemination of ‘facts’ to ‘propaganda.’

(more…)

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN

(October 24, 2019) Robert and Maureen McQuillan share…

Funny title again this month too…  just to get you thinking!

A few weeks ago an email article arrived from a stranger – obviously a minister pf the good news of Jesus Christ – expressing his delight to be in good health once again and able to post encouraging blogs. Evidently he’d been ‘out of ministry circulation’ for a couple of years and was now knowing a release within and sensing fresh purpose in God.

Something very important too… he felt that he really knew that he had something important to say, to share in his new blog writings that would bless people.

(Robert shares from here…). Must say that the other Sunday in ministering at a great church I had similar feelings! After not having ministered in a church for a couple of years I felt, I knew in my heart, that I had something important to share that was timely in God and would challenge, bless and encourage.

And that’s what happened… as confirmed not only in my heart by the Holy Spirit but several times by the inviting pastor and his wife. And by those receiving not just from me but from the Holy Spirit!

Oh, what a feeling!
That jovial line may be the catchcry of a certain motor company but it describes what I sensed in my spirit that Sunday – and in a church where English wasn’t the common denominator! (more…)

LIGHT OF THE WORLD ILLUMINATES THE DARKNESS

(October 22, 2019) Carol Round encourages us to let our Christianity shine forth in a needy world round us…

My neighbours were excited to show me the photos and video of the ten tiny turtles they’d rescued. They’d observed the mother turtle laying her eggs in their yard sometime in mid-summer.

To prevent predators from digging up the eggs, the couple placed an old metal crate over the site and marked it with a fake flower. When I enquired about their new yard ornament on one of my daily walks, I learned about the eggs and was excited about the approaching due date.

Days, weeks and months passed until the couple decided they would dig up the nest. They knew the eggs should have already hatched.

Digging in the darkness
Using a trowel, the couple began digging up the dirt. Roots impeded their progress, but eventually they rescued the hatchlings. As dusk gave away to early darkness, they needed a flashlight to wash the small reptiles.

After removing the dirt from the tiny bodies, the couple placed each turtle into a plastic container. Walking to the nearby lake, they lowered the container into the water to allow the turtles to swim out on their own. The couple thought their rescue mission was over.

However, the turtles kept swimming to the shore where the couple’s wife was shining a flashlight. Then, it dawned on her that the turtles were attracted to the light. Turning the flashlight’s beam toward the lake and moving it gradually away from the shore did the trick. The ten siblings swam away.

The creation of light
Hearing the story of the baby turtles following the light, I was reminded of the many times ‘light is mentioned in scripture. In John 8:12, Jesus tells the Pharisees, ‘I am the light of the world.’ (more…)

MAF PLANE TAIL CHEWED BY HUNGRY HYENA

(October 22, 2019) Michael Ireland, media missionary, shares about an unusual rescue mission in Mozambique…

Roger Clark of Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) says: ‘I was in central Mozambique helping with a long inspection of an MAF Cessna 206 when the call came in from the Niassa Game Reserve in the far north of the country, nearly up into Tanzania.

‘MAF has long supported conservation work in this, the largest game (animal) reserve in Africa. The Wildlife Conservation Society flies their Cessna 206 in this 42,000 square kilometre reserve, providing anti-poaching and game counting flights. Now their airplane was grounded and they needed help.

Mechanic urgently needed in a poor country
Clark said it was a treat to be back in his old stomping grounds of South Africa, Lesotho, and for the first time, Mozambique.

‘MAF Moz has been around for 20 years, serving one of the poorest countries in the world. A country whose flag features an assault rifle, a lingering symbol like the lingering effects the 16-year civil war had on Mozambique’s 30 million people.’

Roger continued: ‘Last year I heard that their Cessna 206 was down for a long inspection and had hoped that I could go and help get it done, as they are short staffed, especially short on mechanics.’

Clark’s health kept him home last year, but he was surprised to hear that the plane was still languishing for a mechanic this year. ‘Feeling good, I made plans to head to Moz in April. My main goal was to complete the landing gear portion of what we call a 1000-hour inspection,’ he says. (more…)

WE CAN MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

(October 22, 2019) Dr George Forbes, missionary statesman, brings an encouragement from his heart as he shares some personal memories…   

So often we hear great challenges from missionaries and pastors calling for Christians to make a difference for Jesus in this darkened world and to help build the kingdom of God. But, sadly, many of us belittle ourselves, thinking how could we make a difference?

Let me share something personal about myself, recalling some of ‘my story and journey’ so as to encourage readers who feel inadequate – or are wondering what God wants of them, what can they offer…

More than fifty years ago God revealed to me that we all can make a world of difference. Back then I was a new convert and knew little of God’s word and will. But… I can still remember clearly the moment after an inspiring service at a Christmas Christian camp when a man of faith laid his hands on me and prophesied that I could make a world of difference.

Me? Me? I had never been out of Australia!

But then, as his prophecy was concluding, I saw a vision of hundreds of thousands of people from multiplied nations around the world. Kevin Conner, who prophesied over me, finished with the words: ‘You will go to the nations, where God will use you for his glory.’

(more…)

THIEVING – WORSE THAN MURDERING?

(September 25, 2019) Robert and Maureen McQuillan share some ‘Food for thought’…

Well – did that this blog’s title get your attention or not? Probably did. So what’s it all about? Let’s share the background – and then bring out some challenges…

It’ll soon be two months since we moved into our new home in Melbourne and a thoughtful man called the other day to do some maintenance just as we were going out to an appointment that couldn’t be cancelled.

Now we’d already meet this chap and ‘liked what we’d seen’ – so we made a decision to allow him to work away in our home even though we wouldn’t be there. Asking him to kindly lock up, we quipped, ‘Of course security cameras are everywhere so our “millions of dollars” will be safe!’

We were joking of course – but his response blew us away! Looking us straight in the eye he said very seriously: ‘You know what… I’d rather be caught as a murderer than as a thief. Thieving is a terrible thing!’

Wow! Thieving worse than murder in his vocabulary and he’s not a churchgoer! Our new friend got us thinking… of wrongdoing from God’s point of view! For example… a lie of any kind, big or small, is still considered a lie by God and any crime is a crime. In his eyes a sin is a sin whether it’s murder or stealing.

Thieving – it’s off grounds for God’s people!
Dictionaries described this word to mean the activity of stealing. That’s thieving in a nutshell! (more…)

GRUMBLING, COMPLAINING, CRITICISING – TOOLS USED BY SATAN

(September 23, 2019) Dr Jim McClure, straight shooting theologian, shares …

In 586 BC the Babylonian army invaded Judah and laid siege to Jerusalem for a year and a half. The suffering experienced by the people of Jerusalem was intense. The prophet Jeremiah, who lived through those turbulent times, graphically and painfully described what conditions were like in the city of Jerusalem during this time in the book of Lamentations.

In chapter 4 verses 4-6, 9 and 10 he wrote, ‘They let their babies die of hunger and thirst; children are begging for food that no one will give them.  People who once ate the finest foods die starving in the streets; those raised in luxury are pawing through garbage for food. My people have been punished even more than the inhabitants of Sodom, which met a sudden downfall at the hands of God. …  Those who died in the war were better off than those who died later, who starved slowly to death, with no food to keep them alive. The disaster that came to my people brought horror; loving mothers boiled their own children for food’ (GNB).

That horror came to an unimaginable end in 586 BC when the Babylonian army crashed through the city walls and razed the city to the ground. There was not much of it left. Jerusalem was ransacked, the magnificent temple that Solomon had built was totally destroyed and the inhabitants of the city were either killed or exiled to Babylon.  Their joyful songs that were intended to be sung when entering the temple to worship could no longer be sung by the exiles as the temple lay in ruins 1500km away.  And, Jerusalem, the city the psalmist described as ‘beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. … the city of the Great King’ (Psalm 48:2) was now a heap of rubble. (more…)

POSSIBILITIES UNLIMITED   

(September 20, 2019) Dr George Forbes, missionary statesman, reflects on a great biblical truth…      

The truth recorded in various verses of the Bible is that God himself is the source of possibilities that are unlimited.

From creation on through every generation God’s everlasting arms have lifted up and encouraged so many. He has been a refuge for troubled, hurting men, women and children, more times than can be numbered. The Almighty God of heaven and earth cares so much for us… all because of his love for us. 

But… sadly too often God’s love has been ignored and even rejected by proud sinful humankind – yet he made us, provided for us, patiently waited for our hearts to change and turn to him for fellowship and help. It is his unlimited love and mercy that give me hope today… and is available to all!

Possibilities are unlimited because of God’s love!

Certain moments can become opportunities for miracles
Jesus showed this to be true in his ministry, his death and his resurrection. He taught his disciples that the things that are impossible for us are possible for God.

One time he said to the father of a child dumb from birth because of demon possession, that anything was possible to a person who believes (Mark 9:20ff). Asked if he believed, the father cried out, ‘I believe, help my unbelief.’

That moment an impossibility became a miracle of healing and deliverance! And at Jesus’ command the boy was set free from the impure spirit.

Example of a hindrance
When a religious leader who diligently kept the law of Moses asked Jesus (Luke 18:22-30), ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ the answer Jesus gave him was profound! (more…)

FORGET THE FORMER THINGS

(September 20, 2019) Carol Round encourages us to let our Christianity shine forth in a needy world round us…

‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland’ (Isaiah 43:18-19).

Forget the past? Sometimes it’s easier said than done. In fact, I would say that it’s impossible to let go of the times we’ve been lost in the wilderness – unless we look up.

What does it mean to look up? Look up and seek… seek God, seek his forgiveness, seek his guidance, and seek his hand. Let him lead you from the past into his presence.

God’s presence washes over us like a fresh, spring rain, soothing our weary soul, reviving our spirit, and infusing us with hope. His hope, his strength, and his love can lead us from a life of despair to delighting in him.

Delight yourself in the Lord
In Psalm 37:4, David writes, ‘Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.’

Many believe, especially new Christians, that God will give us anything our hearts desire if we have enough faith. But, as we mature in our faith, we begin to understand what is important in life and to our heavenly Father. (more…)