Of Mongrels And Prodigals

"...your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.' " (Luke 15:32)

We have all heard of the story of the Prodigal son in Luke's Gospel account.
 The younger brother who:

• shamed his father by demanding his inheritance there and then;
• flittered away this inheritance through sinful lust;
• came to repentance while wallowing in a pig sty;
• was restored by his father on his return home.

And - while the Pharisees listened to the story told by Jesus with grinding teeth, and murderous intentions - we all marvel at the unconditional love, forgiveness, and mercy poured out by the father.

But lurking all the while in the background was another prodigal... 

Journey with Paul - Galatians 1, Acts 15

Sermon Sunday 19 Feb '17

Yesterday I had the privilege of teaching the flock.

Topic: Journey with Paul - texts Galatians 1, Acts 15, and others.

Sermon notes below

Blessings.

The Day The Town Came To See The Circus

A few weeks ago, I was invited to a family baptism. 

A reason to rejoice, yes absolutely. But I had a nagging check in my spirit about the whole thing...

The Woman at the Well - A Picture of Law and Gospel

Hi Everyone

Last Sunday (17 July 2016) I had the privilege of teaching the flock.

Text was John 4:1-42, the story of Jesus and the Woman at the Well.

You can hear it here (filter by my name - IE works best).

Sermon notes below.

Link to poem at the end of the sermon.

Blessings.

Real Friends Tell Their Friends The Truth

I was brought up in Church on a lie.

And I bought it: hook, line, and sinker.

I never had a lot of friends growing up. I guess I never had that 'magnetic' personality that came naturally to some.

The closest friends that I did have, though, all attended to the same church as I did. My parents started dragging me to Sunday School at the Baptist Church around the corner from our home in Christchurch, New Zealand, right from a wee age. Actually, that's wrong, they didn't have to drag me, I rather enjoyed it.

Why Is That?...Why Is It Now Right To Be Wrong?

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness;
Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And prudent in their own sight!" (Is 5:20-21).

There's a song I used to love from one of my favourite Christian artists, Randy Stonehill, called "Stop The World" (wow, showing my age, here!).

It is a satirical picture of how the morals and ideals of the world are so upside-down and hypocritical, and he was right on the money.

Unfortunately, this sad reality has crept into some churches as well, and it is now considered right to be wrong.

why is that?...

This Wretched Man

Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and ask why I bother...

The person looking back is overflowing with pride, and yet empty of humility
The person looking back is a self-professed leader, with no one following him
The person looking back talks of good, yet constantly wanders off into evil
The person looking back is full of great intentions and criticisms, while sitting on his hands
The person looking back talks of how wonderful God is, while constantly turning his back on Him.

Jesus Only Saves Sinners

The Cowboys vs the Indians. The Cops vs The Robbers. The Federation vs The Dark Side.

Good vs Evil.

That's how we all view our daily struggle for existence this mad world of ours - our thinking being that the harder we try to subdue the bad with our goodness, the better chance there is that good will eventually prevail.

But unfortunately that doesn't work with our personal character and God.
One of the most confusing paradoxes in Christianity is that the harder you try to be good in order to get to heaven, the less chance you have of making it there.

Why is That?...Why do we have to make Christianity so hard?

The Christian message can be confusing enough in itself...

yet we often end up complicating things more in the process of explaining ourselves...

Why is that?...

A Simple Prayer of Repentance

Hi All

I thought I would share a simple Power Point Show of a poem I wrote simply called " I Repent".

I would never say there is a magic formula - a special prayer you need to pray, or certain words that you need to recite to be saved. That is not how the Holy Spirit works. No two experiences are the same.

This is just something from my heart.

Enjoy!

Time to Clean Up!

A couple of weeks ago there were two huge trees in our back yard...not anymore...

Shocking Youth Message by Paul Washer

This is a message every Christian should hear!

Paul was invited to speak at a Youth Conference in 2002. While there, he witnessed some interesting goings-on.

During an altar call, he noticed that those going forward did not seem genuinely repentant, joking around and being silly. As a result, he changed the message he delivered to this one.

 

Be prepared for a shock! Running time 58 min, but worth every minute!