What Motivates You?

2 Corinthians 5:14-15
[14] For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: [15] And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

ANZAC Day in Australia is a day for Australians to reflect on the soldiers of Australia and New Zealand who gave their lives on the battlefield for our freedom. Living in Canberra I have visited the Australian War Memorial numerous times and can say that there is no place in Australia that fires up my patriotism than the Australian War Memorial. Before I die, I would love to visit Gallipoli in Turkey and be able participate in the ANZAC day dawn service at that location.

I am greatly moved when we think about John Simpson Kirkpatrick and the donkey. An unlikely national hero, Simpson enlisted in the army, expecting this would give him the chance to get back to England; instead, Private Simpson found himself at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915, and was killed less than four weeks later. Simpson was instructed to recover and help the wounded and he undertook this work enthusiastically. Famously, he used a small donkey to carry men down from the front line, often exposing himself to fire. The bravery of this "man with the donkey" soon became the most prominent symbol of Australian courage and tenacity.

The blood of Australians was spilled on countless battlefronts around the world. The memory constrains me to be a better Australian and a more loyal Australian.

In the spiritual realm there is a parallel. In the text above, the apostle Paul said that he was constrained, he was compelled to do what he did because of the love of Christ. Love that caused Jesus to give his very life for me! Paul said, "how can I live for my own pleasures when Christ lived His life to bring about my redemption”. The price that Jesus paid requires more than an ordinary response! The price that Jesus paid requires more than a simple hallelujah, amen or thankyou Jesus.

Does the reminder of Calvary constrain you? The cross should remind us that we were purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ!

Our passion should not be based on what we can get from him, but for what he has done for us. Our love should not be based on healings or monetary blessing, He should not have to give us anything else. He doesn’t have to do anything else to prove to me that He loves me.
That's my five minutes!

Get Off the Treadmill

1 Corinthians 9:24-27
[24] Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. [25] And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. [26] I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

Treadmills are popular these days. I recently walked past a gym with a fine array of treadmills lined up in the window and each of them was occupied by a person either walking or jogging. One thought came to mind, “if jogging is so good, why aren’t they smiling”, and secondly “all that energy, all that exertion…and getting no where”.

A treadmill is an exercise device consisting of an endless belt on which a person can walk or jog without changing place. Just like the classic Disney movie theme song, The Lion King, many are on the “circle of life”. We tend to get on the treadmill of this earthly “life”, and can never seem to get off it. If we aren’t careful we find ourselves driven by the treadmill of this earthly life….and will never experience the pleasures of eternal life.

One writer described our modern life styles as “compulsive” - there is too much to do, all the time. Once on the treadmill, we can’t seem to get off. Or, put another way, the rats are winning the rat race. Anyone ever felt like that?
In the Spiritual, it is a trick of the devil to get us on a spiritual treadmill, walking the Christian walk but never getting anywhere. Just like the literal treadmill, the Spiritual treadmill is gaining popularity these days as Christians attend churches week after week while never developing a relationship with Jesus Christ.

One such “Spiritual Treadmill” is “works righteousness”. You can almost see the spiritual exhaustion in some people’s faces. They constantly worry about going to hell. "Have I done enough?" "Will I have time for one last prayer before I die?" "Where do I stand on the curve?" And even at the height of physical exhaustion, they dare not slow down or get off. So instead they seek to pay God off-through church attendance, through good deeds, and through non-stop working. Every sermon they hear on commitment only turns up the speed of the machine, makes the course steeper, and makes them think they’ll collapse any second. They never feel restful in their relationship with God.

Our pursuit needs to focus on developing a relationship with Jesus Christ and knowing Him more! His mercies are new every morning and in knowing Jesus you'll know the peace that passes all understanding. You can run with a smile on your face. That’s my five minutes!

Self Assessment

Recently Pastor Downs preached about “self assessment” and the importance of assessing our walk with God against the Word of God, and no others. I was challenged to assess in my life and asked my self the following question. What do I do that makes me a Christian? Very often we tend to define our Christian walk by what we don't do. This involves no progress whatsoever. If fact we will find ourselves getting into "maintenance mode", just waiting for Jesus Christ to come back. I am not happy being AVERAGE!

There are associated dangers for Christians who stand for righteousness and want to be different from the world. There is an inherent danger when a Christian decides that they want to make a difference. When you have given up on being just a “run of the mill person” and you are not like everybody else around you, you become a target for the enemy.

I was reading a book review on an Apostolic Youth Site and they were reviewing a book called “An Enemy Called Average”. In this book the author John Mason says that the greatest enemy that people fight today is the enemy called average He was talking from a secular perspective. Although not a Christian author, this point can be applied to all Christians today. One of the greatest enemies facing the church is this age is the idea of mediocrity or being average. The idea that we are doing good enough just getting by. Just doing enough to make it to heaven, living as close to the world as possible.

Those that are satisfied with being average will very often examine themselves via a comparison with others. Very often, they will pick the weakest person in the church, the person who randomly comes to church, and we say “yeah, I’m doing OK compared to so and so”. To often we eagerly view our own accomplishments in the mirrors of our own design and ideas instead of the mirror of God’s word and His perfect plan for our life.

I believe God has a plan and a purpose for every single life. God has a desire to move us from ordinary to extraordinary. He wants to take our “natural” and make it “supernatural”. We need to make ourselves available to God, humbling ourselves and saying, “God, do your perfect work in my life”.

When God saves you, He doesn’t save you to be a “pew warmer”. God saved you for a reason and He has a plan and purpose for your life. Many people these days are sitting in churches waiting for God to come and knock them off their pew and give them something to do. Dare I say it….God isn’t going to do that. But every now and then, when the word of God comes forth and you feel the Holy Spirit tugging at your heart, when you feel challenged to do something for the Kingdom, this is God saying “Come on, do something for me. Stop being complacent”.

God has things in store for you because you have the ability to do what nobody else can do. God design a plan and that plan is specifically for you. God has given you special gifts.
That’s my five minutes!

Praise fixes up the dry times!

Dry times come to all believers. God knew that even spirit filled Christian would have to endure dry times. If fact we are told to “think it not strange the fiery trials” (1 Peter 4:12), furthermore we are told to “count it all joy when we fall into divers temptations because the trying of our faith worketh patience and in turn serves in perfecting” (James 1:2-4).

Numbers 21:16-17
[16] And from thence they went to Beer: that is the well whereof the LORD spake unto Moses, Gather the people together, and I will give them water.[17] Then Israel sang this song, Spring up, O well; sing ye unto it:

As the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness, they came to a time and place where, in the dry desert land, they were thirsty. They were experiencing a “dry spell”.

The first thing we notice when reading this portion in Numbers is that the children of Israel journeyed to a well as God had directed them. As established Christians it is more than likely that we all know where the well of the Lord is in our lives, after all we’ve been to that place before, that place of refreshing. Secondly, this well had been dug out by their leaders sometime before. Something important to note is that the well had been bug with the scepter and with their staffs. We see from Genesis 49:10 that the scepter is a symbol of praise. The scepter and the ruler's staff are established in Judah which means praise.

When the children of Israel arrived at this well it would have been evident to them that it hadn’t been used in some time. For it seems from reading the scripture that the water was not readily seen or evident.

Does it seem as though your well has dried up from neglect or lack of use? Then sing to it! Call it forth, as the children of Israel did to this ancient well. They sang this song: "Spring up, O well!
God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), and as their song went forth it brought forth His sweet presence to water their thirsty souls.

We need to dig the soil of our hearts and bring forth the well spring of the sweet and refreshing presence of the most high God to water the ground of our soul! If your dry and parched then begin to offer up a praise.

There is an old chorus that most of us know. “Spring up O well, within my soul. Spring up O well, and make me whole. Spring up O well, and give to me, that life abundantly!”If you are experiencing a dry place, bring forth your scepter of praise today and dig a well in the soil of your life! Sing to your well to “spring up”. You will be refreshed!
That's my five minutes!

He Restores My Soul

Psalm 23:1
[1] The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

[2] He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

[3] He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.

A long time ago I learned that life isn’t fair. I remember as a child my Dad would remind me that life wasn’t meant to be fair and that life wasn’t meant to be easy. That was an important lesson in my life because if I hadn’t known that I could be quite disillusioned with life. The circumstances we face in life have a way of subtracting from our love for life.

For those who have lived a few years (or many years), they will know that there is a lot of stress in life. There are definitely going to be seasons of hardship in our life. If you are young maybe you don’t know about this yet, but the older you are it is more likely that you can relate to what I am talking about. Life can be stressful at times, possibly even depleting and distressing.

Through life there are a lot of things that happen to us that are not always our own doing. Some of these include sickness, job problems, relationship problems and even death. These things come along and invade our life, attempting to try and steal the joy of our life. On the other hand though, we can often bring on the bad in our life through our own bad choices, wrong relationships and even sin. We find ourselves feeling flat and even “down and out”. But don’t give up! As we studied this week in our HFG Bible Studies “the thief cometh to steal, kill and to destroy, but Jesus came that we might have an abundant life” (John 10:10). Jesus is the soul restorer! Jesus is interested in leading the lost back home!

From the word of God we know that the Lord is in the business of restoring the broken and bring home the wayward! Jesus Christ is a God who restores and revives! He restores my soul!

David penned this Psalm as the king of Israel, but he was once a shepherd so he knew about being a shepherd. But furthermore, David also knew about his relationship with God, and that he was the sheep and God the shepherd.

Jesus is our restorer! Jesus will leave the 99 and go out and look for lost sheep! Jesus is all about restoring the souls of men, women and children who have lost their way. No matter how far you may have strayed, the distance back to God is not nearly as far as the journey has been away from God. You may have wandered far from God, but when you cry out to God He instantly hears your voice and responds. He wants to restore your soul!

The Lord is our shepherd and He restores our soul! Won’t you just put your life back in the hands of the Good Shepherd! That's my five minutes!

Bend the Church and Save the World – Turn from sin

2 Chronicles 7:14
[14] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Our attitude needs to be as David’s was in Psalm 51. This whole Psalm is brought about by an experience in 2 Samuel 12. David’s sin was adultery and he attempted to cover up the sin. In David’s sin there was a murder, lies, deception.

There is no doubt that God loved David. In Psalm 51, we get a glimpse as to the reason why God loved David. It wasn’t about his pedigree! It was not because he was flawless. David’s response sin (as pointed out by the prophet Nathan) is the thing that God gravitated to in David’s life. His willingness to confess his sin!

Sometimes we rationalise our sin and try to make it right. The dictionary tells us that rationalisation is “The justification of behaviour to make it appear rational or socially acceptable by (subconsciously) ignoring, concealing, or glossing its real motive; an act of making such a justification”.

Job 1:1 is a scripture we need to take notice of because it is here that we read about someone being referred to as “perfect and upright”. Two things in this scripture help us understand why Job was a perfect and upright man. He “feared God and eschewed evil”.

The word "eschew" means – “to avoid”, to shun evil. This simply means that he turned aside from evil, he departed from evil. He didn’t allow himself to be associated with evil.

We need to turn from sin! 1 Thessalonians 5:22 encourages us to shun even the appearance of evil. This means that the Christian lifestyle should have nothing in it that even appears evil.

That's my five minutes!

Bend the Church and Save the World – Prayer

2 Chronicles 7:14
[14] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Prayerlessness is a sin! Samuel said “God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you”. The Holy Spirit put it in Samuel’s heart to say this. The same Holy Spirit had it recorded in the Bible for us to read in the year 2007.

Luke 11:1
[1] And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.

We need to be like the disciples and say, “Lord, teach us to pray”, “Lord help me not to sin in ceasing to pray”.

Edwin Orr a leading scholar on world revivals says that one sure sign that revival is on the way is when people get to praying! Prayer has always preceded the world revivals. Another indicator that revival is on the way (based on history), is that women began to meet in small groups and pray.

One writer once said if you cease to pray then “you are a stranger to the great privilege that is offered to human beings”. Some of the greatest blessings that people enjoy come from prayer. In earnest prayer, you think as the Lord directs, and lose yourself in him.

That's my five minutes!

Humility - The Key to being a Revival Vessel

2 Chronicles 7:14
[14] If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I do not think it is too much to expect that if we would obey God, He will come through for us. God is not slack concerning His promises. I believe, if we obey 2 Chronicles 7:14 (the inspired word of God), that God would fulfil his promise. Although we look around and see this city of Canberra as being “sin sick,” the Bible promises us that if we obey some simple guidelines, God will heal our land. Another promise in the Bible says “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Romans 5:20).

There is no greater mission field than this city of Canberra. Why can’t we have Canberra for Jesus!

In the scripture and the history of the Church, God rarely bestowed spiritual blessing or increase to anyone until He first found them on their knees, or until God brought them there, in humility and submission to His will. The cry of Evan Roberts exhibits this kind of humility and submission. Sometimes we become so “stiff” and “rigid” and “set in our ways” that we become no use to God. Bend us Lord! In humbling ourselves we become a Revival Vessel that God can use. That's my 5 minutes!
Suggested Reading: Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill - This book will get you motivated as it clearly describes the hinderances to revival!

A Revival Vessel – Evan Roberts

The Welsh revival started when a man named Evan Roberts knelt with his arms over the seat in front, bathed in perspiration, and prayed aloud "Bend me! Bend me! Bend us”.

About two years ago I heard Vesta Mangun preaching at a conference. Very briefly, Vesta Mangun talked about this man Evan Roberts, someone I had never heard of at the time. She quoted his passionate cry “Bend me”. I had to find out more! I began to research the Welsh revival, hoping to find the “spark” that started this revival that eventually spread to the four corners of the world.

1904 Revival historian Edwin Orr writes:

Touches of revival had stirred New Quay, Cardiganshire, on the west coast of Wales where Joseph Jenkins was minister of a church in which he led teams of revived young people in conducting testimony meetings throughout the area. Seth Joshua then held meetings there, then at Newcastle Emlyn and at Blaenannerch, at which students from the Methodist Academy attended including Evan Roberts.

At Blanannerch on Thursday 29 September, Seth Joshua closed the 7am meeting before breakfast crying out in Welsh, “Lord ... bend us”. Evan Roberts recalled that it was the Spirit that put the emphasis on “Bend us”.

Roberts said that the Spirit told him "That is what you need". He left the meeting praying “O Lord, bend me”.
During the 9 am meeting, Evan Roberts eventually prayed aloud after others had prayed. He knelt with his arms over the seat in front, bathed in perspiration as he agonised. “I cried out, Bend me! Bend me! Bend us! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!"

Evan Roberts spoke after the usual Monday night meeting to 17 people. The Holy Spirit moved on them all. He then spoke every night to increasing crowds. By the weekend the church was packed and invitations came for him to speak in other churches and chapels. He usually took a small team with him to pray, witness and sing. November 1904 saw the fires of revival spread throughout Wales. By January 1905 the papers had reported 70,000 converted in less than three months.

Evan Roberts in his twenties was one of God's agents in that national revival.

For the next few weeks, I want to share with you some aspects of a message I preached in 2005 titled “Bend the Church and Save the World”. Keep your eye out for further posts. That’s my five minutes!

Penetrating this World with the Hope of Jesus Christ!

This year Pastor Downs has commissioned the members of Calvary Chapel to reach one soul for the sake of the kingdom of God. Our mission is "Each One, Reach One"! There is no doubt that the word "reach" is a active verb. When I was at school they called these words "doing words". Looking at the dictionary, the word "reach" means to "strech out or put forth". So in order to reach our goal of "Each One, Reach One" it is going to take some action on our part.

A church that "sits" will birth situations and usually they aren't very pleasant. A "sitting" church is not "doing" and eventually becomes inward focused and consumed with internal matters. This is one way that the devil can shift our focus off the great commission that the Lord Jesus Christ gave us in reaching the lost.

The Bible calls true Christians to be three great things:
1. Salt (Matthew 5:13);
2. Light (Matthew 5:16); and
3. Leaven (Matthew 13:33).

If you look at each of these three things you will realise that they achieve one thing…..they all penetrate. Light penetrates darkness, Salt penetrates meat (flavouring and preserving) and leaven penetrates the lump of dough and raises it up.

I heard Rev. Jeff Arnold preach once that we have been saved and commissioned to:

• PENETRATE this world with the gospel
• PENETRATE this city of Canberra with the gospel
• PENETRATE our families with the Gospel
• PENETRATE our workplace and school with the gospel.

If we fail to tell people about Jesus Christ we are like leaven which is ineffective. By being ineffective salt, light and leaven we fail to penetrate the world for the cause of Christ, failing to build up the Kingdom of God as commissioned.

I heard a saying one day….. “You never know how far you can go until you try”. Now that is a tremendous step of faith. We should all understand that none of us as individuals or as a church can know how many souls we can reach, or what we can accomplish for the kingdom, until we try. Until we step out by faith! Ephesians 3:20 says that God is able to do works far beyond our imagination…you never know until you put your trust in God.

My family (on my mums side) were bee keepers. I heard someone speaking once about bees and they were saying that when the bees leave the hive they have no idea where the necter is. They don’t have some inbuilt guidance system that takes them to the necter. But they just form team and go out until they find the flowers and the necter. They go out by faith and they always find necter. Let us go out in faith! That's my 5 minutes!

Indentity

I saw a quote by Stephen Covey:
"Security represents your sense of worth, your identity, your emotional anchorage, your self-esteem, your basic personal strength or lack of it".

Security seems to be the one thing everyone strives for. Financial, emotion, relational etc. In reading this quote by Stephen Covey i realised that a key to being "secure" is realising our identity.

All over the world people are longing for a realisation of their identity. Through the years I’ve heard some many people ask these three simple questions. Who am I? What am I doing? Where do I come from? This is not something unique to our society but it is a question being asked of people all over the world as humanity struggles to find their identity and purpose.

At the outset I want to say that you will never find your identity and purpose outside of Jesus Christ. And here’s the good news….Jesus Christ came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Jesus came to save those who are struggling to find their identity and their purpose.

Jonah chapter one describes a storm a situation where a bunch of mariners where on a ship. During their trip they experienced a great storm. The Bible account tell use that all on the boat where very fearful and all of them cried out to their own god. The storm was so bad that the ship they were travelling on was about to break. They began throwing all their gear and wares overboard in order to save the ship and themselves. But, in the midst of this raging storm, a question of identity was raised.

Jonah 1:8
8: Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou?

Jonah, who are you? Where are you from? What is your occupation?

In the swirl of a fierce storm of carnality, wickedness, and false doctrine, these questions are still asked of us today. Who are we and what is our mission in this world?

Our identity, origin, and purpose are being put to the test. It is the privilege and responsibility of every new generation to continue this great work of ministering the gospel tp every creature. We cannot simply do this by imitating our forefathers. Rather, we must have the same thing they had!

As a church, our job is to point mankind to Jesus Christ. We need to unite around the common cause of changing and influencing the direction of individuals and society. We must not allow a culture or way of thinking to creep in that says “let’s follow the path of least resistance”. We need to get a realisation of the urgency! There is a urgent need for us Pentecostals, Oneness believing, baptised in Jesus Name, Holy Ghost filled people to influence the thinking of the day in an attempt to turn it onto a new path.

The early church (and you can read this in the book of Acts) followed the command of Jesus Christ to go into the entire world and preach the gospel. Everywhere they went, they baptised and taught in the name of Jesus. In Acts 17:6, we see the dramatic effect that they had on cultural direction; “These that have turned the world upside down!”

The torch has been passed to the new generation. Will we influence our world as the Apostles, or like Jonah, will the storm confuse us and drive fear into our hearts?

I have purposed in MY heart, by God’s grace, to be strong in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to stand for righteousness and holiness.

That's my Five Minutes!