George's Journey

Our Resume

2011-04-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

Mark read out a verse at church on Sunday that really resonated with me. It was 2 Corinthians 6:4-10. It listed some of characteristics of the life that Paul lived for Jesus. It struck me as being so real and blunt. It also struck me as being a rather interesting resume.

In our work life we all have resumes or CVs that we try to construct so as to give a realistic picture of ourselves as possible. Okay, I know that some of them are a little embellished to make us look better than we are but ours should be the truth without distortions. I feel this scripture is the unembellished resume of every Christian who is walking by faith.

Consider this list of "qualifications".

"in great endurance;
in troubles, hardships and distresses;
in beatings, imprisonments and riots;
in hard work,
sleepless nights and hunger;
in purity,
understanding, patience and kindness;
in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;
in truthful speech and
in the power of God;
with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left
through glory and dishonour,
bad report and good report;
genuine, yet regarded as impostors;
known, yet regarded as unknown;
dying, and yet we live on;
beaten, and yet not killed;
sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
poor, yet making many rich;
having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

Wow, that's a lot of reality packed into a few verses. You have to read it through again to get a better grip on this "warts and all" view of life in Christ.

This walk of faith seems to have more down sides than up sides. Well, maybe not, when you consider the big up side is Jesus and eternal life. However we have go tot learn that our walk with Jesus has some serious challenges. Our resume looks a little "spotty" from a human point of view but from where God is sitting this is the life He planned for us. It's a life lived just like the life Jesus lived.

Easter Monday

2011-04-25T05:22:00.000-07:00

Nobody had died for me on this day. No one was raised from the dead for me.

Today I lived by faith the glorious life that God has given me as best I could. Spent most of the day with my family. After the day I was feeling happy and content. I have not laughed this hard in a long time. My sons have a way of cheering my heart like no one else.

My grandson never fails to bring a smile to my face. His passion for life, for food, for fun and for family just lifts my soul.

A holiday is great but in God's family it is more than a day off. It is nourishment for the spirit. It is regeneration of the heart.

Thank you Father.

The Non-Negotiables

2011-04-04T19:07:00.000-07:00

I was challenged recently by a blog by a distant friend of mine, Dave Wasson. He decided to compile a list of non-negotiables in his life, hills he would defend with a fight. It made me think. After living a lengthy life so far, what things have I concluded are the truly important, the Non-Negotiables. In an honest moment I decided to compile my own list and share it. Time will tell if there is wisdom in this.

Rather than make it an unending list I decided to make it the top ten non-negotiables. They are not in order of priority but if you challenge me on any of these you will get determined and loving resistance. Don't try me when I am tired. You will still get resistance but I will get a bit nasty.

My love for my wife, sons, daughter in laws and grandson
My faith in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, together, the creator and sustainer of all and redeemer of all who will choose Him.
The love God has for me as expressed in the life, death and rising of Jesus
My obligation to preach the truth no matter how much it might offend friends, leaders or enemies
I am a sinner who daily needs help from the Holy Spirit, friends, family and those I will meet today
God has a plan for me and my wife
I love my church, warts and all, while realising I am one of the warts
I am expecting heaven and a long talk with Jesus
My pride in my sons
Led Zeppelin are the greatest rock group of all time

What are your non-negotiables? Have a go at making a list. You will be surprised what a clarifying experience it is to compile one and what a liberating experience it is to share it. Blog it, Facebook it, preach it, write it on a napkin, just do it. When you look in the mirror what are the non-negotiables that make you who you are? We are all unique creations of the Father. Our lists will differ but that's who we are.

Things That Won't Get You To Heaven

2011-03-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

The longer I minister in the kingdom the more I come across false ideas of what it takes to get a reconciled relationship with God that will lead to a home in heaven. Here are some that we need to back away from. They aren't even a little bit "true". They are lies and we must reject them. Here's the list of ways some Christians seek to use to get saved and go to heaven.

Going to church - This is the "religious" way. It goes like this, "if I do lots of religious stuff (Christian of course), especially going to church, that will give me enough points to go to heaven". People who subscribe to this will never miss a church service but will often gossip, lie, cheat on their taxes and frequent porn sites. The way to heaven, for them, is one compartment of their lives and as long as they get that compartment right then nothing else matters. Once you learn the modern proverb of the chicken you will no longer hold onto this charming little idea. What proverb? I'm glad you asked. I'm sure this comes out of some rural preacher's manual. "Being at church doesn't make you a Christian any more than being in a chicken coop makes you a chicken". Rather agricultural but you can't fault the logic.
Being Nice - It's the "be a good boy and God will be forgive you" path. It is usually linked with the "passing grade" approach to salvation. Most of us realise we just don't seem to be good all the time and so we have invented the idea that God "grades on the curve". Falsely it asserts that as long as you have more good in you than bad then you pass the grade and get the big tick from God. Only problem with this idea is that God never said it.
Baptism - Don't get me wrong. Baptism is a vital part of our acceptance of God's gift of forgiveness. However I'm talking about the idea that many have that as long as I was baptised with the right words said over me, then that is really the only determining factor in whether I'm saved or not. Baptism is not the key to heaven. God is very clear what is the key. More on that if my next blog.
Being Right - It's the old "right doctrine" makes my church the true church and gets me to heaven. This one sounds "kinda right" but it isn't. While we should always strive to learn the truth on every matter from scripture there is no scripture that says I have to get 100% mark on a Theology 101 test to be a true Christian. I used to subscribe to this false notion. But when I started to think about it I realised how false it was. Why? Two things. Firstly, God never said it. Secondly, there has never been even one Christian who had perfect doctrine. Even with the Holy Spirit and the Bible we are not the smartest tools in the shed. There weren't any in the first century church. Every letter in the New Testament is written to get people to correct their teaching (as well as other things). I have never found one Christian who will attest to me that they have gotten all the teachings of God correct all the time.
Being Right on a Special List of Teachings - This is a sub-category of the previous one. For some churches it is getting the teaching on the Sabbath correct. For others it is the pattern of public worship. For others it is baptism. For others it is 5 points of Calvinism. Nowhere did Jesus or His apostles ever teach that believing all the right things on a subset of beliefs makes you or your church the chosen ones.

Lists get a little bit boring after a while don't they? But you get my point. These things are all good things but none of them get you to heaven. Well, what does? I think you know but I'll be blogging about that soon anyway. See you then.

They Should Do Something

2011-02-24T02:53:00.000-08:00

We have all grown up in an age where institutions have been promoted as the solution to our problems. We have taken to this idea with such relish that we have almost come to worship it.

So often, when there is a problem in my life, I have often been heard to say, "THEY should do something about this" or "SOMEONE should do something about this" or "SOCIETY made me do it" or "It's the school system to blame" (insert any blameworthy insitution eg. government, Muslims, Christians, the Church etc. etc.).

Let's notice two truths that immediately present themselves.
1. Institutions don't really solve any of the crucial social ills. Before the elections they claim they will. The first year after the election they try a bit. The second year after the election they tell us why they can't. The their year after the election they start claiming they can if they get re-elected.
2. It is the individual (you and me) who has the real power to bring about change that is good and real.

Jesus came to world riddled with institutions. Similar institutions to the ones we have now except we just have better technology. Not just institutions like government, the military and religion but institutional ills like slavery. He never once spoke against the institutions. He did have a go at some individuals in those bastions. He never tried to enter government as many of the upstart saviours of the day. He didn't start a social justice movement aimed at the violations of human rights.

He walked up to people and said, "Love God. Love each person around you". He was very focused on every single person. He challenged each of them and now challenges each us to throw off our victim status and and begin solving our problems by doing what He says.

Science, government, academia et al promise to save us from all our woes. Yet their promises ring hollow. They give us a better standard of living but they don't really effect in any major the crimes stats. Seriously, do you think that fewer children are being violated, fewer women getting raped, etc.? Only Jesus can save. He has been tried and found effective by millions of people for two thousand years.

Yes, Jesus. Not the church. Not religion. But Jesus' teachings being lived out in the life of people like you and me. Not an institution but a Christian.

2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal

2011-02-11T16:39:00.000-08:00

Read this article recently. Made me think. Check it out.
2045: The Year Man Becomes Immortal

Yes, it is a catchy headline and it is not what Kurzweil said. However lets consider a few facts.

On its best day computer technology can only process data incredibly fast. It can't think about the data. It can't take into account life variables such as morality, laws, feelings etc. It can process information at high speed but in the end all it has is highly processed information.

Despite such fanciful movies views of the present (Enemy of the State), the near future (Eagle Eye) and the not to distant future (Terminator movies) computers can only do what they are programmed to do. Sounds boring and you won't see a movie about it.

Oh they can really mess you up. Remember the old adage, "To err is human but to really screw things up takes a computer".

I love science fiction but really get ticked off when people fail to see the difference with science fact.

Documents Please

2011-02-11T15:40:00.000-08:00

We live in a highly identified age. Do you remember the movie, Catch Me If You Can, with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks? It was so easy for Leonardo to fake being someone else. Today it's different. You need ID cards, drivers license, tax file number, social security number. Numbers and photos, passwords etc. No more acid washing cheques or wearing a pilot's uniform to change your identity.

Yet, after thinking about it for a while, I am convinced that we have got to get a grip on who we really are. In amongst all the energy and confusion of life, who am I? When you step back and ask that question that answer doesn't seem quite so black and white as getting out your driver's license.

[Warning Mode] This is not about religion. It is about who you are in this expanding universe and who you are in this mass humanity that you were born into. [Exit Warning Mode]

I am my father's son. No way to get into this world without him. Logon on to ancestry.com and check out my family history and I can find out who I am as far as my physical family is concerned. That's the easy part. I have a passport that informs me (and those nosey custom's officials) about my country of origin. That reminds me. Must apply for a British passport.

But I am more than a Little and an Australian. I am a child of this universe. But does that say anything about who I am? It all depends on whether this universe was created by someone or came about by random non-personal forces. Why?

It's like whether you are progeny of a mother and father or by genetic splicing. (It's not the same, just like it.) Who I am is totally different if I see myself as Denis' son or as a laboratory process. It changes who I am and how I look at myself.

The two choices I can see (there may be more but I have yet to recognize them) is that I am either a child of a creative active of a being who is of a higher order than me (call it God) or of creative coincidence of the elemental forces (call it whatever you want, it's not talking to you).

I am either a child of God or a chemical process. Which one I believe will change who I think I am. Which one is real determines my true identity.

[Argument Mode] How can non-personal give rise to personal? How can non-conscious "create" conscious? How can non-living give life to the living? How can non-loving (or any relational dynamic) give birth to the loving? How can non-George create George[Exit Argument Mode]

I am either a child of God or a child of the elements.

Who are you? More on this in later blogs.

Stepping Back & Getting Perspective

2011-02-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

Life can really squeeze the life out of you. Busy, busy ... tired ... concerns ... money ... people ... work ... etc. etc. etc.

Let me speak in cliches for a moment. At the end of the day it seems like I am spinning my wheels. [Exit cliche mode]

I am in the middle of holidays with Julie and now with some of my family (Ben, Carly and Benji) and the last week has afforded me the opportunity to step back from all my responsibilities, think about nothing if I want, and just hang. In the context of such disconnectedness I have been able to gain a little perspective on all those things that press in on me.

A very perceptive man once said that there is nothing new under the sun. My worries, concerns and fears are no different to millions of others. Didn't seem like it until I stepped back and suddenly was able to see things with a little more clarity and perspective.

Life is really not about how much comfort or money you have or how much you can control. It's about how you see all those things in your life. And perspective really helps your sight. What's the most important thing about driving at 100 km/hour? Engine size. No. Aerodynamics? Airbags? Tyre pressure? None of these. Most important is your sight. [Exit Yoda mode]

Think I will step back a little more and see what I can see.

Bottom line. Holidays are fun but they are so much more. See you in a week.

The Ointment

2010-11-28T13:52:00.000-08:00

When I was a young boy (back when the crust of the earth was cooling :) ), I would often get a rash on my arms. My mother would take me to the doctor and he would prescribe a tube of white goo to rub on the rash to make it better. I was looking at the tube one day (didn't have anything better to do) and I noticed that it was rather imaginatively called "The Ointment". It may as well have been call "the white goo". But I digress.

I believed the ointment worked. It always worked. However it wasn't of any value until I applied it to my skin. The word of God is like that. You can believe in it, cherish it, recommend it but it doesn't do any good until it is applied to your soul. Application is what the point of the Bible is.

Reading it and studying it are an important part of the process God has planned but they are bordering on useless if the word is not applied to your heart. James 1:22 puts it this way. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

By all means, search and find the meaning of the text. Certainly teach it and proclaim it. But don't nullify all that good work by not applying it to your life and teaching the application.

Some of us love words a little too much. We enjoy the academic experience of Bible Study a little too much.

We need to ask the question when listening to God's word, "What does God want me to do?". And then go out and do it.

Applying the ointment. What a concept?

Institutional Christians

2010-11-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

After talking with many Christians lately I have been impressed with the huge gulf there is between having an institutional connection to God and a relational one.

An institutional one is one where we see our relationship with God being through the group that we are in. We think, “I am in the church, therefore I am connected to God”. We see all our relationships with people in the church as “group” relationships and many times that means that they are not that personal. Other Christians soon become just the “people I see at church”. It doesn’t have to be this way but I am seeing it far too much in the wide range of churches I am moving amongst at the moment.

This is not the complaint of one who is looking for the perfect church. That animal doesn’t exist. Didn’t exist in the first century. It is futile to look for it in the 21^st century.

No, what I am talking about here is a paradigm shift in the way we look at God and other Christians.

God has planned for his church to be a people, not an institution. “As he says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God’.”” Romans 9:25, 26. Christians are an organic body not an organization (1 Corinthians 12:13,14). We are a family not “co-habiters”. Our connection is not that we end up in the same place each week, it is the one who draws us to that place.

We are brothers and sisters, a people who belong to our Father, God. “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” 1 Peter 2:9, 10. We are all sinners who have received mercy.

Warning Signs you are an “Institutional Christian”

You really don’t want to hang around with Christians except at church for a brief period on Sunday.
You only get concerned about others at church when they are not “at church”.
Your social connection with other Christians is minimal and mostly formal.
When Christians get in trouble, you run away from them.
You hit the carpark 1.5 seconds after the final prayer at church. Sometimes even after the communion.
You never hang around for lunch with the church.
You would rather have hernia surgery than volunteer to help out with anything to do with church.
You haven’t invited anyone to a Christian gathering of any sort in years.

Is this you? I see myself in this list and I am an evangelist. I should know better, but I fall into bad habits. What about you? Be honest. This is important. Is "this" what Jesus is about? Enter the conversation. There is life in the church.

Next blog: How to get out of the institutional Christian trap.

Who Is Left?

2010-10-27T16:39:00.000-07:00

Think of all the people who have been in your life?

Who has hung in there with you for the long haul?

Some are with you when "things" are going well but fade when "things" turn bad.
Some are close when you live close but they disappear when you move away.
Some are your friend while it is useful for them but the friendship fades as they don't need you much any more.

After all the "fade outs", and moves who is left by your side? These are special people. They are truly friends. They choose to be with you (even if it is only Facebook from the other side of the world) despite your failures, mistakes and even successes. The wise one puts it this way. “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17.

I find ministry in the church is also a good place to ask this question. Who is left?

Some shine brightly for a little time. They are the focus of excitement but just a few years later they are gone. There are the really clever ones who make a lot of sense with their strategy for change but after a while they are gone. If you have been around in churches for a few years you know what I am talking about.

Who is left? Who has given up or found it more convenient to (or even called to) move on. People may be gone for perfectly godly reasons. I am not questioning their motivations. I just have found it so sobering and encouraging to focus on the ones who stay for whole game and don't leave at half time.

Thank God for the ones who hang in there. They are here for you and your church. They may have been around so long that they blend into the background but don't let them. Praise them. Seek them. Allow God to use them. God has put them in your life for a reason. Love them. Above all, love them.

Reminds me of Paul's comment about Timothy, his long time partner in ministry. “I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no-one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as a son with his father he has served with me in the work of the gospel.”Philippians 2:19-22.

Reach out the ones who are left with you.

Reflections on a Weekend

2010-10-21T03:58:00.000-07:00

Recently I participated in the Australia Christian Convention hosted by WestChurch in Sydney and it included believers from all over the Restoration Movement but mainly the Acapella Churches of Christ, Independent Christian Churches and Former International Churches of Christ.

What hit me the most was not our differences but the immensity of the similarities of our journeys. Certainly our journeys had been different but here we were standing up for the gospel of Jesus and striving to learn how better to proclaim that gospel. There were representatives from 7 church plantings currently active in the South Pacific. All quite unique in their approaches and contexts but all united in their love for Jesus and their love for people and their unswerving commitment to the truth that only Jesus provides the complete solution to the paradox of live in the 21st century. I love these brothers and sisters.

Another thing that hit me is a little bit harder to express. I know this can sound a little judgmental, so please, while reading these words, give me the benefit of the doubt. I have been working in church context for 32 years and I have noticed that there are two sorts of approaches to the work of the kingdom. There are those who seem to endlessly talk about our mission. And then there are those who not only talk about it, but actually get out there and get busy doing something about it. A lot of them fall flat on their faces but they do so while putting their lives where their mouths are. The brothers and sisters that characterized this weekend were doers. They have left family, financial security and lucrative secular careers to do what Jesus has called them to do and my admiration for them is unbounded.

I was touched deeply to an old Dire Straits song and I think it applies here.

"Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
I've witnessed all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms"

Ahh. Brothers in arms. Our brotherhood is not just built on the God who died for us but in our dedication to the mission he gave us from the foot of the cross. I so glad I have brothers in arms. They lift me up. They keep me humble. They inspire me. They stand up for me. Thank God that He gave us brothers in arms.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Techno Jesus

2010-09-22T18:25:00.000-07:00

I work for a high technology company. I work for Jesus. I use technology a lot in both of my jobs as well as in my personal life.

While I am in awe (most of the time) of the monthly advances in technology, I also am convinced that this technology is more than just ornamental gadgetry which the middle class get to play with.

On the other hand, technology is not the solution to what ails this world. The greatest lie of the past two centuries is that science will solve the world's problems. It certainly has improved the standard of living of many but people still die from starvation, wars still kill countless innocents, people still kill people, women still get raped. The list of atrocities that have been endemic in human life since there has been human life has not changed.

This doesn't mean that technology hasn't helped. I am constantly amazed at how technology has helped in patching up the human body. However, as good as it is, we still all die. It may be at an older age but are all terminal.

Yet in all this, technology can help us in the ministry of helping people. It helps particularly in the area of staying in touch. I know that in my ministry I can, and so still do, stay in touch with hundreds of people that previously I would have rarely communicated with. Email, Facebook, Twitter, Websites have all helped in this. While this is not a replacement for sitting next to someone and speaking to them and giving them a hug of encouragement, it certainly does help when either geography or time constraints prevent us from being with each other.

However, these tools of communication are only has helpful as the content that we put into them.

I can't help but feel that if Jesus were with us today He would have a Facebook page and would occasionally twitter from the mount.

Sure there are limitations with technology and there are dangers and abuses, but we have got to realize that such things are common to any attempt at communication or fellowship, even church gatherings. We just have learn how to deal with the negative side.

Paul did say, “... I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:22. Let's use "all possible means".

http://www.preachergeorge.com

The Lull

2010-07-23T17:49:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love that word, "lull"? Well, I don't. I have several character flaws but one of the more obvious ones is impatience. I don't like waiting. There I said it. I know I seem like an arrogant self important man but I really don't think I am. I hope I'm not because then this character flaw will have far too much depth.

Not being willing to waiting in line at a restaurant or a shop or at the bank is a problem but not as big a problem as not being willing to wait on God. I must admit I feel like my life is in a bit of a lull at the moment. There's that word again.

I am working hard and long as an evangelist with Northside and as a computer specialist with the fruit company but there is this deep sense I have that, even though there is a lot of activity in my life, there really isn't a lot of progress. I have never been good at judging situations so I am not confident in my analysis. There may be a lot of progress being made and I am just not aware of it.

Well all this rambling has led me to a question. What do you do in a lull? Here are some thoughts I have as I look at the second half of 2010.

Accept the times. Be content in the situation has put you in. Didn't God say something about that?

Work hard at what you have before you. Just because you can't see a significant purpose in what is before you doesn't mean that God will not use it (or has already planned to use it) for His will.

Love people. Whoever is in your life, love them. Don't look at them as stepping stones to success in ministry or God's purpose for you. Just love them.

Love God. Remember this whole "living on Earth thing" is about God and you. Love Him. He says this is the most important thing so who are you to argue?

Pray a lot. Talk to Him who thinks about you more than anyone else.

Read His word. Seems so trite to say this but It is the things that we think are childish that often are the most important. Just read it. Don't study it, analyze it or use it as prep for a lesson. Just read it.

Got off your own back. Stop beating yourself up. You can only do what you can do. Take each day one at a time. Enjoy the ride. Otherwise God will never be able to use you as you want Him to.

I know I said all those things to the amorphous "you" but I was talking to "me" but I thought I would take it better if I thought this was for someone else first. I'm such a man. And I also write most of my blogs for therapy and this has been good for me.

What do you do in a lull?

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

What does good news look like?

2010-07-15T03:45:00.000-07:00

Jesus calls His message for this world, good news.

As Christians we know what good news is. How do we express that? Most of us would use words like “being saved”. Now that is good news. Some would say that being justified, redeemed, added to God’s family, His church is good news. And they would be right. These words mean a lot to us and speak of the amazing gift God has given to us as we responded to His good news message.

However we didn’t always express the good news of Jesus that way. We didn’t even now how to spell “justification”, let alone spell out what it means.

When we first heard the good news we saw it as it related to us at that point in our lives. If you are a baby boomer, then you probably saw the good news in some familiar terms in relation to faith in God and faith in the Bible.

Those days are gone. We live in societies that know little of God or of the Bible. So when we speak of good news to them it looks very different to the images and ideas we have had.

If you are speaking to a person who hasn’t had a decent meal all week and you tell him you have good news, what does that look like to him? He can’t help but think of a good meal. His basic need frames his whole world for that day. Do you think that might have had something to with Jesus feeding great crowds? See Mark 6:34-44 etc.

If you are taking the good news to a person who has been discriminated against all their life, have a guess what good news looks like to them? They imagine a life where they are accepted and loved. Do you think that might have a lot to do with Jesus spending so much time with the disenfranchised of His society? See Matthew 9:10-13

Jesus often presented good news to people in terms of what the people He was speaking thought was good news.

Lost Things. To those who feel like they have lost something, or feel like they are missing something He would frame the good news with a story of someone finding something value in the ordinary run of life. See Luke 15:4-9.

Failed Relationships. For those who had lost a relationship to someone close, even family, He would tell a story of a wasteful and selfish son who returned to his father. See Like 15:11 ff.

You can seeing Jesus thinking, “What would these people think good news is?”. We spend so much time telling people of doctrinal positions and elegant frameworks of truths and what does Jesus do? He tells people stories, but not just entertaining stories. They are stories the have at the core of their message, the good news of Jesus. But why does He speak in stories? Because He doesn’t just want to state the truth, He wants to communicate it. And who determines what communicates? The speaker or the hearer? It is the hearer.

To those used the language and structure of a kingdom He presented the good news as a coming king

To those who were being ruled by an army of occupation he spoke of the kingdom being restored to Israel.

To those who were used to farming He would proclaim good news in terms of planting and harvesting.

What He was actually doing was fulfilling God’s plan to bring everything together under Christ (Ephesians 1:9-10). However when He spoke of this good news He would speak in the language and aspirations of the hearers.

You and I need to look at those people that God is bringing into our lives and ask, “What does good news look like to them?”. Initially it may have nothing to do with Bible study, church or even Jesus. What will it look like?

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Evangelism is a Process

2010-07-08T17:30:00.000-07:00

Think about your experience of coming to faith in Christ. If you are like most people, including our friends in the New Testament, I expect it involved a process with the following involved.

Time
People
The Word

Whether you are a government official returning home, a correctional officer whose prisoners have escaped or a young man with godly parents and grandparents, there was a process in you getting saved by the death of Jesus. It may have involved a decision and an immersion into Christ but there was a lot that went on before that public event.

Evangelism isn’t just a big outreach event, or that doorknocking campaign or visitor Sunday at church. It is a process that began when God began pursuing you.

When that process hit our lives it involved a lot of time, people and His Word. Here are some of the ways that God says that this process reveals itself.

SHINING

Ephesians 2:7 “in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.”

Did you hear what God says His plan for you was? He planned to save you and His plan was then to use YOU (and me) to show this grace to everyone in our world through US. What is the best evidence of a good doctor? Happy healthy patients. It is the same with God. What is the best evidence of God’s grace? Sinners (read in Ephesians 3:1-4 about the true ugliness of that) living forgiven lives based on God’s grace.

God needed a great preacher to take the good news to the rest of the known world (the Gentiles). Notice how that preacher, Paul, describes his qualifications for that task. “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:16. Paul could preach (and God wanted him to preach) but His life as an expression of God’s patience and grace preached even louder and more persuasively.

Here is one of the most powerful examples that God gives of this part of the evangelism process; wives with unbelieving husbands. “Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behaviour of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.” . 1 Peter 3:1, 2.

All this is not a reason to not speak. It is a revelation that the process of evangelism involves more than just speaking. It’s called SHINING. “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.

Don’t do things to be a good example. That is just fake and unworthy of the gospel. Be a disciple of Jesus and you will shine into people’s lives. You may not have intended to shine. Just as a flower doesn’t decide to shine its beauty. It just does. It is the same with Christians who simply live for Jesus. They shine. They can’t help it. It is in their spiritual DNA

SPEAKING

As we shine we also speak. We can’t help ourselves. We are like a certain grandfather I know who won’t stop talking about (and showing photos of) His grandson. Ok, I confess, I speak of myself. No one forces me to speak. I didn’t take courses in it. I don’t have to psych myself up to do it. Speaking about Jesus is a lot like that. It is not the same, but it is a lot like it. Listen to what God says on this. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20.

You and I are representatives of Jesus. We all wear a T-shirt that says “property of Jesus”. As his ambassadors we speak for Him. Seriously. God knows what He is doing, even if it sounds like a bit of a bad idea. He asks us to speak for Him, to make His appeal through us. Personally, I would have chosen someone else, but despite my misgivings, the truth still stands. He chose us to implore the world to be reconciled to God.

He doesn’t leave us on our own. He empowers and strengthens us (Ephesians 3:16). He walks with us. He brings people into our lives (Acts 18:4).

Speaking involves many things. We, too often, think it only refers to preaching the good news or studying the Bible with someone. Yes each of us can speak the Word. “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Acts 8:4. But before we can speak the Word we have to have someone to speak that Word to.

That’s where the Andrews of the kingdom come in. I speak of the lesser-known brother of Peter, the extraordinary preacher, who spoke to thousands. We don’t hear of Andrew speaking the Word much but we do have this small sound bite from his life in John 1:41 “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).” Andrew was an inviter. He spoke what He knew (which wasn’t much) but He did introduce Peter (Simon) to Jesus and the rest is history.

You may not be a preacher or teacher but you can be an inviter and an introducer.

BECOMING

In this process of helping others to come to a saving faith in Jesus, there is a method that Paul used that I think has been overlooked by many of us. Maybe it was because in the past our culture wasn’t that different to the kingdom of God.

However, today in the once bastions of faith in Jesus like Europe, the USA and Australia, there is an increasingly secular culture. A generation has grown up that do not value Jesus, the Bible or the God of the Bible. They don’t even understand our language when we speak of the kingdom. Our world has turned into one very similar to the first century world of Paul, Peter and the early church. How did they handle this huge chasm that existed between their culture and kingdom of God? Exactly the same way Jesus did.

Listen to Paul as he explains what He did. “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” 1 Corinthians 9:19-22.

Paul, how did you reach the Jews, whose religion you had left (because it was fulfilled in Jesus). You became like a Jew. What did that look like?

Paul, what did you do to reach the Gentiles (those without the Law)? You became like a Gentile? What did that look like?

How about the weak? How did someone so strong as you become like the weak?

Now, we need to understand that Paul wasn’t trying to trick those He was trying to reach. He was seeking to identify with them. Alan Hirsch, an Australian Christian writer I highly recommend, puts it this way. When approaching those who are so different to us we need to ask the question, “What is good news to these people?”

I will write on this more in another note, but I would love to hear your thoughts on this.

Keeping on shining, speaking and becoming.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Taste The Difference

2010-07-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

We just received a package from some friends in Southern California. It included 4 jars of peanut butter. Like you, I thought peanut butter in Australia was perfectly good, but not my wife. She has been whinging about how the American peanut butter (remember when we used to call it peanut paste in Queensland) was so much better.

She insists that she can taste the difference. It made me think of that verse in 1 Peter 2:2, 3, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” Ah, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Our journey with Christ is not just one of faith. It is also one of experience. Yes, we must walk by faith, but along the way we experience God in a very real way. We taste Him and He is good.

It may sound a little silly or even a little disrespectful but here it goes. Does the Lord taste good to you? When you look back across the years of your journey with Him do you say, "This has been good. It hasn't always been an easy ride, but it He is good."

If there is an element of doubt in your heart that God is good consider the following universal truths. No interpretation or subjective views here. These are unassailable truths. Don't let Satan let one element of doubt live in the same room with you and these truths.

God loves to the extreme, shown objectively in Jesus' life and death. God has forgiven you of your sins. He has forgotten them. You may remember them but He has permanently erased them from His memo. Have you tasted that? He has added you to His family, His church, His kingdom. Have you tasted that? He has given you of His Spirit who now indwells your body with your spirit. Wow. Have you tasted that the Lord is good?

Back to my wife's original observation about peanut butter. It tastes different here. The more important question is, "Does the Lord taste the same as all the other gods (influences, people or groups) in your life?" If He does, then there is something wrong. Seriously wrong. It's like saying Kobe (LeBron, Steve Nash, etc.) is a good basketball player. Really. More like one of history's best. Jesus isn't just another person in your life. He is the Lord. He better not taste the same.

Now, back to the scripture. Now that we have tasted that He is good, what should be do? We should crave Him still more. We should crave spiritual milk (food). Don't just put in on the shopping list. Crave it. Long for it. Don't go a day without it.

Ahhh. God is so good. He's so good. He's so good to me.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Church

2010-07-05T22:34:00.000-07:00

The word church come to mean many different things. What do you think of when you hear the word? What image comes to mind?

Some think of an institution, a religious entity with ancient traditions and rituals. Some think of the leadership heirarchy. Some think of a church building. Still others think of hypocrites. All of these are common ideas.

Yet, in the Bible, this not what God was thinking about when He used the word, church.

When God uses the word, church, he has something very specific in mind. The literal meaning of the word is the called out ones. It refers to a group of people who are called out for a common purpose. Up until the first century it was used of any gathering of people. It was like some of collective nouns, like mob, bunch, herd etc. It had no God connection.

Then God took this totally secular word and applied it to a specific group, His group, His group of called out people. These called out ones are known as disciples, Christians, saints etc. All these called out ones have become a group know as the called out, the church.

You see, the church, is a group of people. It isn't an organization. It is more like an organism than an organization. God would call it a body. It isn't an institution. It is a group of people. And these people, these called out ones have a common Saviour, purpose and love.

No one represents the church, not even its leaders. The called out ones, the church, represent Jesus Christ, by their testimony and their lives of love and obedience to Christ. The church is made up of sinners, saved sinners. It is full of the broken and fragile. Full of the imperfect and the inadequate. Yet, in Christ, they are the redeemed, the saved, the called out ones, the church.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Motivations in Evangelism (2)

2010-06-23T16:21:00.000-07:00

What is the message we proclaim? Evangelism is revealed by God to be literally proclaiming good news. It is spreading a special message, which is, in summarized form, known simply as good news (gospel). But what is that message?

My journey in the kingdom of Christ has revealed to me that a lot of Christians (including myself at one time) do not really understand what the good news is. To some the good news is “the church” and they preach “it” strongly. To others it is “moralism”. To others it is “spirituality”. To others it is “prosperity”. To be honest, it is quite disturbing how long this list gets.

Disturbing, because our central task is to proclaim the good news and yet so many don’t understand what that good news is. Disturbing because God went to a lot of trouble to spell out exactly what the message is. You don’t need “special knowledge” or an epiphany to find out what it is.

The bottom line is that there is only one source for an absolute answer to the question of what the good news is. It is not church councils, favourite preachers, historical traditions (whether written or verbal) or any other human source. The source of the good news is God and it is God who tells us what the good news is.

At this point you may be thinking, “Yeah, yeah, I know all this. Let’s move on.” Please let me warn you to go slowly through this analysis of what the good news is. What God will reveal will change your view of yourself, your church and your world. It is pivotal to all those aspects of your life.

One of the clearest statements in scripture, God’s very word itself, is found in a letter Paul wrote to a church to REMIND them of what the good news was. Written almost 2000 years ago it still shocks us at its simplicity and disturbs us because we have often changed it in our enthusiasm for God.

1 Corinthians 15:1-4 “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,”

It appears that it was not just our brothers and sisters at Corinth who need reminding of what the good news was. See Galatians 1:6-9, 2 Timothy 4:2-3, 2 Peter 2:1-3.

God says that the good news is a story. It is the story of Jesus the Christ; His death for our sins, His burial and resurrection on the third day. Our message is the death of Jesus and his bodily resurrection. This story changes everything. This good news is not an equation. It is a story, a story of love, sacrificial divine love. It is a story because God says it is, not because I like stories or it is the communication flavour of the month. When God chose to reveal what the gospel was He revealed it as a story, the story of Jesus.

Of all the godly kingdom things God could have mentioned in reminding us of what he good news is, He only mentions three things. The death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. This is our message.

It is the message on the lips of the apostolic proclaimers of the first century. See Mark 1:1, Acts 2:22-24; 3:13-15; 4:2, 10, 33; 5:20-32, 42; 8:35, 10:36; 11:20 etc. etc.

How did I ever get this wrong? Why did I proclaim baptism and hardly mention Jesus? How did I get to the point where the church was the central point to my preaching and Jesus hardly got a mention? When did my “gospel” message get to be a negative message of condemnation of all who disagree with me? I really don’t know, but that is what happened. But God didn’t write me off. He kept reminding me of what the good news is and eventually my proud heart broke and I started to see the startlingly obvious. Jesus is our good news and He is our message.

That Jesus’ death and resurrection is the good news is vital to us accurately proclaiming the gospel. However, in this series we are looking at motivations in evangelism. I believe that realizing that we as Christians are called to proclaim Jesus is a powerful motivation for evangelism. Why? Here are a couple of reasons.

Because Jesus is the perfect message. When I preach the church, not matter how idealistically, the church itself discredits the message with its bad behaviour, politics etc. When I preach moralism, my own moral shortcomings (sin) shout louder than my calls to righteousness. However, when I preach Jesus, His life and teachings back up that proclamation perfectly.

Because Jesus is God telling each person that He loves them. Above all else God loves those He has created. He longs for them and He delights in them. They just don’t know it and that’s where we have the great job of informing them of God’s love for each person on this lonely planet.

What do you think? Check out the Facebook page related to this. http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=128564923839522

http://www.georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Motivations for Evangelism (1)

2010-06-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

A friend commented to me in response to the original paper I wrote on evangelism that all the evangelism methods in the world are practically useless unless we are motivated to proclaim the good news of Jesus. I am paraphrasing him. He is right. A correct understanding of methodology matters little if you and I aren’t motivated to use such methodology.

He also went into detail as to why he doesn’t do much evangelizing. More on that in another post, but it did make me think that we really do need to talk about the motivation God’s wants us to have in evangelism. What should move us to share the good news of Jesus?

As with previous questions I am looking for biblical answers to this question.

Christ’s Love for us compels us to share that love with others

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.

When we learned that God has always loved us and that Jesus died FOR us we were awe struck and overwhelmed and we loved it.

We then became convinced (by the message of Jesus) that Jesus died for everyone.

This has far reaching implications in how we regard people and how we should treat them.

Let the scripture speak

2 Corinthians 5:15 “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

Through Jesus death we have been brought to life. See also Romans 6:1-18.

This spiritual resurrection has resulted in a new life with a new dynamic that precludes living for ourselves. No longer are we to motivated by selfishness. I love the way the Holy Spirit, through Paul’s mouth, puts it in Philippians 2:3-5 “3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:”

The scripture wants to speak some more.

2 Corinthians 5:16 “So from now on we regard no-one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

We now look at people differently. They are no longer just objects for our amusement or gratification. They are no longer a means to OUR ends. They are no longer just a mass of beings. They are children of God who have strayed from the family and God desperately wants them back.

As a result we have been given a ministry, a task of service, a work to do. We have received the ministry of reconciliation.

Isn’t this just amazing? God does the miraculous, sacrificial and all-powerful thing of providing for the reconciliation of all humans and then what does He do? He turns it over to you and me. Really?

The scripture still is speaking.

19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”.

What is this ministry of reconciliation? Another item in the church budget? Another programme for the church calendar? No. It is much more than that. It is also a ministry that is given to individual Christians, not a mass of them. More on that later.

God has committed to us the task of spreading the message of reconciliation, the good news of Jesus :19.

He has enlisted us as ambassadors who speak for him. And what do we speak? He has given us the message. We can’t mess with it. It is simpy, “Be reconciled to God”!

It all started in a moment of confrontation between you and love and God. The loved of God prevailed in that conflict and your motivation started to change at that very minute and has resulted in a compulsion deep within your soul to share this message of liberation.

Been A While

2010-06-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since I have updated the old blog. Been working a lot with the church and with the fruit company. Slowly getting used to having two jobs and having family so close by. Don't get me wrong. I am loving it.

It is definitely new to me. Having a secular job part time is a great thing. Sure, it takes me away from the church work that I love but it does open my eyes up to the world as it is lived by non preachers. Preachers really need to expose themselves to that regularly. It is so easy to start to look at life through the eyes of one who can study the Bible, pray, minister etc. full time. Most of the members of our churches work 30, 40, 50 hour weeks and we need to be sensitive to their situation.

Both times in my life I have had to work in secular jobs at the same time as working with the church the Lord has guided me to computer jobs. First in Toowoomba with Hunts Computers and the Windows environment in the 80s. Second, now with Apple and the OS X environment. I am so blessed that the secular work I do is something that I am passionate about.

Meeting lots of new people. Lots of young people. I am the old guy at work, though no one treats me like the old guy. Learning lots of new skills and having my mind and heart stretched.

Looking forward to seeing what God has planned for me each day.

A Thought

2010-05-10T17:35:00.000-07:00

I was thinking

I pass by

… Selfish thoughts and self-promoting ambitions

I leave behind

… Sin for the pleasure of it

I look for the point of this life

… And it all seems so

Petty

Superficial

… Small

I tried

I thought

I thought some more

… Got a headache. What a joke

… But got a God who spoke

Head started to heal

It’s all about Jesus

Without Him, nothing is real

Really?

… Who would have thought it?

… No one

“And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.” Ephesians 1:9, 10, NIV.

Nothing.

… Nothing makes sense.

… The church. This world. My life. Nothing.

They don’t make any sort of sense without Jesus.

… It’s not about me. It’s Jesus.

Who would have thought?

Drill down into the meaning of life

… And you find a first century Jewish preacher

God takes the apparently irrelevant and makes him the central hub of the universe.

It was always His purpose, His plan.

Thinking

Thinking about Jesus

Thinking

Thinking about Jesus

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com

Truths About Baptism

2010-05-05T17:24:00.000-07:00

Baptism came to be the overlooked stepchild in the kingdom (apologies to stepchildren out there). For so long it had been the focus of stormy arguments about salvation by grace and not works. Yet, as people have turned to scripture for the teachings of Jesus about baptism the arguments are subsiding and the beauty, majesty and power of baptism is being seen in churches, beaches and rivers all over the kingdom.

Here is my list of some truths that are becoming commonly accepted among Christians as the truths God has revealed to us. The baptism I focus on in this article is the Great Commission baptism of Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 15:15-16. There are other baptisms in the New Testament (fire, suffering, Holy Spirit) but its water baptism common to all believers in the early church that I speak of here.

Baptism in the New Testament was only ever immersion in water. There is NO reputable Greek scholar or theologian who denies that the original word for baptism in the New Testament ALWAYS referred to an immersion. The context supplies what the immersion is in. And for every new believer that immersion was in water.

Baptism is a reenactment of and participation in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Check out Romans 6:3-5 and Colossians 2:12. Isn’t it just like God to place such awesome symmetry to an apparently ridiculous dunking in water? Our lowering into the water is like Jesus dying and being entombed. Our raising out the water is like Jesus being raised from the dead. The significance doesn’t end there. The death and resurrection of Jesus is the very centre of the power of God to save us.

Baptism is closely associated with the beginning of a believer’s walk with Jesus. In the Book Acts, the Holy Spirit’s record of the history of the early church, the longest time between a person coming to faith and their baptism is 3 days. That was when God forced Paul to wait in blindness after He came to faith in Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-18).

Baptism is closely associated with the most wonderful blessings from God. Here is a quick list. Forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16), getting into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27), salvation (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21), receiving the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38, 5:32), entering the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13). As an act of faith, baptism is such a significant part of the beginning of our life in Christ.

Baptism was the common experience of Jesus, His disciples and apostles and all of the early church. When Paul wanted to refer to two experiences in Christ that every Christian is connected to, he quoted the death of Jesus and our baptism in Jesus name (1 Corinthians 1:13). His argument there was that we should be united in Jesus, not preacher loyalties, because Jesus died for us and we were all baptized in the name of Jesus.

Baptism is for adults. Baptism is to always be preceded by faith in Christ. Only adults are capable of such faith. There is no need for the baptism of infants as they are in the kingdom of God by their physical birth and innocence. Dedicate them, name them, praise God for them, but don’t call it baptism. Such is a distortion of the express purpose, point and beauty of baptism.

Baptism is about relationship not ritual. It is not a magical ritual any more than a wedding is. Baptism is an expression of a person’s desire for a close walk with Jesus. Some have called it the believer’s wedding ceremony and I like that analogy even though it is not a biblical one.

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Fallacies About Baptism

2010-05-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

No doubt about it. Baptism is an important of the process of the task Jesus has given us as well as an important part of the process of the believer’s walk with Jesus.

It is not the most important part, nor is it the pivotal part but it is an important part. Why? Because Jesus said so. Because Jesus was baptized. Because every new believer in the New Testament was baptized. You know the verses.

In a recent study I was doing on baptism I came upon a few fallacies in my own understanding of baptism of believers in Jesus. Well, for whatever value there might be in it, here they are.

You don’t need to understand everything that is going on when you are baptized for your baptism to be valid. There is no way a person can understand everything (or even most things) about baptism before they are baptized. Paul strongly indicated in Romans 6:3 that the Roman Christians were unaware of the death component of baptism. Yet, that ignorance didn’t invalidate their baptism. I have many brethren who, to this day, do not believe that they literally received the Holy Spirit when they were baptized as is promised in Acts 2:38, 5:32 etc. That ignorance on their part did not invalidate their baptism and did not stop God giving them the Holy Spirit.

From the scripture there is only one thing that a person needs to believe before they are properly baptized; belief in Jesus (Mark 16:15). That faith in Christ needs to motivate them to turn from sin (repent). There is no scripture that would indicate that anything else is needed to precede a person’s immersion in water into Christ nor are these things expected to be done perfectly. Perfect baptism is no more possible than perfect faith or perfect repentance.

If you or I add anything else, we are adding to the scripture. Many say that for a baptism to be valid, a person needs to understand what God is doing when they are being baptized. God has never made our understanding of what He IS DOING a condition of Him fulfilling His promises. He does however say that we need to understand what He HAS DONE in Jesus’ death and resurrection. You can't obey the gospel unless you know it.

It doesn’t matter what words are said over you when you are baptized. Nowhere in scripture is there even the hint that that there is a correct formula of words that is to be said over person being baptized. The phrase “in the name of” in some baptism verses refers to the authority by which a baptism is being performed, not the words that must be pronounced over the person being baptized.

It does not matter who baptizes you. The faith or position of the person baptizing you is never said in scripture to be an issue. In fact, Paul once said he was glad that he hadn’t baptized some (1 Corinthians 1:14-15). He was glad they were baptized (in fact it was central to his argument) but who baptized them was unimportant. If it did matter who baptized you, then no one could be confident of the validity of their baptism. Who can know the heart of another person. In baptism a person is making an appeal to God (1 Peter 3:21). The person doing the baptizing is an irrelevant necessity. The power in baptism comes from God not from a minister, pastor or priest or the church for that matter.

It doesn’t matter whether you are baptized in a baptistery, in a church building or any body of water. The only necessity is that there be enough water to immerse you (John 3:23 is an interesting statement of this truth). That’s what the word, baptism, refers to. An immersion. The water needs to be there in quantity, that’s all. Some in the early church believed that the water had to be moving water and so would only baptize in a river or similar body of moving water. Scripture put no such restrictions. The water is water. Not holy water. The water doesn’t do anything. 1 Peter 3:21 is clear. The physical washing of the water is not the issue. It is what is in the heart of the person being baptized that is the isse.

No one is baptized into the church. They are first baptized into Christ and THEN He adds them to His church, His family. A believer in Jesus is baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27). It is a personal thing between the believer and Jesus. No one in scripture is ever described as being baptized into a local church.

Baptism is not the gospel nor is it part of the gospel. God clearly defines what the gospel is. Start with 1 Corinthians 15:1-5 and follow all the links. It is the same everywhere. The good news of Jesus is His death, burial and resurrection. Baptism is a part of obeying the gospel as is faith and repentance.

Baptism is not a work which entitles you to salvation. I find it particularly strange that the most passive thing (allowing someone else immerse you in water) that we are asked by God to submit to is regarded as a work. There is no work for you and I in baptism. God does the working. The person lowering and raising you do some work. But you don’t. You just enjoy the ride!

Baptism is not the key determining factor of whether a person is going to heaven. What is key? Faith in Jesus. You take that away and you have a bath without soap. With faith in Christ, you have a wonderful marriage of God and one of His children. The scripture again is clear on this. It is what a person teaches about Jesus that is pivotal to their being considered faithful (Galatians 1:6, 1 John 4:2 and all the rest). Baptism is an important part of the process but it is not the key. I may be overstating this but I come from a background where baptism was treated as the pivotal part of the salvation process. More often than not, I asked a person if they were baptized before I enquired if they believed in Jesus.

NOTE: the words associated with baptism are spelled differently on one side of the Pacific to the other. I have let the spell checker spell them with a "z" despite my Australian desire to use the "s".

Next: Truths About Baptism. Coming soon.

http://www.georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Family is Messy

2010-05-02T22:08:00.000-07:00

I had just finished preaching out of Ephesians 1 on God’s Purpose and was driving home to my sick wife. The clear statement of God that I had just preached is that His purpose has always been to adopt everyone who wanted it, into His family (Ephesians 1:5). With the message I just preached ringing in my ears (literally because of bad case of sinus and some pharmaceutical aids) a new thought occurred to me.

God knows what He is doing. He acts with all “wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7). He knew that adopting me (and you too) into his family was going to be a messy affair. He knew it before the creation of the world. Yet He still chose to adopt (not foster) every messy up, crazy, dysfunctional child of His who wanted to, into His family. He knew it was going to be messy and yet He still did it.

It then dawned on me that if God deliberately launches Himself into a messy family, then I should not be surprised if my own family (that I was born into) is messy. If you and I are honest (yes, sometimes we aren’t), we have to admit that some of the biggest messes, hurts, abuses that we have suffered have been within our family.

If someone in your family hasn’t ticked you off then you need to get ready because one day they are going to. I’m not being negative or fatalistic, just realistic. The idea of the perfect family was an invention of idealistic social engineers (generic term those that sell us all such false ideas). I have never met, seen or even heard of the perfect (or even close to perfect) family. Even God’s family is not perfect. In fact the only way you can get into His family is by admitting your imperfection.

Parents mess up. Children mess up. Cousins, in-laws, aunties and uncles mess up. It is one of the defining human experiences. Stop yearning for the perfect family. The animal doesn’t exist.

The only way we can survive and prosper in these messy families we find ourselves in is through forgiveness. That’s how God lives with us. We have got to stop holding grudges and keeping lists of offences. It’s not easy. We know that, but it is vital to a healthy family.

You have to come to grips with a life changing truth; your family is family forever. No matter what you do or what they do, they are always your family until the day you die. You may move and lose contact with neighbors. You may shift jobs and no longer even think of that person you worked alongside for months. BUT YOU WILL NEVER STOP BEING FAMILY TO YOUR FAMILY. At the point you breathe your last breath you will be someone’s child, someone’s parent, someone’s cousin, nephew, niece etc.

What’s the point? Learn to live with them. They aren’t going away. Learn to forgive. Learn to ask for forgiveness.

And then it occurred to me; is God trying to teach me something by creating me in the context of a life long family? Hmmmm. This is getting tough.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Aliens Surprisingly Silent

2010-04-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

Stephen Hawking, the man said to be the smartest man alive, said recently what a lot of people have been saying. It would be very strange, if not impossible, if among all the billions of stars, galaxies and planets that are said to exist, that earth was the only one with life on it. And not just life, but intelligent life.

Based on this thought many have concluded, along with Hawking, that there must be alien life forms just as intelligent, if not more so, out there who are looking for us, or who may have found us and are watching or who may be probing us as I write this.

I am a sci-fi nut job. I love these story lines. So, it is not because I think that they are weird that I also have a question that leads in a different direction. Before we get to the question, we need to face some realities.

There is no indication of any other life, let alone intelligent life in the universe similar to us. I don’t say that because of prejudice or a rush to judgment. For a whole generation now, we have been looking for and listening for signs of life.

After all, assuming the commonly accepted figures, the universe is at least 4 billion years old, give or take a few million. You would think that during that time at least a whole lot of other worlds like ours would have developed. That’s only logical. Assuming we weren’t the first (why would we be the first?), there should be abundant evidence of life.

Yet despite the determined efforts of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) and many others, for a generation now, there is only one station on the universe’s radio. It comes from a noisy planet, third from a small star in the Crab Nebula known locally as Earth.

Listen to the Earth and you get reruns of I Love Lucy and The X-Files. Listen to the rest of the universe and you get what? Static. Yet there should be hundreds of world’s out there who have been producing radio signals for at least 2 hundred years if they are parallel in their development as us, or hundreds of more years if they are more advanced than us. Yet what do we hear? Nothing but static, white noise. We are not looking for the next hit sitcom. Just a few signals that are no random. Yet, what do we get? Not a peep. Not one. Nada, zippo, the big goose egg. It is ludicrous to say that we will find it one day. The door slamming question today is, "Why isn't it present today?".

Now, here is my question. If, as the evidence indicates, that we are the only piece of orbiting rock in this universe that has life (blogging, tweeting intelligent life) on it, what does that indicate?

On this planet, there a millions of species of life, millions of stories of human life, millions of minds. Yet, you pick any place on this planet and go up 2 kilometres or so and you find not one piece of life for the next gazillion miles (and a few gazillion more) that isn’t something that we put there. What does that say?

Could it say that life is a result of creation, not natural development. Could it say that life comes from another source than that of the known universe? Could it say that life had a beginning, like the Bible has always said, and its beginning was caused by the creative act of a life outside this physical universe, God Himself? (Like 90+% of people on the planet believe). What do you think?

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Death of an iPod

2010-04-26T02:58:00.000-07:00

It is with much sadness that I must announce the demise of my iPod Touch. My wife included it in the wash a couple of days ago. No matter how much CPR I applied or how much I dried it out, it would not fire up. I handled it pretty well, even if I do say so myself. I have informed the family and so I thought it was time I shared with the world my loss.

My sadness soon turned to joyful anticipation when it dawned on me that it was time to get an iPhone. That silver lining proverb really is true.

Facebook Rules!

2010-04-23T17:54:00.000-07:00

Don't say anything that you wouldn't say publicly
Set the security settings so only Friends can see your details and comment. Drop down the Account Menu on the far right side and you will see the section. Follow the white rabbit.
Report Friend requests from people you have no connection with. There are links to do this on Friend requests.
Don't be negative. Moan and whinge elsewhere. Prayer requests are OK but don't become a whiney status updater.
Don't be overly political. I know I am fighting a losing battle here but I don't think Facebook is the place for you to tell me (repeatedly) that the communist antichrist is here and is the harbinger of the destruction of freedom and our nation. Just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I will keep flogging the dead horse.
Stop trying to sell me stuff. I love recommendations of products that friends found a good buy but I am so over friends trying to sign me up for a muliti level marketing scheme. If you want to do that, set up a business page and get friends to join it who enjoy this stuff.
Use the Hide feature to filter all those reports from Facebook games etc. unless you enjoy them.
TMI - don't give too much mundane detail of your life. Very subjective I know but here is a list of status updates that contain Too Much Information. Bodily functions, Eating habits (unless it was a really great restaurant or recipe), Sexual habits, Boring stuff, etc.
Stop the deliberately obscure updates. Seriously, you aren't that deep. Make a comment, not a zen like probe. Everyone knows you are cool, stop trying to prove it.
Don't make rules for Facebook
Feel free to ignore the Facebook nazis who make lists of things not to do on Facebook.
Post as many photos of your grandchildren as you can. People really love it.
Unless you have a very interesting life don't post more than twice a day.
Make a contribution. Stop lurking and reading everyone else's posts without making a few yourself. You know who you are. I see you there. Lurker.
Shut down the computer and get out there and talk to someone.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Techno Church

2010-04-23T17:31:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I have blogged about how technology affects ministry in the kingdom. I can only speak from my point of view. Here are some ways that my ministry has been significantly effected by the use of technology.

Contact with people. Regular emails from me get to every member of the church on email. I get so much positive feedback about this. Church members really appreciate being kept in the loop and like the encouragement during the week.
More Contact with People. Facebook and similar networking sites provide a great opportunity to interact with those I minister to both far and wide. It has been great way for me to keep up with friends in ministry who I don't see very often. See my blog on rules for George's Rules for Facebook.
More productive Bible study and preaching preparation. Bible study programmes make the finding of texts so quick. That leaves more time for framing the message, illustrating and applying the message.
Reading. I have not yet bought an electronic reader but I do use Kindle for Mac and for iPod Touch. Recently I moved to Australia from the USA and had to put my library on what turned out to be a very slow boat. 3 months later & I still have not received the shipment. However all my commentaries are on my MacBook Pro and all the books I have purchased in the past 6 months are on my Kindle software. Haven't missed a beat. It is so good to have all your library (eventually) on a device I just put in my satchel.
Blogging as therapy. I don't think anyone reads my blogs but it is such good therapy for me. It really helps me process what is going on in my life and ministry.
Church Websites have some effectiveness but nowhere near as much as I would like. I design and implement websites and have found them to be only effective in the following ways. A cyberspace sign post. When looking for a church in an area most people will google it. If you don't have a website you won't show up on the list. A source of recent messages preached at your church. I find people use this a lot. Also gives potential visitors a feel for your preaching. Other than that church websites can be pretty useless. Pet Peeve: if your church is going to have a website, please keep it up to date. It really sends a destructive message when you don't.
Helps me get out of the office. When I had an office I was constantly interrupted by sales phone calls, people who thought I didn't have anything to do, door to door sales people, cleaners etc. An office was helpful as well but for those times when I need to get away from the annoyances but yet still stay in contact, my mobile phone and a laptop with a mobile broadband internet connection or a wifi hotspot made it possible.

One final thought: WARNING: Do not become a techno geek preacher. The rule for illustrations and visual aid also applies to technology ie. any technique that attracts attention to itself rather than the message is not only unhelpful, it is counter productive. Remember, ministry is a people to people thing, not a people to computer thing.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

"Why?"

2010-04-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

"Why?" is a very important question. In fact, it is THE important question. When we ask it we often don't realize what we are saying. We assume that there is a reason for everything. It would be little strange if we kept on asking the question when there really isn't any reason for anything. We, innately, believe that there is a reason.

Consider the idea that there is no God, no unseen mind behind this universe and its contents. To those who subscribe to this, this world we live in is a series of elements reacting with each other in a totally random way. Well not the whole world. The bit that we humans effect is definitely not random. That effect is guided by human design. (we can see design in small human activity but yet many have trouble seeing design in the big things) However, the rest of this world, the living things, the land, the sea, the air etc. is just a bunch of things randomly reacting with each other.

In this context the question, "Why?", has but one answer, "There is no reason". Why does water freeze from the bottom down and every other liquid from the bottom up. "No reason", says the atheist. It just happens. Human behaviour is just the result of chemical relationships in the human brain. It just happens and a serial killer is born.

Yet, every single one of us look at this and ourselves and are challenged with the idea that everything looks like it operates for a reason. We may try to take God out of the equation and call on Mother Nature as the great source of the apparent design of all that we see but that is just changing the name of God.

If we accept that there is God who has designed this creation for a reason then the question, "Why?" becomes answerable. Why does water freeze that way? Because God designed it that way. It wasn't an accident. There is a purpose and we might even see the purpose.

Now just because we can ask "Why?" doesn't mean that we will get an answer right now but it does give us confidence that there is an answer and there is a reason for the sudden death of my friend. Trust in the Lord. He may not tell you the reason for all those things that you ask "why?" about but He does have a reason and one day you will know.

Everyone asks "Why?". Everyone, deep down, knows there is a reason. It just needs to be discovered.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Why I Like Sports

2010-04-13T17:59:00.000-07:00

I used to think it was a male thing. We were just genetically predisposed to watch any sport, any time, anywhere, no matter how inappropriate it was to do so. However, my theological mind wonders why God would programme us that way. Maybe not the deepest theological thought I have had but there it is.

During my Amercian sojourn I found so many women just as obsessed as I am (some even more). Come to think of it, look at all the women at the Aussie Rules games. It's not just an American thing.

So why do I like sports so much? Here are my thoughts on the matter (read justifying my sport's addiction).

Sports are a live unfolding struggle with no ending scripted or predetermined. Barring any mafia shenanigans (always wanted to use that word) this is the truth of sport. Yes, there are plans and plays but all that is constantly changing according to the flow of the game. No game is ever the same as any other. The drama is there with every play. Who will prevail? Who will fold? When that drama is gone, like in a blowout, even the sports obsessed turn over to the chick flick their wife wants to watch.

Sports are a highly skilled art form. Now, not all sports are. That's why I can't watch UFC. I have tried and I just can't. But when you see LeBron dunk or Jarryd Hayne run around a defense, it is a work of art and grace. Skill, beauty, and elegance. An outfielder taking a running catch on the warning track is pure art in motion. Most sports participants are athletes looking like the perfect human physical form. There are exceptions of course like Sumo, Shot Putting and some golf players (check out Craig Parry).

Sports, especially when you are in the crowd, are an event. Majestic stadiums, unique food, great entertainment, giant screen, loud music. I must admit that even though I played field hockey for many years in my youth I have never wanted to go to game in my mature years (read old age). During the Sydney 2000 Olympics (I was in hog heaven) I scored some free tickets to a field hockey game. Turned into one of my favourite sports experiences. It was an event and it felt so good to be there.

I hate reality TV (well most of it). It is not real. It is scripted. It is just WWF (which I also dislike) with more boring players. However sports are the ultimate reality TV. No script. No pretend drama. If Mick Malthouse is spitting invectives at a player on the opposing team, believe me, he is not pretending. This is real. Warts and all.

There it is. I am not just some mindless slob sitting on my recliner, with a diet coke in one hand and a packet of chips in the other. I am a deeply committed aficionado of competition, drama, beauty and truth.

Finally, some athletes prove there is a God, a divine force who designed this universe. How else do you explain the talent and perfection of Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, Wally Lewis (in his hey day), Chris Evert, Roger Federer? You think all that happened by a concoction of minerals, water, dirt, electricity and lots of time? Yeah right! Such extraordinary design demands that there is a designer bringing about all that beauty and talent.

Hey, NBA playoffs begin Monday (Aussie time). All right!! Go Lakers.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

A Quick Study – How To Fellowship (1)

2010-04-13T16:34:00.000-07:00

First John Chapter One

Note: You really should read this Bible passage first. After all this is a Bible study. Go on. Try it out.

Jesus is the Touchable Message From God

(Seriously, have you read the passage yet? Go on. I won't let you go any further until you do it.)

John says that he (along with many others) had “heard”, “seen” and “touched” Jesus :1.

Jesus is the “Word of life”, “the life”, and “eternal life” :1-:2.

John (along with other eyewitnesses) “testify” and “proclaim” this life, this Jesus :2

Fellowship Up and Down

Fellowship = partnership. The context provides who or what the partnership is with or about.

Two life changing partnerships makes us who we are.

1. “fellowship with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ” – Vertical :3

2. “fellowship with us” ie. with each other – Horizontal :3

An Unexpected Message

There are so many messages coming from so many churches, preachers, authors. No wonder the world looks at us as though we Christians are a little flakey. The Holy Spirit is about to tell you what the message of Christians is to be.

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” :5. Seriously? Yes. It may not be in your church slogan, or church creed or hardly even spoken about by our preachers but here it is but that is a topic for another time. This is the message of Jesus, the Word of life.

God is simple. In fact John explains God in terms of something as simple as light and darkness. You know light and darkness, don’t you? Put up your hand if you don’t. Didn’t think there was any. Well God is like the light and He is nothing like the darkness.

Darkness is sin :6, :7, :8-:10. Sin is disobeying God 3:4.

Light is God :5. It is not sinlessness. God just told us what the light was in :5. Got to remember that.

Fellowship with God

Jesus reveals clearly that God, the holy one, desires with unstoppable passion, to fellowship with the unholy (that’s you and me). His very presence on this earth and in your life is proof of that!

But, how can Light fellowship (partner with) darkness? Religions since Adam was a grown man have asked this question. However you don’t have to figure it out on your own. You just have to believe the answer God gives us.

Here it is. Ready? “If we walk in the light, as He is in the light … the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies (makes us holy) from all sin” :7.

Next Study: Walking in the light is probably not what you think it is. Well, maybe it is, but you wouldn’t want to miss the next study would you?

Other Resources:

Message I preached on this - Community 1 along with others preached at Northside Church, Sydney, Australia

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

The Wedding

2010-04-11T16:41:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday our son, Harrison, married his lovely bride, Cesia. Julie and I are so happy.

The wedding went so well. Ben, Harrison's older brother, performed the ceremony. He did a great job. It was full of laughter, joy, Jesus, and beauty. Cesia was such a beautiful bride. The church building was a picturesque old sandstone one. The perfect setting for a wedding. The place was full of family and friends. 4 generations of our family. We are so blessed.

The reception was a little while later at the very same place Ben and Carly had their wedding and reception almost 8 years ago. Brought back some wonderful memories. Lots of good food, funny speeches and an opportunities to get to know those wonderful parents who have been so helpful in our son's life. Alexander, our other son, did an incredible song and dance number to honour (read, make fun of) his brother and new sister in law. I am so looking forward to the video of this. Think it might become the next YouTube sensation.

I am so happy for Harrison. There is a lot of "stuff" associated with the event of a wedding, but at the centre of it all are two young ones who have found love for each other and for God. That's a special and glorious thing. They have committed to each other for life and are happy to let the whole world know about it. Praise God!

Reminds me that 32 years ago God blessed me with my bride, Julie. She has been a wonderful wife and mother and now grandmother. God has truly blessed me. As Harrison looks forward to his first 32, I am filled with great anticipation for our next 32. Hopefully with lots of grandchildren (no pressure).

Grandson Footnote: While all the young folk (don't I sound old) were jumping up and down (they call it dancing) Julie and I got to play with Benji in a sound proofed room (the music was really loud). He was so happy and just sat on our laps for a long time. It was so wonderful. I seem to be using that word a lot in this blog.

After such a full weekend Julie and I are exhausted but it is a good exhaustion. Now, back to work. Well, maybe one more photo.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Great Easter Weekend

2010-04-04T17:56:00.000-07:00

In Australia we get a really long weekend at Easter. Both Friday and Monday are public holidays. And I have to say that I had a great one.

For Friday lunch we took Julie's parents, Ron and Edna, to Sizzler, their second favorite place for lunch. There are only 3 left in Sydney so it was a bit of a drive. They loved it. Got to help Ron get some special painkillers for the severe pain he has in his hand at night. He is going to need surgery. Hope he gets it soon.

On Friday night Julie was worn out so I went on my own to the Passover gathering with WestChurch at Glenhaven. It was a great gathering of Christians and it was inspirational to see the death of Jesus through the imagery of the Passover. I got to visit with some wonderful friends, the Stewart's and the Gretch's, the Willems, the Gray's, Geordie Barham, Mark, Francois, Simon (too many to name) and a wonderful singer, Luke O'Sullivan (check out the words to the song he sang called Beautiful Scandalous Night). Met a fellow preacher, Tim Yates. He is leading a church planting in the Newcastle area called Eastlakes Christian Church (I think that is the name).

Saturday was a big day for the Little clan. It was the first time in a long time to have Julie and I in the same room with our three boys. Add to that our daughter in law, Carly, and the world's cutest grandson, Benji and a couple of friends and it was one of the best days we have had. Julie made tacos for lunch and then we went for a walk to Rose Bay on the harbor. Here is a picture of the Little boys.

Sunday, Julie and I worshiped with our home church, Northside. It was a small gathering which is normal at Easter in Australia as a lot of people go away for the weekend. I preached on fellowship out of 1 John. We all shared lunch together. Got a lot of encouragement from the members. They are a great group.

Ran Julie home after lunch and immediately headed north to North Avoca Beach to preach at a house church in the home of the Huttabarret's. Great group. Lot's of visitors and people seeking God. Caught up old friends, the Rich's, the Ritchie's and the Brown's. They meet every three weeks and are a part of the Gosford Church. God is really doing some great things in this place.

Drove the 2 hours home to my beloved wife who had recurperated from her big morning.

It's Monday now and guess what I am doing? Resting. Trying to find the Final Four on TV and of course tapping away on the trusty Macbook Pro. Julie is out shopping. She has to get all the stuff that women need for a wedding. I just throw on the old black suit but it seems that women need a whole new wardrobe when a wedding comes around. What wedding? My son, Harrison's. It's this Saturday. His older brother, Ben, is performing it. Although, Harrison said if he messes up I will have to step up. I am so looking forward to being a witness and not a participant.

That's enough tapping for now. Come on! When is the final four on OneHD?

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Sunday Focused Church

2010-03-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Sunday is an important day for disciples of Jesus. It was the day Jesus was raised from the dead. History tells us that it was the day that early disciples gathered together to remember Jesus by sharing the Lord’s Supper.

However, God very clearly teaches us (Galatians 4:8-11, Romans 14:4-6) that no day is more special than another. Add to that the fact that only once are Christians spoken of as meeting on Sunday (referred to as the first day of the week in Acts 20:7) and you would be forgiven for thinking that 21^st disciples of Jesus make too big a deal of Sunday.

To many Christians, it is THE holy day of the week. Many have taken the language of the Jewish covenant and have called it the Sabbath. God never did that.

Sunday focused churches are very much the norm in the kingdom. We have got into the habit of measuring churches by the statistics of their Sunday gatherings. We have changed our language in the kingdom because of this. We speak of “going to church” or “going to worship” even though the Holy Spirit never does.

For many Christians the Sunday church time has become the one essential part of their Christian calendar.

For something that has become so central a focus of our lives as Christians, there is very little support for such a focus in the New Testament. I’m not saying Christians gathering together on a Sunday is bad or wrong. I am saying that making it the focus of our life with Christ is bad.

Jesus clearly states that He should be the central focus of our lives (John 14:6 etc.). The Holy Spirit is clear that our devotion and worship of God is to be an every day occurrence (Romans 12:1-2, 1 Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18). Rejoice in the Lord always (Philippians 4:4) not just during praise time on Sunday.

We are called to live lives for Jesus, not just a series of Sunday mornings.

We are not just married on our anniversaries. We aren’t just parents on our children’s birthdays. And we are not just Christians on Sundays. We do gather on Sundays and do some wonderful things but we must not let that become a replacement for living for Jesus every day of the week.

Given this I have a couple of thoughts (opinions) about Sundays in the kingdom.

Many of us (including me) have made Sunday THE time of worship and that has detracted from Christians worshiping God every day of the week.

Many of us (including me) have made such a production of our Sunday gatherings that we have inadvertently given everyone the impression that this is THE special holy time of the week. Churches employ worship ministers to choreograph these services. We build cathedrals so we can house these events. We buy the latest technology so we can produce the best event. I’m not saying that such things are wrong. I am just saying that we may be sending a message to our people that we hadn’t intended to.

How much of the church budget is spent on making sure that the Sunday “service” goes well? I know churches (and you do to) who pay preachers 6 figure salaries to produce a world class sermon each Sunday (See Ephesians 4:11-12 for why we should have preachers). How much of the church budget is used to help the poor? How much is used for evangelism?

I love meeting with other disciples on Sunday. It is a great event in my week. But when that event becomes the central focus of my week then I have misunderstood the calling of Jesus to walk with Him every day of the week. We need to take a leaf out the early church’s book. “Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Acts 5:42. “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,” Acts 2:46. “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11. “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.” Hebrews 3:13.

I might read an article like this and say, “That’s right. We should be devoted to Jesus every day of the week.” But when I ask the question, “When did I last sing a song to God?” or “When did I last seriously pray”, I find that my life doesn’t match up to my words.

The point is not to “desanctify” Sunday. It is to regard all days with the same level of reverence that so many give to Sunday. And in reverencing all days we should turn our hearts to Jesus on each of those days and speak of our love for Him. After all He is the true focus of disciples of Jesus.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Users and Takers

2010-03-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Don't you just love it when a concise phrase sums up an important point? Well, maybe you don't but I do (I must admit I am easily amused). God jogged my memory recently by reminding me of the transformational vs transactional dynamic of relationships in the kingdom. This phrase is most commonly used to describe leadership models in business etc. Just do a Google search on it. Google said I got 447,000 references to it and it only looked for .36 seconds.

However I want to use it to describe our personal relationship with people. As disciples of Jesus we have been called to help people. We aren't perfect but we are in a kingdom of light that is called to shine into the darkness (Ephesians 5:8, Colossians 1:12,13). We have been called to be transformational in our lives in this world. We don't just exist, we exist to change the world we live in.

Yet, the most common interactions we have with people are transactional. What I mean is that often our agendas in our relationships are a transaction whereby we are giving so that we can......

get other people to do something to benefit us. USERS
get money, gifts or other stuff from others. TAKERS
find people to make us feel good. "LIKE A CAT" ERS (my cat does this all the time)
get a balanced return act. "TIT FOR TAT" ERS

Transactional relationships are ones where people are tying to see what they can get. The best response is when you get a good transaction (you get what you want ... after all, it is all about you, right?). It is very limited in what it can do to really help people.

Jesus calls us to transformational relationships. He said it in Matthew 5:16. We are to live, associate, work with people in such a way that it transforms them (and us as well). “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:12, NIV.

One aspect of transformational living that has a huge impact is when disciples of Jesus like you and I do the UNEXPECTED like the following .......

Love our enemies instead of hating them.
Forgiving people even before they ask for it.
Suffering an injustice instead of standing up for our rights.
Being inclusive when people expect you to be exclusive.
Being kind to strangers rather than suspicious.

This is what Jesus did isn't it? Eating with embezzlers and "sinners". Talking to a Samaritan women in public. Teaching in the secular marketplace. Suffering torture when He could have easily prevented it.

This sort of behaviour in the name of Christ transforms people. We will be come a transforming Kingdom when we learn to live the life Christ has called us to and get away from trying to ring up transactions with people.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

All Churches Are Messed Up!

2010-03-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Have you been looking for the true church? Have you searched for the perfect church? Are you trying to restore the New Testament church? For me years it was these things that drove me until God revealed to me that all churches are messed up therefore you couldn’t find a perfect one, even in history. It was a special experience of revelation. He had been saying it all along in His word. It just took me a long time to realize it. Here are a few observations about this that have been rattling around in my brain and heart lately.

Nowhere in God’s word is the ideal (complete, perfect, etc.) church ever mentioned except in the universal sense like in Matthew 16:18 , Ephesians 1:22-23 etc.). Every local church mentioned in scripture had serious problems. Every leader had serious flaws. Check it out for yourself. Maybe I missed something.

I have concluded that all churches are messed up in some way. This truth is really important in coming to understand the kingdom of God and our part in it. All churches are messed up. 1^st century churches, churches in the middle ages and 21^st century churches are all messed up to some degree.

No, this is not about church bashing. It’s about understanding who and what we are.

Christ’s churches in the first century had all sorts of problems. When you list them this really does hit you. And yet they were all still Christ’s church. Problems with ……

Toleration of sexual immorality (1 Cor 5:1-6) – they were even proud of it!

Holding to false teachings (Rev 2:14)

Divisive behaviour (1 Cor 1:10-13)

False beliefs about the future resurrection of our bodies (1 Cor 15:12 ff)

Taking believers to court (1 Cor 6:1-9)

Marriage and divorce (1 Cor 7)

Luke warm attitude to Christ (Rev 3:14-22)

And these are only a few of the many that are mentioned. Yet, in all this the message of Jesus was for each person in these churches to turn back to Jesus and to do what He wants them to do.

He never treated them as anything other than His family, His church, His kingdom.

Our fellowship in Christ is based upon our relationship with Jesus. It is in that relationship with Jesus that we get our relationship to each other. The foundational common bond we have is between each of us and Jesus. We may not agree of everything (or even many things) but we do agree on who is the king, who is our saviour. Because of this, we share some common things. We don’t have to figure out what those things are. God already has and here is His list.

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Ephesians 4:3-6, NIV.

Often, I am asked, “What does your church believe?” My answer varies. Sometimes I say, “My church is not my church. It is Jesus’ church. We believe what Jesus says.” Other times I say, “We do not have a creed or list of beliefs. We just believe what the Bible teaches.” At another time I might inform the questioner of the fact that churches do not believe. Individuals believe. “I can tell you what I believe or what the leaders believe, but I would encourage you to read the Bible for yourself and believe what God says in that.

At other times I turn to the Ephesians 4 passage about and say, “Here are the foundational beliefs of God’s Kingdom.”

Here is another list of things. These are things that are never mentioned in God’s word as being foundational for a church to be Christ’s church or are mentioned as specifically having nothing to do with it.

Worship style – old songs, new songs, upbeat songs, praise songs. Never spoken of as key to our being Christ’s church.

Use of instruments – I advocate acapella singing but I have got to have enough humility and submission to God’s word to recognize that use or non use was never taught to be a barrier to fellowship in Christ’s church.

Organizational pattern.

Which hymnal or songbook a churches uses.

Signing a human written document to establish unity.

What you eat or drink.

Drinking of alcohol, although drunkenness is forbidden.

Doctrines outside those mentioned in Ephesians 4. This doesn’t mean that we don’t strive to learn all the teachings of God, but that we have a lot of grace as we all search for those truths.

Which movement within the kingdom you subscribe to.

Politics of the day.

Owning a church building.

Having a kitchen in the church building. If you don’t know about this one, be glad that you don’t.

Methods of evangelism and discipleship.

Yet, in the history of believers in Jesus, all these things (and many others) have been used as the criteria to say that a particular church is not faithful, which is often a euphemism for “not being a true church of Jesus”.

I am not advocating or denying any of these things (although I have opinions of each of them). I am just saying that these things are not meant by God to be the basis for our place in the kingdom, the family of God. How can I be so sure? Because God’s word never uses them that way.

Each person has the opportunity to enter the kingdom of God. This entry is made possible by two things.

1. God absolute power to forgive all our sins (past, present and future) based on the punishment Jesus suffered for all these sins in His death on the cross. Don’t believe me. Read it for yourself. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:22-26, NIV.

2. Our faith response in choosing to be born again. Again, read it for yourself. “In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”” John 3:3, NIV. “Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.” John 3:5, NIV. “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” Acts 2:38, 39, NIV.

At its core, church isn’t about you or me. It’s about Jesus and you. Jesus first and you and I second. Church isn’t about loyalty to leaders or faithfulness to traditions. Church is about each of us being born again and helping as many others to experience that rebirth. Church is about discovering what part of the body of Christ, the kingdom of God you are and fulfilling God’s plan for you.

The question we are really trying to answer is framed a different way when the religious leaders of the day tried to trap Jesus in a doctrinal question. What is the most important thing? Jesus is very clear. He doesn’t say all commands of God are equally important. He says there are two. Love God and love people. This is what defines God’s people. Again, this is my particular focus. It is the focus of Christ as expressed clearly in Matthew 22:34-40.

No local church will ever fulfill our desire to be in the perfect one here on earth. That’s okay. That’s the way God planned it. Don’t you think God knew that the Corinthian church was going to have all those problems? Don’t you think Jesus knew that the local church you are a part of was going to have the problems it has? Yes, He did.

http://www. georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Kingdom Connections

2010-03-04T17:11:00.000-08:00

It has now been about a month since our arrival back in Sydney. As the dust starts to settle I am being challenged to listen to God for His plans rather than tell Him what I am going to do. It really is a challenge for “let’s get stuff done” George but it is what His kingdom is about.

After all, it is His kingdom. He has His plans. He has been working long before I got here and I need to find where He is working and focus my energies there. It is appearing like it will be quite different from what I thought. Why does that surprise me? Maybe because I was walking by sight and NOT by faith. You think so?

Usually when I have moved to a new work, the boundaries and parameters were pretty evident. Usually it was a church with an existing membership, leadership and direction. But this time the connections that God is showing me don’t look like churches I have worked with in the past. I’m not talking about teaching. It is still the pure gospel of Jesus but I am talking about the people God is leading me to. Northside Church is our beginning point but some how I think God doesn’t quite see the boundaries we do.

Interesting times, to say the least. Please pray for Julie and I as we move further into this adventure in His kingdom. Can’t wait to see what God is going to show us next.

Preaching on Life in the Kingdom this week. Starting a list of core values in the Kingdom. What do you think should be high on that list?

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Feels Like Home

2010-02-14T14:09:00.000-08:00

There is something about home that makes the soul feel at peace.

Julie and I have been "on the road", in a sense, for the past 7.5 years. The journey has been a good one and it has taught us a lot of lessons. I have loved the churches I got to work with but there is nothing quite like being back in your home country serving the people of your own culture. It is home and nothing on this earth will ever be that. No matter how much I travel, Australia, and particularly Sydney will always be home.

Food is more familiar and somehow tastes better. The tea certainly tastes better. All this could be subjective but I am really feeling this. The sky looks different. How is that? Isn't a sky a sky? The people are somehow more like me. It is nice being a novelty (at least with an accent) but it also great to be back where other people are the visitors and the "aliens" and I am the citizen. It is so good to be close to family once again. To be able to go to a birthday dinner with my son, Ben, like we are going to do tonight. To play with my grandson, Benji. It just feels like home.

All this meditating on what it feels to be home reminds me of God's word when He says, “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” Philippians 3:20, NIV.

As much as I savour being at home in Sydney, it is not my ultimate home. It is not my permanent address. It is not my eternal citizenship. I have got to live more like one who is not "at home" in this present life. One who is on a journey heading home, but I am not home yet.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

5 Minutes With George Episode 6

2010-02-14T00:39:00.000-08:00

Here is the latest 5 Minutes from George (which is never 5 minutes by the way). My first Australian episode.
5 Minutes With George

Last Day

2010-01-29T08:45:00.000-08:00

As my final day in the USA begins I am reminiscing about my last 7 years in Southern California and all the people who have made it such a good time (and some who didn't but I want mention them - hey I just did).

I have worked with 2 churches. Firstly there was the El Cajon Blvd Church of Christ in San Diego. In the beginning I worked with two wonderful Christian elders, Floyd Melson and Tom Stavros. Two more different men you couldn't find but they proved to me that, in Christ, we are one. Soon three more men who had a big influence on me became elders. Garey Castle, who constantly showed me what true patience was, and who helped feed by hi-tech habit. Chris Delgado, whose servant spirit inspires me to this day. Mike Bucchi, whose spirit showed me that the truly powerful position on this earth was as a servant in the kingdom. (Mike was Vice Admiral over the US Navy 3rd Fleet.)

There were others at ECB. David Bates was such a joy in my life. His strength and happy spirit lifted me many times. When I sang next to him, even I sounded good. John Rudolph was a young man whose willingness to step up and and teach was so encouraging. Joey Tennison was another young man whose faith journey was a constant inspiration. Travis Moore was another young man who I loved being around and whose faith and personal support was always a great encouragement to me. Now that I think about it I have too many people to name. They were all good for me and I hope I was good for them.

The second church I worked with was the Glendale Church of Christ in the Los Angeles area. I have had a relationship with this church since the late 70s. Over the years God keeps calling me back to them and I am so glad He does. They always refreshed my soul and were always willing to learn and grow. My two elders for my work there were Wil Jackson, a godly passionate man whose heart always lifted me up, and Bill Rog , a constant and true friend with an abundance of wisdom and love. Another man who means a lot to me is Jim Settlemoir. He is a thoughtful and brave servant of God. I love James Sheldon, a wonderfully talented worship leader but more importantly a friend (his passion for sport exceeded mine). Bryan Schackmann is a true man of God, patient and caring. He was a pleasure to work with. He doesn't just talk the talk (ministers are good at that), he walks the walk. He gets the job done. Again there are too many to name.

God has truly blessed me in the past 7 years. It's been a trip with all the ups and downs of life but I am glad that God gave it to me. Now, home to Sydney, with a great deal of anticipation about who God will send into my life next.

Mac Attack

2010-01-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

I must confess I love my Apple products. Not as much as my wife, my children or my grandchildren (yeah, other family as well, fill in the blank) but I do have a very deep personal (though platonic) relationship with my MacBook Pro and iPods. I think it may be an addiction but I don't care.

Besides the products, I love the way Apple markets its products. Without hardly spending a dollar they verbally leak some vague details about something and before you know it is a news item on every news hour in first and second world. I don't think the third world cares. They are having enough trouble feeding themselves. That truth should shut me up but it doesn't.

The much rumored tablet that Apple is supposed to announce soon has had as much written about it as the second coming of Jesus (maybe not that much but it is close, and so maybe the coming of Jesus). Just a few well placed conversations (no paper trail) and the geek world is all blogging itself within an inch of it's life. Amazing. Ingenious. Cheap.

Of course, they have to come up with the products otherwise would no one would care.

Is there something here we could learn to propagate the good news of Jesus who is the only one who really works and doesn't need a 3 year Applecare contract.

The Journey Home

2010-01-13T09:41:00.000-08:00

Our journey of return to Sydney is well on its way. Lots of work to get everything packed or sold. Also, traveling a fair bit visiting friends and saying good bye.

I have enjoyed listening to someone else preach over the past two Sundays. That's something that rarely happens for me and I have enjoyed it.

January is summertime vacation in Australia. Everyone is enjoying themselves at the beach and spending time with their families who don't return to school until after the 31st.

We don't have all our finances organized yet but that is par for the course for mission work. When you commit to church planting you make a pact with God and it is cemented together with love, faith and hope. I have a plan but I also am convinced that God has a plan for Julie and I and He will reveal the details of that plan in His own good time. In the mean time, we know where we are going and we have friends and family there to help us. That's more than Abraham had when God sent Him out.

My mind has been on the Northside Church and I am inspired by the vision of it that I am seeing. I am getting a very positive feeling about what God can do there. I am usually a positive person but this time I am even more so. I really think God will do an amazing work with the few people He has gathered and will gather many more in our first year. Praise God.

The Big Move

2010-01-06T15:11:00.000-08:00

As we (mainly Julie I must confess) are packing up to move back to Australia I have become very aware of how much stuff we have.

We are not taking any of our furniture, appliances, electricals and still the pile of stuff we are shipping home is getting pretty big. It's not that we are blessed with an abundance of stuff. It's just that even when you are careful about what you buy etc. you still end up with a big pile. I think it only really hits you properly when you have to move it all.

It's all good stuff. We wouldn't keep it if it wasn't because every cubic foot costs us money. However it made me think about the big move that each of us is destined to make back to the home made for us by our Father. All this stuff will stay here. Our paperwork, our favourite (got to get back to spelling in Australian) mementos, the necessary things for daily life and yes even our computers and phones will stay here and we will move on with only that which we were born with plus faith, hope and love. Even two of those things will disappear in the transition.

I am so looking forward to that move. The final move home. No more stuff to move. Maranatha

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

The Big With

2009-12-30T00:04:00.000-08:00

God with us. That’s what Jesus is. The baby in the horse trough.

Beyond the absolute revelation (in so many ways) that God became like one us is the promise that He would with WITH us.

It never really hit me as much as it did last week when I was preaching the good news once again. God is with us. He promised He would be and our confidence in the future should be based on that promise. But I hadn’t quite seen the promise quite like the way that the Holy Spirit revealed it to me last Sunday. I didn’t see it this way before. I know Satan doesn’t want me see it this way. Who else would teach me such a lesson, but the Holy Spirit. Not a new message. Just helping me to understand the message He had already given to all us in His word.

Yes, God came to be with us in a shared humanity. He came to set up residence, not next door, but in our very homes. He came to take up residence in our very bodies through that precious gift He gives to each of His people, His precious Holy Spirit.

But He didn’t just promise to BE with us, He promised to GO with us. “… go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, … And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” Matthew 28:19, 20.

He would send us into this broken, decaying and unredeemed world and He promised to go WITH us. Then He did just that. To a broken apostle, caught up in fear at the prospect of once again proclaiming Christ in that cesspool of a city, Corinth, God would say this. “… “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no-one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”” Acts 18:9, 10. God didn’t just send Paul. Jesus didn’t just commission and stay back behind the front lines. No He goes WITH us.

And when we are working though a terrible day … when the pain of life is just too much. … you have those days, don’t you? When the only thing you can do is cry and pray and then cry some more. When the question starts to rise up from your grief stricken soul. What is God doing?

Then, it dawned on me. Maybe, everyone else knew this and I had just not put it together. When I am grieving, when I am hurting so bad, when it feels like I’m at the bottom of bottomless pit of despair, what is God doing? He is WITH me. He is with me in my pain but what is He doing. He is crying. He is hurting for me. The almighty, holy and perfect God is bent over crying WITH me.

That’s why He told me to “… mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15. Because that is what He does. “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. … Jesus wept.” John 11:33-35.

Real parents do that, don’t they? When your child is so upset, does it upset you? Real marrieds do the same. When your wife cries does it rip you apart? It is the same with God. When He sees His children in pain it tears Him up. He feels it because He is WITH us.

One thing I love about preaching Jesus is that right in the middle of a message that I am preaching, God can be teaching me a lesson. He did that last Sunday. And what did I do? I did what every preacher does. I preached it.

Do not be afraid. Keep on speaking. Do not be silent. God has many people in this city. " I am with you"

http:// georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Here We Come Sydney

2009-12-21T12:54:00.000-08:00

God's plans. Our plans. So often the two do not match up. Our return to Sydney has been a constant series of adjustments to God's will. As I read the New Testament this process has always been a significant part of the kingdom of God.

We anticipate being back in Sydney February 2nd, Lord willing. The Glendale Church has committed to partially support us for 18 moths. As yet we have only secured 50% of our funding but we are pressing on in the sure hope that God will provide in HIS way and in HIS time.

We are busily making preparations, packing up the stuff to ship, selling of the rest of our stuff. It is a challenging to leave a country but we feel that we are getting on top of it. Leaving the Glendale Church family is such a difficult thing emotionally. This past two years with them has been such a rich and fulfilling journey. I truly love them and they constantly remind me of their love for me. I am so glad that Bryan Schackmann is taking over from me in the pulpit. God has prepared this young man in a very special way. I have a lot of confidence in Him and his willing to let God work in his ministry and life.

Despite all the adjustments etc. associated with this move, I have this deep seated confidence that God is going to work through us to bring about a great result for the kingdom in Sydney.

We are so looking forward to being back close to our family once again. We are very excited at what we think the Lord will do with us at the Northside Church. We will be happy to be back in our home land. No more worries about visas and work permits. I do leave my beloved Lakers behind but somehow I feel that they will make it back to back championships in 2010. Will still get to watch their exploits on TV.

If you are willing please say a little pray for us. For more information on what the Lord is calling us to please go to http://www.northsidejesus.org or go to the project:northside Facebook page.

My friend, James, had us listen to the Gaither Vocal Band's version of the old favorite, O, Love That Will Not Let Me Go. The words of that song really reflect the way I feel. I know God loves me because of what Jesus did for me. Now, I know and love Jesus and that love that God has for me will not let me go. Praise God that it won't.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Merry Christmas

2009-12-19T09:37:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas. You don’t hear it as much as you used to but, Merry Christmas.

Our culture’s increasing aversion to anything Christian is something I don’t like but it is there and we need to deal with it.

Some Christians have responded with outrage, petitions and protests at the increasing removal of Christ from Christmas but can I suggest that I think that they are missing a couple of key points.

This is a symptom of people moving away from Jesus and that is the real problem. Christmas as a celebration is a total cultural choice. It is not a biblical imperative. The reason the season is becoming secular is that so many of our friends, co-workers, neighbors, family are moving away from God and becoming secular. That’s the key issue. You can get to heaven without Christmas but you can’t without Jesus (John 14:6). So let’s get upset about the real issue. Not your sense of loss of the Christmas of old that you grew up with but the real loss of some many to the godless and powerless philosophies of the age.

Every one us have been sick. We know we are sick because of symptoms (fever, runny nose and various other gross things our bodies do). We also know that, if we just treat the symptom like a fever and don’t treat the cause of the fever, we are never going to heal. Trying to restore Christmas is a bit like that. Where should our energies be focused? On restoring Christmas or restoring Christ? That brings me to the second key point.

As Christians, we have been charged with the proclamation of the good news of Jesus. We can read all the verses (1 Cor. 2:2, 15:1-5, Romans 1:16 etc.) but we also have to apply them to our lives. We have an obligation before God to call everyone back to Jesus as their savior. We have the charge from God to call his wayward children but to Him. This is the labor of love we are called to. This is the only real thing that will truly remedy the ills of people caught up in this world. You see, even if we can get everyone back to saying, “Merry Christmas”, if they aren’t giving their lives to Jesus then their place before God is still just as bad as before.

God puts it this ways, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.” Romans 10:9, 10, NIV. What we say is important but only if it comes from the heart.

This world will probably keep taking away reverence and honor of Jesus but we shouldn’t be surprised. We can be upset and feel slighted but let’s not be surprised when the ungodly do ungodly things. That’s only natural (terrible but natural). But once we have taken our egos out of the mix, we have got to face up to the fact that our friends, family, neighbors and fellow countrymen are not going to be saved by Christmas. Only Jesus can save them.

This Christmas proclaim Christ. Proclaim Him in your conversations. Proclaim Him with your life as you love the helpless, hopeless and unlovely. Proclaim Him as you give. There is so much power in generosity. Give Jesus the glory and keep on being His redeemed child. Keep on loving God and loving people.

Every time the people of God do this amazing things happen. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20, 21, NIV.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZw4fEFuTVA

5 Minutes with George - Episode 3

2009-12-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

Are you crazy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbftTKGzprU

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

5 Minutes with George - Episode 2

2009-12-10T08:48:00.000-08:00

or click on this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yau62_D3sGE

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Video Ministry

2009-12-04T13:47:00.000-08:00

I must admit I am not a fan of TV as an effective medium for the story of Jesus. That's just my opinion because it doesn't really speak to me. I know it does speak to many. Not that it has really been issue with my ministry because no one has ever wanted me to do TV work. As the old wise crack goes, I have a good face for radio. HD and closeups are just too honest. Check out this week's 30 Rock episode for some fun about HD

Anyhow I say all that to say that I am going to have a go at video ministry via the internet. My reasons.

I can. For an investment of one hour a week i can share Jesus with a lot of people. Almost no dollar cost.
Many people watch internet video. I want to minister to them if I can.
It may actually help someone on their journey which for a lot of people today is a digital journey. Do you know that Facebook now has 350 million users. That's bigger than most countries, even the big ones.
I think I have a message from Jesus that actually helps people in finding God.

My parameters

Get out of "preaching" mode. That's tough for an old preacher.
Keep message to around five minutes. You talk about tough!
Speak to real people in real situations with the real Jesus
Don't get overly caught in production values. This obviously isn't a professional production, so why try to make it look like it.
Do it for 2 months and see how it goes.

Well, here's the first attempt. Don't worry. It will get better.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Church = What?

2009-12-03T08:57:00.000-08:00

Church is not what most people think it is. Given that church is one of the key representative words for faith in Christ, this is a disaster. No wonder so many outside the family of God misunderstand what being in the family is about.

In modern English the word church refers to a building devoted to Christian worship. That is the primary meaning in dictionaries and in common usage. As such it is a terrible translation of the word that Jesus and Paul used. Just over 110 times in most New Testaments you will find the word church. Not one of those times is it referring to a building.

The original language of the New Testament was Koine Greek. The word translated church is ekklesia. It was a common word in the first century and had no religious significance. There were Greek words that did describe religious groups (agora, panegyris, synagoge etc.) Warning: Word studies can be a little dry (euphemism for boring) but hang in there, there is an incredible truth here that you and I need to be aware of.

So, the Holy Spirit took a secular word, ekklesia, and used it to refer to groups of Christians. It’s meaning had its origins in the combination of ek which means out of and kaleo which means to call. It referred to any group of people called out for a special purpose. It was also commonly used of a group of people (usual mature) who served as a caring influence on a community.

This is the word the Holy Spirit chose to use when He spoke of God’s people.

And what have we done with it? We translated it into a word that mainly refers to “holy” buildings or to massive Christian bureaucracies (OK I know “we” didn’t do it, but you know what I mean). No wonder there is so much confusion about God’s people.

Because of this I have decided to stop using the word, church, when referring to God’s people. Instead I will use body, family, ekklesia. Anything but church.

The Christians we read about in Acts were not an institution, nor a location. They were the people of God. They were disciples of Jesus. They were the ones who God had called out of the world. Called out for a purpose. A special purpose. God’s purpose.

“But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you should proclaim the praises of Him, who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God”. I Peter 2:9.

As you can see there is a lot more to being Christ’s ekklesia than being a called out people. However the ekklesia is a group of people. A group Jesus promised to build. A group that He bought with His own blood. A group who are described as HIS body and HIS bride.

This not just a semantic point, a mere detail concerning word meaning. Next time you read all those verses which have the word church in them, substitute it with family of God, or body of Christ, or ekklesia or called out by God people. You will be shocked at how it changes what you hear from those verses.

Think about it for a bit. When has an army been mistaken for a barracks? When has the congress been mistaken for the building it meets in? Hardly ever. When has God's people been mistaken for a building? All the time. No wonder so many are confused before we even begin talking to them about Jesus.

But, what can we do? Actually it is something we should stop doing. Stop assuming people know what you mean when you use the word church. Tell them about the wonder that is God's family with the risen Jesus at its center.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Sydney Bound

2009-11-30T12:20:00.000-08:00

While my wife, Julie, is in Sydney with out family and I am in LA with my cat and my church family I find my heart wondering to Sydney.

We will be returning there in April 2010. I do not like traveling. It has just lost its appeal. I really enjoy living in Burbank and I love the church I am working with. But after considering all of what God is saying to me in my circumstances I can hear even more clearly now His voice and in it His desire for Julie and I to return to Sydney.

The next three months will be extremely difficult. Organizing the move. Raising funds for the new work that we will be partnering with in Sydney. Saying good bye to people I love dearly. It is a challenging transition.

I pray the Lord gives me wisdom and strength to navigate this difficult path. I know He will.

While my heart is full of anticipation for the Glendale Church and their renewal my heart is also full of anticipation for the new work in Sydney. My heart's desire is that God will help me fulfill the dream I have of leading an effective ministry in my home country. I can't help but think that He has been preparing me for this very thing in the last 33 years. God's kingdom is the greatest ever and it needs to get the glory deserving of it's king. God has many people in the city of Sydney. I pray He uses me (and that I let Him) to reach those precious ones with Jesus.

Looking forward to seeing what God will do.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Why the names?

2009-11-23T11:54:00.000-08:00

At my connect group last night we looked at the many instances in the New Testament that people's names are mentioned. They aren't the main characters in the letters. They aren't teachers, preachers, missionaries, pastors or protagonists. Just names. Most are only mentioned once, with very little (if any) background on their life. Romans 16. Philippians 4.

The question I asked was, "Why did God bother to have these names as a part of His Word to the world of the love He has for that world. Someone suggested jokingly that it was to give us a list of names we could give our children and claim them to be "Christian" until we noticed that very few of them are used even by the most devoted parents.

Why did God take up precious space in scripture for names when these people didn't appear to be significant? Maybe that's the answer. In our worldliness we may be looking at these lists with the values of our world and not the values of God. We started to think about whether the fact that God did include these names was to tell us that those individuals, along with everyone else God has created, are significant to Him.

We get caught up with idea that we are just one among millions. Faceless people in a crowd with no great story or significance. God whispers to us that He knows our name. He even knows the number of hairs on our head. God uses my name. Wow. God speaks to His angels and one day (maybe many days) He uses my name. Scientists would speak of DNA as the source of our uniqueness. God simply looks at us and calls our name. Wow. No double helix. He uses my name as a shepherd calls to the sheep he knows individually. I hear His voice and it sounds familiar. I know that voice. Tell me, why is He using my name?

Have you every Googled your name? Okay, you don't have to confess it but I know you did. Did absolutely no reference to you show up. There were lots of people with your name but they weren't you. Was that a little disappointing?

Well, know this. If you were able to search the conversations of God, you would find many references to you. Not someone with the same name as you, but you. God knows your name. He's keeping a follicle count. He uses your name. He speaks about you.

God gets personal with us when He uses our name. He wants to get personal with us. We often speak of us having a personal relationship with God and we focus on our side of the relationship. We speak of our need (and rightly so) to reach out to God personally. Not religiously, institutionally or mechanically. But, personally. But we also need to focus on the fact that God almighty, the Lord God, the creator of all, wants to relate to us on a personal level. He doesn't just want you to join a church or do good. He wants you to relate to Him personally as your Father.

Father is not just God's title to be used only at the beginning of prayers. It is who He really is and it is how He wants you and I to relate to Him. Father. Abba, Father.

How do we know that? Because our Father sent us Son to live among us, not as a tourist, but as one of us. To live as a servant. And to die for us. Words don't seem to convey the significance of that. Is there anyone for whom you would send a child of yours to a foreign land in the full knowledge that they would die for that person. And no glorious death but a shameful, disgraceful death. Is there anyone? My answer is no. There are some people in my life I would die for but there is no one I would ask my sons to die for. Yet, that is what exactly God did. He has that much interest in you. He has that much love. Crazy love.

And all this from a list of names. Yes. Isn't God amazing? He reveals so much to us about Himself in such an unsuspecting way. How much more is there in His word that I have been missing? I expect a lot. Now, this is going to be interesting.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Incomprehensible, Crazy

2009-11-17T12:22:00.000-08:00

When we love ….

We picked the cutest, healthiest puppy

We pick the good looking person

We pick the talented one

We pick the perfect

We pick the comfortable least painful path. We often pass by.

We avoid the tainted, the imperfect, and the ordinary

We pass on the unhealthy and the flawed

When God loves ….

He invites “… the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind,” (Luke 14:13) to His party

He hangs out with the embezzlers, prostitutes, and blowhards (Matthew 9:11, 16:21-23, 21:31) and tells us to do the same (1 Corinthians 5:9-10)

He deliberately allows Himself to be hurt (Romans 5:8-9)

He fills His church with “the sexually immoral … idolaters … adulterers … male prostitutes … homosexual offenders” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Crazy love. Yes, crazy love. Love that surpasses knowledge. Love that you and I need to have and do.

Amazing love. Sing it church. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dooif2-yAoI

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

What Language Do You Speak In?

2009-11-11T08:47:00.000-08:00

I don’t know why, but as I was speaking to him, it occurred to me that we were not speaking the same language. So as not to appear to obvious, I waited until another time to ask him the question that I wanted to ask immediately.

“Karl, what language do you think in?”, I said to him as offhandedly as I could. Without missing a beat he said, “Austrian.” Karl had lived in Australia for 20 years but had been born in Austria (two very different countries who are geographically or unobservant of precise spelling). He wasn’t that old but, when he thought about something, his mind would be processing his thoughts in Austrian, not English, the language he had been speaking every day of his life for the last 20 years.

It made me think of Jesus oft repeated challenge, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:9, 23, 14:35, Matthew 11:15). Isn’t Jesus saying that for effective communication to occur the hearer must be listening in the same language of the speaker? We know that the Lord is not speaking of human languages as they were both speaking and hearing in the same language. He is speaking of understanding the message you hear.

This is the same truth that applies when we try to communicate in English to someone of a different generation. The King James Bible is an extreme example of this. It is written in English, but it is often very difficult to understand. For example, in 1611 when it was published the word, “let”, meant to stop. Now it means to allow. Its present meaning is almost an exact opposite of its original meaning. Do you think that might change the message of a few verses? Oh yes. So what is the solution? I think the easiest one is to use a translation that uses 20^th or 21^st century English. Most of us do that.

This really highlights a very important principle in our efforts to communicate the good news of Jesus to a lost and dying world. We must try as hard as we can to speak in the language of the people. Now, don’t get me wrong. No one has the right to change the content of the message, not even an angel (Galatians 1:8-9). That’s not what I am saying. I am saying that we must use our best efforts to speak the unchangeable gospel in the changeable languages of the day.

Paul specifically mentions this in 1 Corinthians 9:22 “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” Becoming all things to all men involves speaking to them in their language, their style, and their images.

You see, different people and generations listen in different ways. I think we generalize too much about the generations, but I do think that there are fundamental differences in the communication that occurs today as compared to the 1950’s. I won’t go into all the differences but they are huge. OK, I will go into one difference. Today most people, especially those born since the early 1960s get a lot of their information visually (TV, movies, video, internet, etc). So, because of that I use references to movies and occasionally movie clips to connect with the audience. However if you are one who doesn’t communicate this way much, then you will get little from a lesson like this. However when I preach with extensive quotations of scripture and with lists of points you might hear the message clearly. The problem is that there are many who don’t hear the message clearly when I use that style.

This is important. When we are trying to communicate we must not only pay attention to the language and style we are speaking in, we must pay attention to the language and style that the people are listening in. You see, I can’t change the language they listen in, but I can change the language I speak in.

The gospel has been given to us and we have welcomed it into our hearts, minds and lives. God has blessed us with the task of taking this gracious gospel into all the world. We are not called to do this haphazardly or without care. We care enough to make sure that the hearers have the best chance we can give them to connect with the message. What does that mean?

It may mean …….

1. Feeding some physical food before getting the opportunity to feed them the Word. Didn’t Jesus do that? See Matthew 15:29-39

2. Holding someone’s hand through a crisis and in that love get the opportunity to truly be heard.

3. Submitting to someone long before we get the opportunity to speak the word. Isn’t that what Peter asked wives to do? See 1 Peter 3:1-2

4. Learning a new language so they hear the gospel in their native tongue.

5. Speaking to their felt needs before speaking to their eternal needs.

6. Listening to my child’s terrible music so as to find a point of connection with him.

Why go to all this trouble? Because many will not hear the story of Jesus without it. What are you willing to become to get the message of Jesus to the people in your life and your community?

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Messed Up

2009-10-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

We spend so much time trying to give the impression that we have got our act together, in control and on top of things. The reality is that, even on our best days, we are pretty messed up. No, we are not a pool of blubbering tears, but we are still a mess.

Every day we make bad judgment calls. We sin. We fall over. We forget what is important. We zig when we should have zagged. We look down when we should have looked up.

We do lots of good things. We often get things right but we are like the best baseball player who is doing pretty good if he bats 300. That's getting a hit 3 times out of every 10 times at bat. And they give millions of dollars if you can do that.

Now this disparaging picture of ourselves is no cause for beating ourselves up. As disciples of Jesus we have had the messed up life of ours made holy. Not just right but holy. God's grace towards us is abundant. If we continue to follow Him in faith He continues to fellowship with us. Reminds of the song Broken Things

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so_VRTb-HWQ

Being messed up has implications for our relationships with others as well as with God. We are all broken people but that doesn't mean that we can avoid the consequences of our bad decisions.

I am so glad that God still uses messed up people in His kingdom. Otherwise I would be of very little use in the kingdom. I realistically think that I am not that useful to God but I am so grateful that He still wants to use me.

There is a song that says it well

O, Lord, who uses broken things;
Who through broken clouds gives us sweet, sweet rain;
Who gives us bread from broken grain;
O, Lord, make me stronger through broken things

Don't know who wrote it but they got it right.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

project:northside Website Launch

2009-10-21T14:42:00.000-07:00

After a lot of preliminary planning and prayer I uploaded the website promoting my future work in Sydney Australia next year. Here it is.
project:northside website!

2009-10-20T13:58:00.001-07:00

Hey, Someone's Burning My Bible

2009-10-20T13:52:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FkbgeR8LKs
Just when you thought it was safe to go to church. I wish I was surprised by this video. Some believers are just plain uninformed and boy does the media love to give them a platform. It's crazy Christian story time again.

How's Your Day

2009-10-17T10:06:00.000-07:00

Days come and days go. “How’s your day?” so many ask. We very rarely say anything other than it is fine, even when it isn’t. That makes our days sound so ordinary doesn’t it? Yet life is made up of these days and life in Christ is far from ordinary. However, many say, “Seems pretty ordinary to me.” Sometimes it might seem that way but the reality is very different.

Each day we live as disciples of Jesus is packed full of potential. How? Firstly, by what God brings to each day.

Consider the woman at the well (John 4). As I was teaching about her recently I couldn’t help but feel that she experienced a pretty special day that day at the well. But how did it begin?

I expect it was a day like any other for her. She woke up, cared of her household and then started on her daily journey to the well to fetch water. No hot and cold running water in Sychar. (In fact, no water at all.) She had to, along with everyone else I the village, walk some distance to the well and carry the water back in a big jar. Sounds like a difficult job as well as a tedious one. Every day, walking to the well, and carrying back that heavy load.

But this was no ordinary day. Today she would meet the messiah who she and her people, the Samaritans, had been looking for for many centuries. She would not only meet him. He would change her whole life. Yet the day began as hundreds had before. She had no warning that today would be the pivotal day in her life. It would be the most important trip she had taken to the well.

What’s the point? Simply this; every one of us will have days like this in our lives. They will be special days to which God will bring something extraordinary. Most of our days He will rely upon our obedience to his word and our responding to the leading of the Spirit to set the agenda, but on some days He will do some things that have the potential to change us completely.

What are your special days? For me it was the day a preacher knocked on my family’s door in 1974 and set a Bible study up with my mother. My whole spiritual journey can be traced to that day. It was the day I first saw Julie. From that day on my life would be incredibly blessed because of her. It was the day each of our sons were born. It was the day I first preached at Glendale. It was the day I first heard Jim McGuiggan preach. There have been so many special days.

For some of these special days we have some warning but for most of them we don’t. God springs them on us, usually when we least expect it. Today could be one of those days. So could tomorrow. Consider it. Today could be the day in which, while you are taking care of the mundane (yet important) things of life, God will bring someone into your day who will change your whole life or at least change your year.

This is why the ancient songwriter sang, "This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24). No matter what day the Lord gives you, rejoice in it. It may be a day of waiting. It may be a day of work. It may be a non-descript day. It may be a day of fulfillment. It may be a day at the well. Expect it. It is coming every twenty-four hours and it is loaded with potential because of what God can bring to it.

What can He bring to it? Amazing things. Challenging things. Glorious things. Tragic things. Life-changing things. This isn’t just a matter of a positive mental attitude. It is a matter of God’s intentional planning for you and me. "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," Ephesians 3:20.

What has God got planned for you? According to his clear word here in Ephesians, it is more than we can imagine with all the positive mental attitude in the world.

And when is He going to do this? He doesn’t say. He does say He is going to do it, but the timing is His. It could be today.

As you go through your day, today, doing all the things that you should do and need to do, keep an eye out. Keep an eye out for that man at the well, that knock at the door, that email, that sermon, that phone call from a friend, that birth, that death. This could be your day at the well and you wouldn’t want to miss it would you? Imagine if the woman at the well had ignored Jesus’ question. Imagine what would if she had followed the custom of the day and chosen to be offended by this uncouth single man.

Our days are full of potential because of what we bring to them as well but that’s for another article. Remember the Psalmist proclamation and make it your own. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Australia on My Mind

2009-10-13T12:21:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday the elders of the Glendale Church, where I labor for the Lord, and I announced my intention to return to Australia in April of 2010. Family issues have precipitated our return. We have been talking and praying about this for 4 months now and have kept it confidential but now it is out there and I can speak publicly about it.

After 7 years, and almost 8 by the time Julie and I head back to Sydney, living in Southern California, I am meditating on our lives in Christ. Julie and I have been on a wild ride since our first years of ministry at the Eastside Church in Sydney in 1979 which was also our first year of marriage. My main thought is that I am so glad that the ride through God's kingdom continues with all the unexpectedness that has characterized our journey so far. The years advance but God continues to use this wreck of a life of mine to His ends in the kingdom.

I am so excited about the Glendale Church. God has lead them into a closer walk with Him in these past few years. They have strengthened in faith and are maturing in Christ. They have allowed God to work in their lives and wow, how He has worked. They now understand that Jesus is the center of the kingdom, not the church. They now believe that our message to the world is Jesus Christ, not ourselves. They now see their primary spiritual relationship as being with Jesus not with a church schedule. They have grown in their appreciation of God's grace and see their lives as motivated by that grace (rather than an effort to secure that grace). I love this church. I really do not want to leave but I will. Lots of mixed feelings here. Better bite my lip before I say something stupid.

I am also excited for our future. God will keep us connected with Glendale but He is opening up doors to a new enterprise in His kingdom. More on that at another time.

Lord keep us close to your heart and to your will.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Right and Wrong and Right

2009-10-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Some Christians have given the impression that their main job is to be the arbiters of morality. They rant (and then rant some more) about how immoral the world is. Preachers seem to have the idea that their main job is to point out the moral shortcomings of people (especially those who are not Christian).

And as though that wasn't bad enough some of these moralists bemoan the loss of morals as a sign of what a terrible world we live in and they we are all "going to hell in a hand basket".

God certainly has revealed that there are things we should not do. True morality is centered in His will. The central focus of the message Jesus gave us to proclaim is that there is an escape from our immorality and sin. It's called grace. It's not cheap. It cost a lot not. Not for you but for God.

Yes, we must oppose any attempt to justify sin or to make any sin a righteous thing. In fact I am preaching on that this Sunday. But to do so without talking of the lavish grace God wants to extend to all sinners is just as wrong as the sin that is condemned.

It's like a doctor diagnosing you with a life threatening illness and NOT telling you of the cure that is readily available. That is wrong.

Some of us Christians have got to get off our moral high horses and get about the task Jesus has given us; telling everyone that God loves them, is desperate to forgive them and wants to adopt them into His family. Yes, God is our judge, but He also is our justifier (Romans 3:26). Let's warn people of judgment but let's also reveal to them the cure

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Branding Your Church

2009-10-06T22:58:00.000-07:00

I hate some things. Here are some of my thoughts (aka: rant) about one of my pet peeves.

For ages people have had their say. It’s okay to get their name wrong but it is NOT okay to call them late for dinner.

Shakespeare expressed doubt that getting a name right has any great consequence in his “a rose by any other name would smell the same” quote.

However we have grown up in a culture where it is vitally important to call things by their right names. Let me challenge you with this idea, actually, question. In the kingdom of God, which is more important, right name or right practice?

Your first thought is probably the same as mine. Let’s do both. But, lets think a little outside of our usual idealism. If you had to choose, and believe me we often do, which would you choose? Calling things by their right name. Or doing the right things.

Here are some observations of mine. Yes, just George’s opinion. I have seen some argue strongly for the use of the term deacon but are unconcerned when a deacon is not actually serving anybody. Evangelists who are correctly titled but who do not preach good news. Shepherds who we insist must be called a certain title and who haven’t visited the sheep in years.

You see, we do choose. Too often we choose right name over right practice. Is it because we are superficial? Maybe. I know I often am. Is it because it is easier to get the name right than getting the practice right? Maybe.

I have heard strong worded arguments for calling the church by the “right” name. And that name, they argue, is the Church of Christ. Some argue for a small “c” on church but they all come from the same point of view i.e. that we must make it a priority to call the church by its right name. They claim biblical authority for this. Yet, the do not apply that same level of intensity to the church living out its purpose.

Yet, the Bible I read (I’m sure it is the same one I read) never uses the phrase, Church of Christ. It actually uses others when referring to a church, but I digress. My point is this; we put so much energy into calling the church by the “right” name and we put very little energy on actually being the church that Christ is building.

I would rather have a church that calls itself the Glendale Church (for which there is clear biblical authority) and actually practices what the Bible says members of the church should be doing rather than one who has the “right” name and acts like a bunch of unbelievers.

We have let our culture change us too much. We, too often, have become just as superficial as our society in trying to make everything look good in name and have ignored the more important things. Didn’t Jesus say something about this? ““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” Matthew 23:23, NIV.

Get the practice right and get the name right but if you have to choose, get the practice right. Let’s BE the church that Christ is building.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Geeks

2009-09-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

I was not born into geekdom. My mother and father never even saw a computer. I didn't use one in high school. I was too much of a sports jock. Not that there was anything around except very early Commodores (computers not a singing group). I went through Bible College without a computer. I had my trusty Smith Corona typewriter that had an "L" that wouldn't work (Hey, it was electric and used carbon ribbon!!!). It was not until around 1993 that I first touched a personal computer and its was an IBM compatible, twin floppy XT with 640K of RAM and a 20 MB hard drive (added a year later). Monitor was one color. I chose yellow. Could have had green but had to choose something. Isn't she a beauty. Cost me $1500 and now my watch has more grunt than it did.

Little did I know that this future doorstop was to evolve into a device that has become the center of my communication universe. And little did I know that I would evolve into what appears to be a geek. Seriously underneath this soft (some would say flabby) pear shaped exterior beats the heart of a sports jock.

Little did I know that it would be an incredibly effective tool in the ministry God has called me into. (Leave my prepositions alone. I like to leave them dangling) It helps me study, prepare lessons, write articles, publish publications, create graphics, and communicate with my church, my family, my friends all of the world. Lucky it can't preach, otherwise I would be out of job.

All this from a device that was invented in 1981. The time framing on this incredible paradigm shift in how we receive and process information is amazing.

So, I now email my friends, Facebook my acquaintances, and blog for anyone unfortunate enough to stumble across my blog. I do it on my Macbook Pro and on my Blackberry. Yes, I may not have started out as a geek but I am now full blown, card carrying, and fully paid up member of geekdom. Hey, at least I'm not in the hall of fame like some of you.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Alone and Babies

2009-09-28T09:56:00.000-07:00

One of my son's just recently got engaged. Besides be so happy for him and his bride to be, it made me think about a couple of things.

I don't know about this, but it seems to me that people do better in the context of a close personal relationship with at least one other person of the opposite gender than on their own. God's stated motivation for creating Eve for Adam was what? “The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”” Genesis 2:18, NIV.

To put it in the language of my sons, being alone sucks. God has designed us to live life with someone. Marriage isn't just a baby making enterprise. It is relationship in which we function at our best. God is revealed to us a Father, a Son and a Holy Spirit who live together. We are like Him in that we function at our best, and have the potential to live life to its fullest, when we share that life with someone else. For every Adam there is an Eve.

However, many of us find ourselves alone. It may be divorce, death or just the progression of life whereby our children leave home. The result is the same. We often feel alone. And we do not do well with that feeling. It is often so hard to find another partner after losing one.

When the dust settles we always seek companionship, partnership, relationship and any other ship that takes us away from "alone". As a man, I do not practice what I preach (or at least blog) here. I, like countless other males of the species, head for my cave and think that the solitude actually helps me. For a while it might, but overall it just a childish and self centered way of avoiding whatever life is throwing at me. A little too judgmental? Maybe, but it rings true in my life.

In all of us God has planted within us the innate desire to not be alone but share our lives. We just get distracted or discouraged some times.

On a similar but totally different tack, why are we so fascinated by babies? Think I will leave that to another time. The USC game is about to start

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

But Rabbi…

2009-09-25T13:10:00.000-07:00

Why do we followers of Christ always try to correct Him? Is that we have become a little to familiar with Him and forget who we are dealing with? I don’t know for sure but I do know that it is not a new phenomenon.

But Rabbi……

The disciples of Jesus did it as they walked the roads of Israel with Him. Jesus, on one occasion, told them that it was time to return to Judea. Their response is not, “Yes, Lord. We will go wherever you want us to go.” No, they say, “But Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?” (John 11:8). Do they really know who they are talking to? It doesn’t appear so. Don’t they know that this is Jesus and He knows what is going on and that they need to trust Him? Maybe. But they don’t know it enough to stop questioning His judgment.

But Lord ……

Martha loves Jesus. Jesus loves Martha. They are close friends and Martha is a dedicated disciple of Jesus. She shows the proper respect for her friend and calls Him, Lord. Yet, when Jesus asks for the stone covering Lazarus’ tomb to be rolled away she says, “… “But, Lord, … by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”” (John 11:39). Despite her love for Jesus, her faith in Jesus and her intense desire for her brother, Lazarus, to be returned to her, her first thought when Jesus begins the process of taking care of Lazarus is to question His judgment. She is really saying, “I know that you are Lord and Christ and the Son of God, but have you really considered how bad the smell is going to be?” Seriously, Martha, you are going to question Jesus about the smell?

Jesus is patient with His disciples and with Martha and once again provides them good reason for them to get rid of phrases like, “but Rabbi” and “but Lord” out of their vocabulary. He fleshes out their understanding of what it means when you call Jesus Rabbi and Lord.

Are you and I a little like Martha? Are we questioning God? Are we second-guessing Him? We have got to learn a little more about trusting God. We have got to trust God with our family, our finances, and our work situations. We have go to turn it all over to Him. No more, “But, Lord blah blah blah..” If your prayer begins with, “But Lord”, then swallow it and start again.

How serious is this?

Jesus talks to His disciples and tells them, in detail, that he is going to be killed and be raised from the dead. He says to them that this MUST happen. Peter immediately reacts and not in a good way. “Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:21-22).

Wait a minute. I’m not too far along this journey with Jesus as a disciple of His, I know that there are two words that should never go together and they are, “Never, Lord.”

This time Jesus will not hold back. It is time for some tough love. Peter has got to learn what it really means to be a disciple. “Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling-block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”” (Matthew 16:23). Jesus is tough on Peter but He knows that He can take it.

This is a vital lesson for Peter and for you and for me. If you acknowledge Jesus as Lord, then do what He tells you to do (Matthew 7:21-23). Stop talking back to God. Stop questioning Him and start trusting Him. Stop thinking that you know what is going on. Get in the habit of saying, “Yes Lord”.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

What Makes the Church Grow?

2009-09-22T14:30:00.000-07:00

God wants His church to grow. He didn’t create it as a static group of people that only consisted of a select and predetermined number of people. Isaiah 2:2,3

God created the church. It wasn’t Paul, Constantine or some conspiratorial faceless group. God, right out in the open, brought the church into existence through his own power in Christ. Matthew 16:18, Acts 20:28

God put the church into the middle of this corrupt world. He didn’t cut it off from the world. He put the church, His holy bride, right in the middle of this unholy mess called the world. Ephesians 5:25-27

God planned that His church would grow through the rescuing of people from this lost world. The future Christians will be the sinners who presently resent, oppose or ignore Him and us. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

But what makes the church grow? Experts (I am always a little bit suspicious of people who speak as experts in the kingdom. Is that just me?) tell us there are many factors. They list them. Researchers conduct surveys and write books and explain to us why the church grows when it does grow. These are helpful but they are not the authority on this question. God is.

Here is what He says.

“ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:16). The church grows as it functions together in a healthy way (love) just like our bodies. “As each part of (the church) does its work”. Hmmm. Each part.

It is up to each part to do its God ordained job (1 Corinthians 12:18). Some have strayed from this principle. They talk of some parts being more important and how that we need to hire the right people and that will make the church grow. No part is more important than any other. They all have their part. That’s why they are called parts. Is it that obvious?

It seems to be common in churches today to give the preacher all the credit for the growth of the church. I am a preacher and I wish I had that much control but it is not true. The preacher has his part but without the other parts working with him, he would be preaching to empty seats. For a church to grow preachers need to preach, deacons need to serve, inviters need to invite, encouragers need to encourage, teachers need to teacher, cooks need to cook etc. etc. Do we get the point? I don’t know, but God keeps trying to get through to us.

Paul, in considering the growth of churches reveals to us more detail of how God causes the growth.

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians 3:6, 7). He goes to great lengths here to make it clear that it is not the planters of the seed that cause the growth. We may idolize teachers, scholars, preachers and authors (Paul was every one of these) but God doesn’t. He claims the power for growth of His church is God, Himself.

When we think we have come across the magic bullet of church growth we need to think twice. God is clear on this. The planters of the seed and the seed are important but the real cause for growth lies in how God brings life from human actions and words.

Too often we try to take over God’s job. We want to be the judge of the world. That’s God’s job. We want to grow the church. That’s God’s job. We want. We want. We want. God give me the humility to realize that the kingdom of Jesus is about me doing what God wants and getting out of the way. Do your part and God will do His.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Football & the Kingdom of Christ

2009-09-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

I love football. Almost any kind of football. With the exception of soccer I really think you have to be crazy to play it. Don't get me wrong. I like a good bit of orchestrated violence as much as the next man. I just don't like it when the violence is directed at me. I am willing to suffer but really don't think moving ball over a line is a worthy enough cause.

Players are so passionate. Watch them. Often putting their bodies on the line. It should be this way in the kingdom of Christ. We have a cause that matters. Moving our ball, the gospel, across the line will change people's future, improve their marriages, give people purpose. Their celebrations will not last for just a week. They will rejoice for a lifetime because they have come to faith in Christ.

Servants of Christ! Serve him with passion, enthusiasm, power and purpose. Let nothing distract you. It is God who is at work in you. Let your faith in Christ move you the "so much more" He has planned for you. Get in the game and realize it is no game at all.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

What Time Is Good For You

2009-09-16T11:31:00.000-07:00

The Facebook instant message thingi popped and I was communicating with a friend of mine is Australia. I noticed he was up early, 6 am his time. I made a joke about it and he informed me that he had already delivered a truck to the repair place and done his 8 km run for the morning. Oh, is that all?

I love people who rise early and seem to get so much done before I am even thinking of lifting my head off my pillow. I am just not that sort of person. My brain really doesn't start working until 10 am. Some of my best time for studying and writing is late afternoon and evening. I rarely go to bed before midnight. I guess I am a night owl. Us night owls do feel a little intimidated by the early birds. Maybe we should call them up at 11 pm and ask them what they are doing. We won't because they are asleep. While we are working late they are sleeping.

No matter how I look at it, they look more righteous than me. Lucky I don't care that much about it. At least I don't whine about it on my blog. That boat has sailed. Us night owls are pretty messed up people but I am sure God can use us in His kingdom.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Bring My Scrolls

2009-09-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

Paul asked his friend and co-worker, Timothy for a favor. “When you come, bring ... my scrolls, especially the parchments.”,(2 Timothy 4:13). When I look at my library, which I have culled ruthlessly over the years, it covers a wall of my office. I use it a lot and I especially like the way it impresses people who visit me. Only kidding but you would be surprised how many people judge preachers on this basis. I certainly would ask a friend to bring to me when they visit me in some far away country.

Timothy wouldn't be able to lug my library to the next room let alone across the country. He could, however, lug my laptop.

It occurs to me as I get more and more into the digital world, that having one of my main resources in paper form that weighs of pounds (kilos as well), is a little too first century and is pretty impractical. "Print is dead", prophesied notable researcher, Dr. Egon Sprengler. (Okay, I know it was in Ghostbusters 1 but that's okay, isn't it?) It then occurred to me that it sure would be handy to have access to my most needed books via my ever present laptop and even my mobile phone. I carry thousands of songs, tons of videos, photos. Why not my library.

After doing a little research (euphemism for running a google search and looking at 3 pages) it appears to still be in the "too hard" basket. I am not so easily discouraged so I have come up with some ideas to transform my library from its intimidating size to small percentage of my hard drive. My ideas .....

Decide to not buy another paper books for my professional library
Determine which books I want ready digital access to. Others that I might want irregularly can be left on the wall to impress visitors or stored in Julie's sewing room. I'm sure she wouldn't mind.
Check Google Books to see if PDF versions are available either free or for sale.
Kindle - so many books are being published in Kindle versions but this necessitates the purchase of a Kindle and the use of said Kindle when wanting to read these books. Is there software around to read Kindle files on my Macbook? Can I read Google books on the Kindle?
I will not spend endless hours scanning the books. If I had that much time free I would be playing golf.

Any suggestions or answers out there.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

What Does God Want?

2009-09-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

So many in the kingdom talk about their vision. That's a good thing (I think) but maybe we should also take time to consider what God's vision is for His people. After all it is His kingdom, not ours. It is His church not ours.

Literally thousands of years ago God revealed the scope and nature of His vision.
“... and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”” (Genesis 12:3). He wanted to touch every single person on the planet and He wanted to bless them and He was going to do it through a descendant of the man He was speaking to, Abraham. Now that's a vision. Given who Abraham was at this point, it was a crazy impossible vision

About 2500 years ago God would predict the establishment and scope of His coming kingdom in a vision to Daniel. ““In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure for ever.” (Daniel 2:44). "Those kings" refers to the Roman emperors and His kingdom would be eternal and swallow up all other kingdoms.

No one could ever accuse God have having a small vision. And I think that is the point that we should really focus on. God is concerned with the individual but we have to understand that this includes all individuals and magnifies His vision to unheard of proportions. He doesn't just want the church where you are to reach out to the disconnected and grow. He wants all of His churches to grow.

We, too often, get tunnel vision and think that God really only needs to be concerned with our neck of the woods. His vision is so far beyond that.

And we have seen part of the fulfillment of God's vision. In their day who were Abraham and Daniel? Crazy "one God" believers who really thought God spoke directly to them. And yet through both of them have come millions and millions of believers in Jesus, the King of Kings.

Yes, we have got to start somewhere. We are limited by geography. But, God isn't. At the same time as He is reaching someone in New York, He is touching the life of a barely literate woman in a desert somewhere. At the same time as He is calling one of your friends, He is calling a young man in a back water of China.

I can't help but think that if we took on more of the vision of God, we would be transformed in what we do in our little part of the world.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Do Christians Talk Too Much?

2009-09-09T22:57:00.000-07:00

Christians have a habit of talking too much.

Often I am accused of talking too much. I know I can talk under wet cement and I do love the sound of my own voice just a little too much but that is not what I am trying to talk about here.

They too often try to nail down the nuances of every teaching in scripture. They compile their discussions into ever so scholarly publications. They categorize them and do masters and doctoral theses on them. The sell each books on the latest topic and in the end get no closer to answer the questions about scripture that they have had before.

How did we end up with so much verboseness in our attempts to be disciples of Christ? I have a theory. We are going to talk to someone about something. Far too many of us (preachers included) choose not to talk to unbelievers in their lives about Jesus. Maybe it's too confrontational or just too difficult or just not that productive (at least in our eyes). Yet, they still want to talk about Jesus so they start talking with other Christians. It's a great conversation and can be quite helpful but when it comes at the sacrifice of our Christ commissioned conversation with the lost then we have paid too high a price. We have abdicated our job as ambassadors of Christ and taken on the mantel of church savior.

The dynamic of being a disciple of Jesus is simple. You don't have to make it simple. It is simple. God loves you and me despite our sin. Jesus made that love into a human form when He chose to die on the cross for our sins. God raised Him from the dead to proclaim to everyone that He has accepted the death of Jesus. Jesus has now commissioned us to proclaim this message to all people.

We can argue about subtleties of hermeneutics, and nuances of meanings in words and the interpretation of John 13-17 with respect to the Holy Spirit but in the end, if you haven't shared the love of God with the disconnected you and I have failed at the basic challenge of Jesus for our lives.

The Bible is not a book of stats to be poured over and often quoted in discussions like we do with baseball. It is the message of God to lost humanity. It is God's story of love for the unlovely. How dare we spend more time debating each other than we do teaching those who don't know Jesus in the first place.

We love taking positions and defending them just a little too much. It is so human and so unhealthy for God's kingdom. Let's spend more time sharing the story of Jesus and less time trying to explain the truth to each other.

http://georgelittlejourney.blogspot.com/

Buying & Selling Christianity

2009-09-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

For some time now I have had a growing feeling of revulsion at the marketing of resources for the gospel enterprise of taking the message of Jesus to a lost world.

This feeling was added to by the thoughts of fellow southern Californian preacher, TIm Spivey, in his blog on September 3, 2009.

It appears to me that every seminar I go to and most Christian websites I go are trying to get me to buy something. There is a balance in all this. I know it costs money to get resources to the point where they are readily available to me if I want them. I also understand that Christian authors have a right to live off the proceeds of their ministry just as Paul had a right to receive financial support while preaching (1 Cor. 9:1-14).

However it appears to me that the balance has tipped over into over-commercialization. It appears that the bean counters and investment entrepreneurs have entered into this Christian ministry area and have discovered you can turn a tidy profit.

We have a situation now where there is a huge and hugely successful business in selling two of the primary components of our enterprise as God's people. Worship music, and Gospel teaching.

I know I am judging people's motives here but I also know that when it comes to the Gospel we need to be very careful to not appear as mercenary. We have enough trouble with the negative image of churches as "only after my money".

I was so moved by Rick Warren, an extremely successful Christian author, when he would not accept all the proceeds (millions of dollars) of the sales of his books etc.(90% of all the profits from The Purpose Driven Life goes to our Acts of Mercy foundation) and chose to live on the same middle class income he had always lived on. More details on this. He was preaching, writing, teaching because of a fire within him, not to make a buck and he didn't want to be perceived any other way.

It is the slick publishing houses and other engine rooms of getting product to market that are driving this. The man of God who pens a book is not the problem. It is the one who lives for the profit of the book, rather than the prophet of the Book. Terrible puns but they make the point.

So, the next time I go to a seminar, I don't want to be accosted by marketeers trying to sell me something like those guys around the islands at the mall. No, I don't want a free sample of moisturizer. And I suppose that is what is really bothering me and I acknowledge it may just be paranoid, over sensitive me. I am starting to feel like the target of a pitch man for some product.

I have worked enough sales in my life (to support my preaching habit) to recognize when someone is trying to pitch me or close a sale to me. I also know that I would feel a little helpless without my library that came through the same channels I am know criticizing.

So, I am conflicted, and that's par for the course for me. I just want to go to a Christian seminar without it feeling like a sales showcase. Preach to me. Rebuke me. Love me. Encourage me. Just stop trying to turn a buck in your ministry to me.

What Do You Live For?

2009-09-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

There is this great old Dudley Moore movie called Arthur. Arthur was a rich 30 something drunk who was taken care of by his butler, Hobson, played by Sir John Gielgud. When asked to run a bath for Arthur, Hobson responds sarcastically, “It’s what I live for.”

Ever since then, it has been a running joke between Julie and I when either of us ask the other to do something menial. Would you like to take out the trash? It’s what I live for. Usually said with a snear.

But, seriously, what do we live for? What is it that moves us? What do our energies focus on? This is the central question that Jesus asks us. What are we living for?

Most of the time we don’t even have to think about it. Life just demands that we live for so many things. Our children. Our jobs. Our houses. Our sports. Our bodies. Our wives or husbands. Our friends. Our music.

We acknowledge that these are good things but they don’t seem to fully fill that part in us that needs filling. You know that part? You work and play and do the right thing and still there feels like there is something missing.

The wealthy and the famous seem to have it all and yet they medicate themselves to death (literally), or drink themselves into oblivion. The middle class family with a mortgage and 2.5 children seem happy but when you scratch the surface you find this black hole of dissatisfaction or despair.

Jesus says that this feeling comes from each of us not living up to God’s purpose for us. Read Matthew 6. Yes, the whole chapter. What else are you doing? He says that you don’t find your fulfillment in the good things in life. He says that you find it in living for Him.

Notice carefully the following words of Jesus. “… If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” (Matthew 16:24,25).

We are designed to serve God. We are His children. We are His creation. He knows what the best life for us is. He says clearly that if you want to find life you have to lose it in submission to Him.

What are you living for? God says that it should be Him. When you start living for God, the things that you used to think were good get even better. Why? Because that is the way God designed it.

Church even gets better. When each of us is serving God rather than our own interests then church changes from and a religion into a family. Churches are full of Christians who are just proud, self-interested egotists. Yes, they are. Why else are there so many disputes? Read James 4:1-10 if you don’t believe me.

What are you living for? If it’s not God you have missed the point of being a Christian. If it’s not God you don’t stand much chance as a Christian. Rededicate yourself today to your Father. Choose to live for him and not yourself. Repeat with Paul, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20). That is God’s plan for every single one of us.

Appendix Speaks

2009-09-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

For as long as I can remember my appendix has been maligned as useless. It was said we may have used it once but now it was useless. Somehow this was used as a proof that our bodies had evolved from another species. Here is a fascinating article from Newsweek that reveals the use for this ugly little organ.
http://www.newsweek.com/id/211981
In the final analysis its apparent uselessness is due to our improving diet and health. That makes a lot more sense than believing a distant ancestor was a very smart ape.

Fire

2009-08-30T23:02:00.000-07:00

The fires in the Los Angeles area are really getting out of hand. So glad that the wind is not too bad. Julie works in La Canada which was threatened but seems to be OK now.

Latest coverage

We have a couple of our church members (Sunnie and Sylvia) in the Tujunga area who need our prayers.

Great Free Software

2009-08-16T17:03:00.000-07:00

I came across a great company that has great software, all with free version for both Mac and Windows. It's called NCH Software. Terrible name but great software. Check it out at http://www.nchsoftware.com/software/thanks.html?software=Scribe&version=4.30

God is Always Working

2009-08-16T16:53:00.001-07:00

Why does it surprise us when it becomes so evident that God is working? God spoke to me today a few times through the lives of people at church.

There was a young couple visiting for the first time. They had recently moved to downtown LA. They visited with a church in Orange County and someone there said they should come a visit with us. They did and they said they liked it. They were young adults and one of them works at Warners Bros. I didn't know anything about them before today but God did. He was working. God was saying to me, "Just because you didn't see me working doesn't mean I am not at work. Walk by faith."

That was just one of the stories that came to life for me today. There was another that was too amazing to even tell right now. I hope I can tell it one day.

You Got Questions? God’s Got Questions.

2009-08-15T15:18:00.000-07:00

Something goes wrong. You lose your job. Your income drops. A close friend learns they have cancer. The things that can go wrong form a pretty long list, don’t they?

When the hard edge of life hits you, you are immediately shocked out of your peace (or complacency) and you cry out in pain. For Christians this pain is doubled. We thought God was Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides. We knew the Hebrew word and everything and still its seems like God’s provision for us has dried up.

We start to question God. That’s a nice way of putting it. Sometimes we start to get angry at God, feel sorry for ourselves and question our faith in one pathetic rant after another.

I know you have questions about God. I’ve got them as well. However, in your disappointment with God’s performance, God has some questions for you. I love these questions. They bring me back to where I really am, rather than that pretend place where I thought I was (often called the “You expected God to do what?” land). God is not going to hold back with these questions. He will confront you with the truth and it may hurt. Are you ready? Brace yourselves.

“Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand.” Job 38:3, 4. Where were you when God created the universe? That’s right. You weren’t anywhere. You weren’t even a thought in any human heart. You have come late to this party and you need to understand that one who created the party knows a whole lot more about that you do.

“Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?” Job 38:5. Who did that? Who created the seas? Who gave orders to the sun and it obeyed? That’s right. God did. And what can you do? That’s right. Not much. God is not holding back. He isn’t being nasty. He is just trying to give you some perspective on your situation. You asked questions. If you can question God, certainly He can question you. And His questions haven’t finished.

“Do you know when the mountain goats give birth? Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn? Do you count the months till they bear? Do you know the time they give birth?” Job 39:1, 2. What do you really know about your environment? Maybe a little if you watch the Discovery Channel. But do you care for the doe as she goes through her pregnancy? No, you don’t. Because you can’t. God can and he does. He even knows the number of hairs on your head and you question His concern for you.

“Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread his wings towards the south?” Job 39:26. Come on, you are pretty smart. Does your intelligence (or that of all people) give rise to something as spectacular as a hawk in flight? No you can’t. God can and does it a million times a day with the millions of creatures He created.
God has one final question for you. “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”” Job 40:2. Now that you have seen who you are questioning, do you still presume to correct Him? I love the answer of one who had suffered so much pain and loss.
“I am unworthy--how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer--twice, but I will say no more.”” Job 40:4, 5, NIV.

God is in control. Even, when it looks like He isn’t, know that He is. That’s what faith is. Believing in the invisible and the unbelievable.

Your suffering is not an insignificant thing to God. He loves you more than you will ever know. Don’t turn from Him just when you are about to learn the next and most important lesson in your journey with Him.

I'm Back

2009-08-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

I'm back to blogging. Facebook doesn't give me enough therapy or enough space. Either I'm too crazy or too verbose or both.

Check out my church's website. It is great, the church and the website. http://www.glendalechurchofchrist.org

You can still find me on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/glittle1

I am working on a few projects at the during the hazy days of summer
1. Website designed to help people learn how to preach the message of Jesus
2. A small book on the God of All Comfort.
3. Eating right!

Can only do it with His strenght

No More Blog

2009-04-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

I have decided to stop blogging. It has been good therapy for me but I find Facebook more helpful to my mental health and so I will be using it from now on.

What Brand of Jesus Do You Prefer?

2009-04-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

Every product we buy has so many brands. You get a lot of choice. Walk down the store aisle and choose your favorite brand. Order a salad at a restaurant or a sandwich and what do you get? At least 5 choices of dressing and bread.

We make a serious mistake when we deal with Christianity that way. Being a Christian is simply about following Jesus. It starts with his love for us, his sacrifice for us and our faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8). The rest of our lives then should be a walk with Him and with others who share faith in Him.

Yet, it seems that most generations before this one have turned this life with Jesus into a brand. And not just one brand called Jesus. But a multiplicity of brands centered around ideas, people and preferences. And even though this generations show a strong rejection of Christians brands it would not surprise me if they fell into the same trap previous generations have.
Even the term, Christian, has been turned into a brand that has come to have a fairly specific political, doctrinal and social meaning that appears to be at odds with Jesus, Himself. We used to think of America as a Christian nation. This week’s Newsweek magazine questions whether that branding of America is still valid. My question is, “Was it ever a Christian nation?”. Only people can be Christians. I wish whole nations could become Christian but none ever have. You can’t baptize a nation. Jesus never asked us to. He told us to preach the gospel to people and baptize people. God’s vision is for all nations to flow into His kingdom (Isaiah 2:2).

You don’t have to pick a brand of Christianity. Jesus wants you to pick Him, not a brand (Matthew 11:28-30). He wants you to be a follower of Him not a supporter of a religious tradition. Christ’s church is simply a bunch of followers of Jesus who God has linked by the cross. It isn’t a brand. It does not supersede our relationship with God through Christ. It does not intercede for us with God. The followers of Jesus are the church.

Christianity isn’t a political, nationalistic, evolutionary movement. It is a movement in people’s hearts. Our choice of Jesus only transcends all political ideology (no matter how “Christian” it sounds, all national boundaries and all cultural evolutions. Being a follower of Jesus involves connecting with the heart and will of God.

You don’t have to choose which brand of Jesus you want. There is only one Jesus (John 3:16) and He is the one who does the choosing. And He chooses you and waits for you to accept that choice.
George

Internet Evangelism Resources

2009-03-11T15:24:00.000-07:00

This is a great article on thinking through how to use the internet in evangelism

Internet Evangelism Resources

Guns in Church

2009-02-14T17:04:00.001-08:00

In Arkansas it is now legal to carry hand guns in church. Glad I don't preach in Arkansas. Too much pressure on me to perform. What if he doesn't like my jokes? What if he decides he just doesn't like me. Too much pressure for me. Next we will hear that my brothers in ministry in Arkansas will start packing just in case. It's all a little too much for me.

Using the Internet Effectively in the Kingdom

2009-02-14T16:08:00.000-08:00

I'm not talking about the future. I have found in my present ministry that the internet has been helpful in some areas and pretty useless in others. Here are my personal observations.

1. We get more visitors at church from our website than anything else. That probably has more to do with the fact that most people moving into our area are young adults looking to get into the movie and TV industry. They use the internet almost exclusively to find their way in the world. So, when they look for a church, they do a web search and our website comes up pretty close to the top of any list. We can manipulate that a bit with Google but not much. Google "Glendale Church" and see what comes up. The results from our website, at such a nominal cost, more than justify it as an effective tool.

2. Private email list of all members. I maintain an email list that people voluntarily get on to. No one else has this list. Not the elders or the office. I use it to communicate with the church at least twice a week. I get more positive feedback from this one ministry that all the sermons I preach. If anything of significance occurs within our church, most of our members know about it within a hour or so. We do have some in the church who do not have email and so we mail out a summary in the middle of the week for them.

I have tried to use the internet for other things but have found it not very effective in these areas.

1. Teaching. I post all our messages on our website but I know that they are rarely listened to. I'm not going to stop because only takes me 15 minutes to do this and I live in hope that maybe one day this archive may actually be helpful.

2. Persuading. You can argue on a blog or Facebook page until Jesus comes and you will always get the same result. Your point of view will not advance and in the end all you have done is given the crazies (and there are a lot) out there a platform to spew their tragic beliefs.

3. Connecting with the lost who are not seeking. You have some chance with seekers but the ones that are not will not end up on your web page and if they do they bounce out of there as quick as they can.

OK, I have raved on enough. Ranted, more like it. But it's my blog and I will cry if I want to.

Newsweek Christianity

2009-02-14T15:57:00.000-08:00

I was reading the Feb 16 edition of Newsweek and couple of things made me think.

There was an article saying that more people were going into full time ministry with churches as a result of the economic downturn. Not sure what to do with that. But, here goes. Full time ministry is not a career choice. It is not a profession that you choose. It chooses you or rather God chooses. Face it. It has no appeal. Low income. Maximum responsibility. Little professional support. Often scapegoat for all the ills of the church. What is there about this job that a rational person would look at think that this is the way to succeed in life? Nothing. However, when God chooses you for it, there is nothing else you even want to do. And if there is, you better go do, because you can't do this job with anything less than a foundational belief that you are obeying your Father.

The other article was about the fact that blogs are losing their popularity. Didn't matter much to me because mine was never popular except to me. It is my therapy, and occasional at best. However it did reinforce my belief that the patterns of communication in the 21st century continue to change and if Christians are going to keep the message of Jesus in the communication channels of this present world we need to stay up to date. More on this in my next post.

SoCal Ministers

2009-02-07T12:33:00.000-08:00

One thing I noticed when I got to Glendale, CA, was that the Los Angeles ministers of our churches (at least our white ones) didn't get together much. Others were started to feel the need for a group of like minded leaders to help encourage and support each other. We had a few meetings over the past 12 months and they have all been helpful and encouraging to me.

Next one is Feb 17 and it is devoted to prayer and some lunch. Can't have a meeting without food, can we? Hollywood Church of Christ is hosting the event at 11:30.

Devoted to prayer. Now there's a novel idea. We spend so much time telling God what we are doing or going to do and asking Him to bless it. Maybe we should be listening to God tell us what He is doing and will be doing and ask Him to get us working with him.

I'm Back

2009-02-07T12:26:00.000-08:00

I must admit I have been neglecting my blog. Facebook has had me in its seductive tentacles for a while now. However there are some things that it can't do, and so I am returned the old reliable blog.

2009 has begun really well at the Glendale Church where I work. The upgrade on the auditorium has been finished. Next Sunday we have a big visitor's day to celebrate its completion and dedicate and ourselves once again to God's glory. I really am looking forward to it.

I began teaching a class on Evangelism. After 30 years of study and practice in this area you would think I would have developed some confidence and expertise in this area. However, the one I have learned is that no one is an expert in evangelism. If they think they are, they are just salesman who have closed a lot of sales. God is good and patient.

Ali's Promo Video For Summer Camp in Sydney

2009-01-01T15:59:00.000-08:00

Ali worked very hard on this in December while I was in Sydney

Time Flies

2008-12-31T09:51:00.000-08:00

Saw this on Keith Lancaster's blog and thought it was great. Time never stops. It marches on. No one stands still.

One year in 40 seconds from Eirik Solheim on Vimeo.

Jet Lag and Computers

2008-12-30T16:26:00.000-08:00

I returned from Sydney to LA lst Friday. Everything was going so well. I thought I had finally conquered the jet lag monster. Then night before last I could get to sleep until 3 am and then last night not until 4:30am. Despite this I am feeling positive about tonight.

You never realize how much you rely upon your computer. Admittedly I knew I used by Mac for a lot of my work but when I upgraded and not all of my programs didn't transfer over as smoothly as I thought they would I was sent into a world of frustration. Life for a preacher seems to grind to a halt in many areas without MS Office, Online Bible and Dreamweaver. Pathetic isn't it. Anyhow I have once again been victorious and tammed the menacing Mac. Only took me 4 days.

God is going to give me and my church a new year. I am assuming this. A new year. Another chance to grow and develop. Another chance to follow Him more closely. Another year in the kingdom.

Australian Vacation

2008-12-17T14:22:00.000-08:00

I am in Sydney until the 25th. It has been a relaxing time so far. Hung out with my sons. Visited friends. Preached at the Northside Church last Sunday. They also had a Christmas party which was great fun. Finalized Christmas plans. Having lunch with my younger brother today in the city. Haven't seen him since mum passed back in July.

I'm also catching up on learning Flash which I have been trying to do for a couple of years now. If I succeed my websites may start to look a little flashier. Pardon the pun.

Have a blessed Christmas and may the new year hold great things for you in the kingdom.

In a land down under

2008-12-10T01:38:00.000-08:00

Landed in Sydney yesterday. Boiling hot Summer day. Going from northern hemisphere winter to southern hemisphere summer always amazes me. The difference between LA and Sydney isn't that great but it still is weird.

I am enjoying the time off from my usual responsibilities. As usual I have eaten most of the Aussie junk food that I miss and now I feel sick. When will I learn?

Looking forward to what the Lord has in store for me this time.

Turning 52

2008-11-17T19:39:00.000-08:00

We number our years. Every year of our life someone has made a big deal of the date we were born into the world. Even if we wanted to ignore we couldn't. It is so much a part of our culture that to ignore is useless.

It is my annual turn to tick over another numeral. A thought occurred to me today. God made me and I think it would have been pretty good if this concoction of water and a few bucks of chemicals last a few years. But 52 years. What last that long in our lives. Our cars? Not even close. Our homes. Maybe, but we move so much that most of us aren't in the same house very long. Our jobs. Hardly. I have been blessed to work in ministry for 33 years but with many churches.

But for 52 years I have been living in this body and it is still going well. The mind and soul are getting a little wiser. The bones and muscles ache a little more now, even with very little exercise. But if my body had come with a 52 year warranty I wouldn't have been able to make a claim yet.

God makes things a whole lot better than we do. He makes imperfect things that work well for decades. Our amazing bodies are extraordinary evidence of a designer behind all the life that is in them.

Nature, evolution, blind chance don't get the glory. God gets the glory. Giving Him the glory is the purpose of this body and soul.

Times Are Tough

2008-10-27T20:08:00.000-07:00

Each day the news seems to be bad or it seems to be contentious. The economic outlook is very negative indeed. Unemployment rising. Credit evaporating. Foreclosures in the millions. It’s just not very good news when you open the paper or when you turn on the TV.

Some might be forgiven for making the mistake of thinking that this spells bad news for the church. This is the best time for God’s kingdom. I am not just being optimistic. I am being realistic. I am not just trying to make good of a bad situation. I am teaching the clear biblical truth that when things in the world start to fall apart, it is then that the kingdom of God really gets to shine.

It is one thing to be happy and positive when everybody is rejoicing because of their successes. Anyone can do that. It is a godly thing to continue to rejoice even when successes are few and far between. It is in these dark days that the church gets to really be the church. This is our time to shine.

Why? Because we are people who live by faith in Jesus Christ. “… I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20. That has always been the key dynamic in the life of the disciple of Jesus. “We live by faith, not by sight.” 2 Corinthians 5:7.

God says that we are people who do not find our security and feeling of well being just in a healthy bank account, a stable job or times of peace. He is not saying that these things have no value. When we have them they are blessings. What He is saying is that when we walk by the power of our own finances we are walking by sight. When we walk with His financial blessing of us as our only hope we begin to walk by faith.

Shining in the darkness. Walking by faith. This is not blind and irresponsible idealism. It is the most realistic approach to a life that was given to you and me by the invisible God who demands that we walk as though He is right next to us holding our hand. He says He is right next to us. “… And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”” Matthew 28:20. Do you believe that He is? This is where the proverbial rubber and the pavement meet. Do you believe? If you do then you can walk by faith. It you don’t you will continue to walk by sight and you will deny yourself the life that He promised you.

Walking by faith is giving yourself first. Paul wanted to brag about churches in Maceonia. What he said about them is what walking by faith is all about. “Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.” 2 Corinthians 8:2-5.

Severe trials. Times were tough. What did they do? Close up their hearts and wallets and try to weather the storm? They chose to be generous with their money during tough times. Not even Paul had expected them to do this. He should have had more hope, but he didn’t. But he was glad to reveal his mistake and reveal their faith.

Where did their faith begin? On the trip to the ATM to get the money to give? No. In their analysis of their finances? No. It began when they sat down with Jesus once again and gave themselves to Him once again. A lot of money was involved but this was not financial question. This was a faith question. And they answered that question with Jesus and an urgent pleading to be allowed to give to help the Christians in Jerusalem.

The church, you and I, are at our best when we respond with faith in Jesus when all around us are despairing. As the world get’s darker and darker the light we shine gets brighter and brighter. Listen to how God describes us. “Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” 1 Peter 2:10-12.

What about you? Is this just Christian rhetoric or is it the truth? Is it time for us to shine brighter than ever? Is it time to be more generous than ever? Is it time for us to recommit ourselves to our savior and proclaim to the world that He is the only true hope?

Love these guys!

2008-10-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

Go Blue

2008-10-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

Dodgers are doing it this post season. They are destroying the Cubs. I really didn't think it would be this one sided. So glad I jumped ship to the Dodgers this season. Manny is doing well but the whole team is doing well. Cubs helped us a lot with all those errors. Back to LA to finish them off.

The Pick and Choose Gospel

2008-09-25T14:44:00.000-07:00

We pick and choose what we like. At the grocery store. At the movies. At every turn we pick and choose what we like. That’s what freedom is all about we think and we are right to a large degree.

However when it comes to God’s word we don’t get to pick and choose what we like. Yet, many try it. I’ll have a pound of the love and a packet of the acceptance and a ton of forgiveness. Hold the sin stuff and I don’t want any of the condemnation stuff. Have you got any of that feeding the poor stuff?

God revealed his message to us in a series of documents that together make up the Bible. Each of them is true. They don’t just contain truth along with a lot of other stuff. They are all true. See 2 Timothy 3:16. We don’t get to add to it and we don’t get to take away from it.

Yet that is exactly what some do today. Have you heard of “red letter” Christians? They only take seriously what Jesus said, which in some Bibles is printed in red. Hence the name. They believe that what Jesus said is more important than what Paul, John, Peter, Luke wrote or at least should be more of a focus of our lives.

When they do they pick and choose which is hard to justify but they try by giving Christ’s word pre-eminence which looks worthy. However it ignores one fact. Jesus didn’t write the red letter books, the ones we call the gospels. They were written by Matthew, Mark, John and Luke through the controlling guidance of the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21). Our record of what Jesus said comes from the same source as the books of Acts. They are all in the same category. How can you then choose to follow Luke’s record in Luke and downgrade Luke’s record in Acts?
The only way is if you subscribe to the pick and choose approach to the scripture which reduces the Bible to nothing more than a buffet of teachings and stories that you can accept or reject subjectively.

Some go down this track because they don’t like or agree with what Paul and the other New Testament writers said about certain subjects like homosexuality, women’s role in the church, and a long list of doctrines. That’s hardly a good reason to reject a Holy Spirit inspired messenger of God. Just because you disagree with the message. Incidentally there are lots of stories about people who have done that in the past and they don’t end well.

The real question is not whether you agree with Paul’s etc. teachings. The real question is whether God is speaking through Paul and Luke and John etc. If He is, then listen to and obey the message. If not, then put them in with the piles of religious writings that litter human history.

Baptism

2008-09-25T14:39:00.001-07:00

Very interesting lesson from Rick Atcherly at Richland Hills Church of Christ. Click Here
Good biblical perspective.

Americanizing the Gospel

2008-09-12T22:55:00.000-07:00

It would probably be presumptuous of me (as an Australian to make these observations but that doesn't stop me from agreeing strongly with Toby's thoughts. Check them out at http://blogs.crosstimberschurch.org/toby/?p=1842#comments