When I am old
Read Psalm 71

Although anonymous I believe this Psalm was written by David in his old age vss 5-6, 9, 17-18 and 20. It is a most wonderful Psalm for those who are aged and who feel life is coming to an end and there is little they can offer. David had achieved notoriety in the past vss 7 and 21, but was now accused of being forsaken by God by his enemies vss 10-11. But he knows that God Who had sustained him from the womb 5-6 and 17, will not forsake him now so he is full of trust vss 9, 18 and 21. In spite of his age, he is still making a contribution in praising God all day long vss 8, 14-16 and 22-24, and he still has the desire to share with the next generation to come vs 18. God is his strong refuge, rock and fortress vss 3 and 7.

The Ps is interesting because it is a mosaic of references from many other Pss. Almost every vs is from another Ps most of which were Pss of David or contained his thoughts. A few examples are vss 1-3 with Ps 31:1-3, vs 6 with Ps 22:9, vs 9 with Ps 51:11, vs 13 with Ps 35:4, vs 18 with Ps 22:30-31 and vs 24 with Ps 35:28. David's life itself being a mosaic of trouble and blessings seems to be summed up in vs 20. He had been shown great and severe troubles by the Lord, but the Lord had led him out of them all.

As the years roll on, we all slow down. It takes us twice as long to do half as much with a great deal more effort. But, "A many wintered saint should be a convincing witness for God." Find what you can do, and do it with all your heart. It is dangerous to only focus on your problems. The enjoyment and richness of senior years is something to cherish. But David's desire as an old man, to continue to serve the Lord, went much further than just this life. He was also aware of the fact that there is a great future awaiting those who have faithfully served here. Vs 20 says, "You ... shall revive me again, and bring me up again from the depths of the earth." Compare this with Ps 17:15. This must refer to our revival at the resurrection !

There are two sections. Vss 1-13 ending with "Let them be covered with reproach and dishonour who seek my hurt," is A Prayer to God, while vss 14-24 ending with "For they are confounded, for they are brought to shame who seek my hurt" is A Praise of God. Both ending with, who seek my hurt.

Pastor Max

Don't Worry, Be Happy!
Luke 12:22-31

"Don't worry about your life!", Jesus said. "Don't worry...about your body, your life, what you will eat."
The people of Jesus' day To us as much as to them He offers a solution to our modern malady of anxiety.
Worry is futile. It expends a lot of energy and yet generates nothing except stomach complaints and frayed nerves!

The Lord gives us a simple solution...........
Firstly He gives us a command; a command as real and as authoritative as the command to love God and love one another. It is a directive as unequivocal as "Go into all the world and preach the Gospel."........... "Don't worry about your life!"

"But," you might well ask,
"HOW CAN I NOT WORRY WHEN I HAVE SO MUCH TO WORRY ABOUT?"

The Apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gave us a similar instructive. But secondly he also gives us a Reason not to worry
"Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you!" (1 Peter 5:7)
The Lord Jesus gives us a reason not to worry as well. He points us to the ravens, birds that are gifted with a superior intelligence, and he tells us that their Creator is also their Sustainer and Provider. They don't sow nor do they reap and yet their beauty is apparent to all.

Likewise is He to us, except that we are of much greater value than birds or lilies.
Our anxiety over earthly things is diametrically opposed to our faith in our Father God in Heaven. That is, the greater our faith in our Father, the less our anxiety over material, temporal things will be. Faith cancels out anxiety and vice-versa.

"Your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you."

The fact that our Father knows our needs is greatly comforting. The promise of provision is reassuring. But the directive to seek first the kingdom is life-changing, giving us a new direction with our vision lifted and our lives firmly nestled like the ravens in the care of our loving Heavenly Father.

Don't worry. Be Happy!!

Pastor Mark,
29 August, 2014

What is Life Made of?

From the time we first open our tiny eyes until the day of our death we are faced with the decision concerning what we will do with the days allotted to us. Every day is a 24-hour span that presents us with challenges and opportunities. We are stewards of every one of them, accountable to our Creator.

Many people today are sold on the ancient lie that the person who dies with the most toys wins.
This past eight months of 2014 have seen the passing of many memorable personalities of the stage and screen: Shirley Temple, Mickey Rooney, Lauren Bacall, James Garner, Phil Everly and, just this week past, Robin Williams. People who entertained us, made us laugh and cry and tap our feet and clap our hands.

While on the stage they looked happy, but inwardly several of them were deeply depressed. People adored them. They had fame, fortune and friends. But there came a time when their days would come to a halt. And I wonder, did they think about their eternal future? Mickey Rooney did, I know. In 2011 he said,

"Take your children to church and teach them about Jesus Christ and God who makes the sunshine and moon glow and gives so many blessings. And if you go with God, and [if] Jesus Christ is your personal Savior, and [you] leave [your] troubles and everything to God, everything will work out for you."

The Lord Jesus Christ asked a poignant question in v.20 of Luke 12: "Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?"
All the 'stuff' means absolutely nothing when you're gone from this place. That's where the Great Divide takes place. You either go on to eternal life or to eternal death and torment. Life is made up of your spiritual standing.
It all depends on where you stand with Jesus Christ. If you are not sure then talk to a Believer who may be able to help you.

BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED!

Mark Rogers

PHARISEE

I am not a hypocrite! No! Not me! Not I!
I only cheat a little bit! I only tell white lies!
I am just a Pharisee, in religion I excel;
My Creed is from Heaven, while my works are straight from Hell!

The outer man's impressive, but the hidden man's a fraud!
My rituals are excessive. I praise myself not the Lord!
This unholy masquerade, I've maintained for years.
It's a drama I have played, lest I confront my fears!

"Fears?" I hear you query. "You don't appear afraid!"
(But I am if you get near me. My bravado is well played.)
I skulk about in alleys seeking to devour
The hope of those who suppose to draw upon God's power.

I have my book of rules, which I also foist on others.
Whatever freedom they may find, my legalism smothers!

But there is One Whose way is straight, Who sees into my whitewashed grave,
Where all my sins are soon-exposed before Him Who came to save.
Will I risk my tottering spire, and let Him build His home
Replacing my false and fake empire, downing its dark dome?

NO! I'll crawl under its protection and I'll kill the Carpenter of grace.
The I'll escape detection..... but...but, I can't forget His face.
And His stinging words still ring like warning bells decree,
I'm weighed and still found wanting. Yes' those bells they toll for me,

If only I could let myself be known, and Him to know.
But NO! I'll sit upon my shelf, where I'll refuse to grow.
And I hear His voice outside and the songs of those redeemed.
My tradition's where I hide,...while of Paradise I dream.

Mark Rogers 18 July, 2014

Luke 11:14

This person had been under the evil thumb of Satan. When the Devil robs a person of their speech, he takes away much of their ability to praise God, to worship, and to communicate.

Satan thrives on the silence of the saints, when no joyful sound comes from their lips. And whether it is through deep sorrow, or preoccupation, or outward pressure, or through plain stubborn reluctance, the Devil finds much pleasure in stymieing the voices of the redeemed.

So Jesus confronts the mute spirit. As you would expect, He casts it out. After all, He came to set the captives free, to give sight to the blind. We are not told that this person did anything like singing praises to God or proclaimeing the Word of the Lord, but simply that he spoke.

Luke pays almost scant attention to this amazing work of the Saviour, just one verse. His focus is more on the reaction by the Pharisees. I believe that this is mainly because again, this is, similar to last week, an account of contrasting encounters. For in the first divine appointment we see Christ in His role of Deliverer, saving a soul from torment, a torment of inflicted silence. But in the second encounter... with the Pharisees... we see the Lord, the Judge of Israel Himself, being judged by the cold-hearted and ignorant. What an irony!
But it is not only their tendency to judge that is the problem, but their Devil-inspired conclusion. And here it is:
"HE CASTS OUT THE DEMONS BY THE PRINCE OF DEMONS, ...BEELZEBUB!!!"

WHAT!!?? Jesus brings life, healing, and hope to a man whose life hung in the balance and they attribute it to Satan?
We can see here that it is the blackened pot calling the golden shiny kettle black. Jesus pours out mercy on a man and suffers the shameful abuse of those He came to redeem.
It is convenient for those who try to cover their sin to blame God for their predicament or project their sins onto another. This is what we see happening here.

False religion has a way of doing this... of rejecting the truth and replacing it with a lie.
We, ourselves must ask: "Where do I sit in the story?"

Am I the needy one under Satan's oppression in need of Christ's mercy?
Am I going forth, like the Saviour, to minister His life to others?
....or am I sitting on the sidelines opposing Him?

Mark Rogers

"GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD"

When I pray this simple phrase I acknowledge that there is One Who provides for me in Whom I can have complete confidence:
GIVE....
When we pray "Give" we acknowledge that our Father is the Giver.
James 1:17 (NKJV) "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." His Name is "YAHWEH YIREH"
US....
God the Father's provision is for those who are in a Covenant relationship with Him (US). We gentile Christians have been brought near by faith in Christ's death and resurrection. We are now part of that "US" together with our Jewish brethren.
THIS DAY...
When Israel were on their Exodus to the Promised Land the LORD mercifully provided manna for them as food. It was a kind of sweet coriander-flavoured substance that fell from heaven and could be made into cakes. It was given for THAT DAY ONLY! It would not last until the next day, or else it would spoil. This meant that they had to trust the LORD every day to provide for them. Likewise we must trust the LORD to provide for our daily needs. It is for this day that we pray. This is an indication that we are to "take no thought for tomorrow.".... "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' 32"For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things." Matthew 6:31-32
OUR DAILY BREAD.....
We live in a food-obsessed culture. There are Take-Aways or restaurants on every corner, cooking shows every night on the TV...AND many things promoted that do not really qualify as food!! Bread is one of the most basic cooked foods on earth. Every culture has it's own version of bread. God has promised to take care of His children. We declare our dependence on Him to provide for us. So when we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread" remember that we are declaring that the LORD is in control of all our material possessions, all our daily needs,

"And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

 

Thy Will Be Done

When, O Lord, will Your will be done?
Is there an end to the madness...
Afflicting this world, O Righteous One,
With sorrow, grief and sadness?

Surrounded by such selfish sins
Of omission and commission,
While Eves and Adams
View Your will with such suspicion.

Will Your will be done O Lord
Whilst mine is unsurrendered?
Will I see my hope's reward
Whilst my knees are here unbended?

How many times must I try and fail
To rise and fail again?
How many times must I sail
Into the wind in vain?

Thy will be done, I turn the wheel
Into the wind, against the tide
I choose, no matter how I feel,
To come close to Your side.

When Your will is done in mine,
When my writhing is finished,
This will be to me a sign
That Your will, Your way, Your work
In me is undiminished.

Your will be done, O Lord in me.
Your will be seen and said,
Until the day when Yours is seen
And mine seen to be dead.

Mark Rogers
13/03/2014

THY KINGDOM COME

Where is Your Kingdom, Oh Mighty Lord?
You've laid a foundation secure.
Christ is the Cornerstone I'm assured
But where is the Throne that will endure?

The earth You created is crumbling fast
The state of Eve's offspring is dire.
You promised that Your chosen ones will last...
They will not be lost in the fire.

A little while longer, You tell us to wait.
A little while longer and You shall come...
As a Thief at night and You won't be late.
To take Your Church to Your Home.

Jacob's children will be tried in the flame,
Until they on their knees will cry,
"Blessed is He Who comes in the Name!"
"Baruch haba b'shem Adonai!!"

And when at last the powers of this world
Are laid low by the Might of Your Hand,
The Banner of Your Kingdom shall be unfurled
Over the long-promised Land.

And the Kingdoms of this terrestrial domain
Will become the Kingdom of God.
Christ will then sit down to reign
With His Crown, His sceptre and rod!

Mark Rogers. 6th March 2014

Hallowed be Thy Name

There was an age in recent times
when men and women of courage sublime
took up the challenge and copped the flack
with no assurance of coming back.
We feted them with medals of esteem
for keeping alive Australian dream.
But now the honour they deserve
is waning fast at every curve.
Each generation who surely owe
so much to them don't want to know.
And seniors who were once respected
wind up displaced and oft neglected.
Letters of that foregone age
are blown away from the page.
The Name of God is blasphemed
in ways I never would have dreamed.
And yet the curse rings out the same
making light of that Holy Name.
God have mercy on this generation
for its lack of respect and veneration
of the Holy, the True and the Pure,
of which tainted minds are never sure.
When man is bent on ridicule
it is he who is seen to be the fool.
Convict our hearts with cause to reflect,
oh Lord, on our tendency to disrespect.
We lift Your Holy Name once more
oh Glorious, Holy, Patient Lord.

Mark Rogers .... 28/02/2014

ANNA

In God's House she daily dwells, waiting with patience in that Holy Place.
Sadly, Anna has no one else to look and smile at her aged face.
Her husband of seven years long gone. So briefly they were together.
For sixty now she's been on her own, her prayerful hands now weathered.
Her one desire in her waning days is that she might live to see Messiah!
She knows He can't be far away. To gaze upon Him is her one desire..
The Hope of Israel is her yearning, the Lord of her redemption.
That flame within her, faintly burning, is a fire from another dimension.

But then from the corner of her eye, she gazed at a Child with His mother
Come to fulfil what the Law required, the smouldering smoke of sin to smother.
One glimpse of Him was all she needed., one look at His fair face.
The Age of Law soon to be superseded in His loving Covenant of grace!
She praised God at the sight of Him, Who is Messiah, Judah's Lion!
The Light of God for a world so dim, a King for the Realm of Zion!

~~~~~~~~

Mark Rogers ....23 February, 2014

Our Father

When we pray, "Our Father", we pray as sons and daughters,
We pray as needy children who need His Living Water,
We acknowledge that we are weak needing His provision
For guidance, protection, healing, strength, to know we are forgiven.
As we walk the daily journey the Father's hand will guide us;
His Son, our Lord, to intercede, His Holy Spirit inside us.
Like children, when we are troubled, we run to seek His comfort.
He takes us strongly into His arms where peace finds its true summit.
When we were lost and so confused, He sent His Son to find us
Here amidst the sinful world where Satan's lies did blind us.
And even though we thought ourselves so wise and so mature
We often found ourselves so sick, in need of the Father's cure.
And as we grow much older now we find that all the more
We lean upon Your shoulder now as in years before.
So here we are dear Father, our Abba, Faithful and True.
From infancy to senior years we turn our hearts to You.

Mark Rogers ~ 7th February, 2014

~ AUSTRALIA DAY ~

It's been a long long time since Arthur Philip and his knaves
Sailed from dear old England across the ocean waves.
A motley mob they were, the convicts and the crew.
The bare bones of the colony, the not-so-well-to-do.
Captain Philip speared the Union Jack there in the ground
At Sydney Cove as the native people gathered 'round.
They didn't know what they were in for, those tribal indigenous folk.
These pallid creatures from a far-off land must have looked like a joke!
But here we are two centuries later for better and for worse
We still struggle with who we are in this temporal universe.
Our fathers who defended the Land from near-invasion
Would struggle somehow to connect with this generation.
Let us take some time to reflect on this Australia Day
To lift our hands in thankfulness as we humbly pray.
We're not a 'lucky country' but 'blessed' in so many ways
Turn our hearts around O Lord to be filled with praise.
We praise you for our freedoms, and for Laws that You have spoken.
May our hearts be changed and for our sins be broken.
May this nation of Australia be the home of peace
Where God's Name will be honoured and His praise will never cease.

~~ Mark Rogers ~ 24 January, 2014 ~~

On Prayer...
Luke11:1-4

In the end, all our prayers are for the glory of the Father through the Son. And this prayer points that out.
* When you say "Father," you acknowledge God as source.
* When you say "Hallowed be Thy name," you acknowledge God as sacred.
* When you say "Thy Kingdom come," you acknowledge God as sovereign.
* When you say "Thy will be done," you acknowledge Him as superior. * When you say "Give us this day our daily bread," you acknowledge Him as supporter.
* When you say "Forgive us our sins," you acknowledge Him as Savior.
* When you say "Lead us not into temptation," you acknowledge Him as shelter.
* And when you say "Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever, amen," you acknowledge Him as supreme. It really is praying to the end that God is glorified.

John Macarthur

MUCH DISTRACTED!
MUCH DEVOTED!

Mary sat at Jesus' feet where love and truth in fullness meet.
She hung on every word He said, and by His truth her heart was led.
Martha too did sit there too, but Martha had so much to do.
Much distracted by her chores, she left those truth-filled treasure-stores.
Fussing about with mundane things while Mary's soul soars and sings,
Hanging on to truth unfolding. Then Martha comes, chiding, scolding...
"Lord! Don't You care that I am left alone to work, of help bereft!?"
There she stood in anger glaring accusing the Gracious Lord of not caring
Jesus looked with tender reproof and spoke these words of loving truth.
"Martha, oh Martha, you are troubled by many things,
But sister Mary, true worship brings.
She has chosen the best part. Worship from her deepest heart.
Her offering will not be taken away from her.
Like Martha, is my soul astir?
Astir and on the boil and hot, like some stewing earthen pot.
Or is my soul at peace and rest, having chosen what is best?

Mark Rogers
24/11/2013

"MY GOD, IN HIM I WILL TRUST!"...Psalm 91:1 (NKJV)

An unfortunate aspect of our contemporary culture is that we are restless. We live in a highly mobile world that doesn't know how to sit still. We fly from place to place in the hope that where we are going is more interesting than the environment we've left behind. Our environment is filled with noise and clamour and visual stimulation so much so that we can barely find a moment's respite from it all.

Today's scripture portion from Psalm 91 is believed by many scholars to have been written by Moses, the man of God. It displays a great understanding of the manifold nature of God. Moses walked with God so closely and was at times the only one whom God could rely on. This enabled him to grow in his grasp of the Faithfulness, the Love, the Holiness, the Power and the Hope given by Yahweh, the Covenant God of Israel. In verse one Moses appreciates the LORD as:

a) THE MOST HIGH - "EL ELYON." This Name describes the strength, the majesty, the sovereignty and the supremacy of the LORD GOD.

b) THE ALMIGHTY - "EL SHADDAI." How important it is for us as it was for Moses to understand and appreciate that the LORD is a GOD of power and might, Who acts on behalf of His people.

c) MY REFUGE - "MACHSEH." - This speaks of the LORD'S protection of His own. If God has chosen you, He will see you through to the ultimate fulfilment of His plan for you by covering you in your time of need. Run into Him and be safe!

d) MY FORTRESS - The word here is "METSUDAH" - which is often anglicised as Masada. We know Masada as the fortress of Herod where 960 Jews chose to die by their own hands rather than to be enslaved or murdered by the Romans. Christ is our Fortress and Protection against the wiles of Satan and the curse of sin and death.

e) MY GOD - ELOHIM - This is a wonderful Name that speaks of the TRIUNE GOD. He is ONE but He is expressed in three Persons.

In view of the Great Wonder of all these attributes, gaining a greater faith as a result, should we not, like Moses, walk in deeper communion with Him, greater obedience to Him, more confident faith in HIM, our LORD, our Faithful GOD.

Mark Rogers - 15 November, 2013

Human after all

It looked as if it was a beast, by predators left to die.
But as I drew much closer it was plain to my eye
That this was a man of sorts, fallen foul of thieves.
But I was doing the Lord's work and so I did look and leave.
For though I heard him faintly call, I'm only human after all.

I was on a mission to teach the people of God.
Then I spied this figure, trodden into the sod.
Blood seethed in clots of pain from wounds too deep to fathom,
But he would soil my garments, so I recoiled in a spasm.
For though I saw the wounds of his fall, I'm only human after all.

I was an outsider, a foreigner around here,
A Samaritan, an outcast, but God's call to me was clear...
Here is a son of Abraham, fallen on the way,
Beaten, bloodied, broken, bashed, and on the road he lay.
For I can neither delay nor stall, I hear God's pleading after all.

I see them 'round me calling every single day,
The feeble ones who come and stand in my way.
It is a sin to turn my head and ignore their plea,
To hurry on as if to say, "Please don't bother me!"
For I can not ignore his call. Like him I'm human, after all............

Mark Rogers - 8th November, 2013

ONLY TWO!

In Jewish tradition I have read that it is plainly, clearly said
That there are 613 commands by which each Israelite must firmly stand.
613!!?? My head is spinning! I'd be losing and never winning!
I'd be behind before I began, for I am born a sinful man!
What hope could there ever be for such a wretched one as me?
But wait, what do I hear my Lord say? There are only two I must obey??
Huh! Only two! What a cinch! I could obey two within a pinch!
"LOVE GOD WITH ALL MY HEART AND MIND AND SOUL AND STRENGTH" Why, that's fine!!
"AND A SECOND IS LIKE IT" IT'S TRUE!, "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOUR LIKE YOU LOVE YOU!!"
So I went straight to work! This can't be too hard! I'm no jerk!
But as the day wore on I found my aspirations fell to the ground.
I got irritable and quite tired. I found my patience quickly expired!
My prayers were selfish and often short-sighted. With faithlessness they were blighted!
Pride and other deadly sins smacked me right there on the chin.
Only two commands I face. But I can't fulfill them without God's grace.
So here again I'm on my knees, offering sincere apologies.
Fill this selfish heart with love,. I set my mind on things above!
For a man's a man and that is so. He needs the Saviour. This I now know!
Two commandments I'll seek to obey by the Power of the Spirit I pray.
For I am not alone at the end of the story! CHRIST IN ME IS THE HOPE OF GLORY!!

Mark Rogers - 1st November, 2013

Bondi 2013

In the news, three days ago
a report came on the radio...
On Bondi, our iconic beach,
Where surfers ride the waves and breach,
Where the freedom which we celebrate
Is held by men who call each other, "Mate!"
Five walked home from Synagogue
When eight young louts attacked like dogs,
Causing fear and angst to rise
With broken bones and blackened eyes!
Is this the land of the open door,
Of smiling faces at the corner store?
It seems that if you've got a bone to chew...
You take it out on an innocent Jew.
When God chose His holy nation,
They had no idea of the detestation
That down the centuries they would endure.
Is there for this madness a cure?
From Holy War to Holocaust
We cannot gauge what they have lost,
Or what in years to come they'll face
When holy men cannot be traced.
So stand and pray both near and far
For those who stand beneath David's Star.
Know this: that if you bless Isra-el
You will be blessed as well.
Keep this in mind, and don't forget
That God's not finished with Israel yet!!

Mark Rogers
October 26, 2013

Maranatha!

The cry of the saints of old was clear.
Their eyes beheld Him at His ascension.
He was gone Who once was near
Filling hearts with apprehension.

But Angels left them with a pledge
"Men of Galilee, in the same way
As you have seen Him go from you,
He will return one future day.!"

And so with hearts that beat with yearning
"MARANATHA!!" IS OUR LONGING CRY!
With a passion steadily burning
With a flame that will not die!

COME LORD JESUS! LIFT OUR HEARTS NOW!
Let us long for that great day
When YOU will come to fulfil Your vow!
MARANATHA! COME LORD JESUS TODAY!!

Mark Rogers - 11 October, 2013

^^^THE HARVEST^^^

The harvest is ripe! The time, it is near!
Put in the sickle and make the way clear.
Then bring in the grain, for hearts to be won,
Brought to the banquet of Jesus the Son!

````````
Souls who are dead in trespass and sin
Are blind to the sorry state they are in.
Pray to the Lord of the harvest and cry,
"Pour forth Your Word, Lord, that souls may not die!"

```````
The time now is short, the Son He begins
To ripen the grain and gather it in.
Sheaf upon sheaf of souls now rejoice
See their bright faces hear their one voice!

```````
Let go of this world! Look up to see
The Thresher bow down and shake you so free
And gather you in with rejoicing and praise;
The fruit of His labour, the joy of His days.

```````

Mark Rogers
4th October, 2013

The Eight "D's" of Discipleship ... Luke 9:57-62

The life of the disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ is a life that requires that disciple to forego certain private privileges in pursuit of higher values...

1*Desire to follow Jesus must be genuine ..... V57

2*Declaration of the true nature of discipleship ..... V58

3*Denial of Rights - Not living for self but Christ ..... V58

4*Direction - We must turn away from our own selfish ways to follow Him ..... V59

5*Diversion - We must be prepared for the distractions that will come our way and overcome them ..... V59

6*Demand - Jesus issues not a request but a demand - "Go and Preach!" ..... V60

7*Detour - A detour or a delay is viewed by Jesus as a denial ..... V61

8*Digest - Jesus draws the concept of discipleship to a digestible morsel - "keep your eyes fixed on the goal!"..... V62

In the love of Christ,
Pastor Mark

~~~KNOWLEDGE~~~

From down here where we humans live, it seems we know so much.
The information super-highway keeps us all in touch.
We think we're very clever with it all at our disposal...
Ready for each new venture, each brand new proposal.
"Knowledge will increase", says God. But wisdom will diminish.
While mortal man throughout his span will learn from start to finish.
For there are teachers and professors. Learn-ed human beings
Who, for all their studious looking do not come to seeing.
They discard the simple truth so obvious to the eye
That every effect has a cause and every 'what' a 'why'.
The Great Creator laughs and weeps at His creation's folly.
Who can't see His own design, but can see that of a dolly!!
We say that we've made forays into the world of natural science.
But slowly slaughter unborn children, condemning them to silence.
We plumb the depths of outer space seeking other worlds,
While ignoring the inner space of the minds of boys and girls,
Polluted by entertainment and fantasies beyond their age
They are robbed of innocence too soon and put upon a stage.
There is but one knowledge that brings life and inner peace...
To know Him Who made us and saved us, Whose Word shall never cease.

~~~~~

Mark Rogers - 13 September, 2013

Up the Mountain, Down the Valley

Jesus, Peter, James and John had been together on the Mount of the Transfiguration, and it seemed as if Peter wanted to stay there to dwell in the glory of that wonderful moment.

The three disciples were witnesses to the glory of Christ. If there were any remaining doubts concerning the truth of Jesus' claims, this defining moment should have sealed it for them.

It seemed as if Peter wanted to stay there, offering to build three tabernacles for the Guests of Honour. But it is never the case that God wants us to stay in those mountaintop experiences. (At least not this side of our homecoming!) There is work to do! There are desperate souls that need help. There are sinners that need salvation!

So Jesus comes down the mountain with his three core disciples. And there He is met by an instantaneous challenge from Satan. (I do wonder whether Satan was trying to overwhelm the Saviour with the sheer enormity of the task of saving the lost - there was never a moment's peace for Him.)

A young boy, whose body and soul are in torment, is brought to Jesus by his desperate father. But the Lord is displeased, not with the father, nor the boy, but with His disciples!

But why? Why such reproof? After all, these are mere men, aren't they? No! They are not mere men! They are the future church. They are the living stones of the early church. They should have been paying attention to the Chief Cornerstone, CHRIST!! They should have been learning from Him! Power was available. Help was available. But instead they battled on in their own feeble manner only to give up at the first sign of failure.

Never be so proud that you don't seek His help when you fail! The least you can do is call out to Him Who is your strength! Failure is not final! Giving-up prevents you from turning each failure into a stepping-stone to being an effective witness for Him!

Pastor Mark

A GLIMPSE OF HIS GLORY

I thought I knew Him well, the Carpenter-cum-Teacher, the Nazarene Rabbi Yeshua, the Righteous Holy Preacher, the Prophet of a New Age. YES ! But OH!...SO MUCH MORE. I thought I knew Him as the kindest, wisest Man. Although He spoke at times in riddles few could understand. There was a greatness in Him my mind just could not store!

But then one day we journeyed with Him, James and John and I. We had no understanding of what was drawing nigh. His face shone like the sun and His robe was gleaming white! Then from out of history came Moses and Elijah! Talking with Yeshua, He is the true Messiah! Astounding us mere mortals, He was glorious in our sight.

He spoke of His exodus, which He soon was to accomplish. He spoke of the salvation which He would achieve to vanquish death and sin and hell, bringing them to nought. The Voice of God the Father affirmed His Son's authority, and commanded us to recognise His superiority. In the rapture of that moment we were fully caught!
And then in half a heartbeat those men of old were gone, in the cloud of glory with us mortals looking on. And then we looked, and all we saw was Christ... We stood upon that mountain in stunned and silent awe. We now knew of Yeshua as we'd never known Him before...

HOLY, RIGHTEOUS, SON OF GOD, PREPARED FOR SACRIFICE!!

Mark Rogers - 23.8.2013

THE COST

Free at last! My soul rejoices, along with choirs of angels' voices! Condemnation, sin and death, are brought to their last gasping breath. Free at last! I run with abandon!

But then comes something I hadn't planned on!! A yoke is placed upon my neck. He says, "We're embarking on a trek!" He's going to steer me as a burdened beast?! I thought He promised a way of ease.

To each strap and buckle I was observant. Am I to be some kind of servant? Upon such life I reflected...and just before I objected - He strapped His own neck in there too! "This is MY yoke. I'll share it with you".

And so together we will walk, and I shall listen to Him talk. Where He steps so shall I, trusting in His watchful eye. Then I noticed the yoke we bore looked like something I'd seen before.. A long beam of timber intersected by another beam at right angles connected.

"Just a minute! This is a cross!" The kind upon which a life is lost! "Not lost, but given!" He explained. "Unless of course, you are ashamed .." "If anyone desire My Life to share, the Cross he must choose to bear".

And so together, He and I, walk together on through life. To deny myself is joy so sweet. For then in Him is my life complete!

Mark Rogers - 16th August, 2013.

WHO IS HE?

We must with earnest heart and mind apply ourselves to one great question.
It is a question of eternal import, to which many have made a suggestion.
To some it may seem trivial, of no gravity at all.
But in the eyes of God it is by no means small!
It is this: 'Who is He, Who by virgin birth came into this world?
Who is He Who summoned kings while in the womb was curled?
Who caused armies to go forth on steeds with swords to slay
To see that He in His infancy would be put out of the way.
He came to be, just as He said, "The Way, The Truth and The Life."
The Resurrection, The Good Shepherd, The world's One True Light!
Who is He Who made the blind to see, the helpless lame to walk?
And Who is He that made the deaf to hear and the mute to talk ?
Who is he Whose blood alone could atone for sin?
Whose presence in the sinner's heart once He entered in
Could cleanse and heal and then reveal the need for that True Bread,
To sustain the hungry soul whom with that Bread is fed?
And Who is He Who breaks the power of Adam's fatal curse?
HE IS JESUS, CHRIST THE LORD, SON OF GOD, LET HIM BE ADORED,
ALPHA AND OMEGA, THE LAST AND THE FIRST!!

Mark Rogers, 9th August, 2013.

- The Source -
By Mark Rogers - 2 August, 2013

You blessed, You broke, You gave
To those You came to save.
Hungry souls to feed
In their pressing need.
You saw our poor estate.
Your true love was great.
You reached into the heart
Filling every part.

There is no one else who can
Fill the heart of Man.
Restless souls search everywhere
Left in deep despair.
Driven to the end
We search for one true Friend,
Who will fill the empty view
Only Christ will do!.

You are the Source of Life!
My Lord, Jesus Christ!
Bread of life and Truest Vine,
From You flows the Newest Wine,
Refreshing thirsty souls,
Making sinners whole..
You are the Source of Saving Grace.
You are my Hiding Place.

Come, O Lord of Light,
We long here for the sight
Of Your soon return
As our lamplights burn!
Feed us 'til that day
As with hearts of hope we pray.
Praise You, Lord Jesus Christ,
You are the Bread of Life!!

 

HEROD'S PUZZLEMENT - Luke 9:7-9

Through history's span, since the Son of Man came by virgin birth - I'd suggest that the greatest quest is: Who is this that came to earth?
Eastern wise men travelled wide then asked, "Now where is He... Who is born, this Bethlehem morn, the King of the Jews to be?"
In the temple He resembled One so wise in His youth. While His parents sought the teachers He taught, learnt from Him such truth!
Many theories and honest queries surrounded this one Man. Herod the 'Rex' was quite perplexed and did not understand.
Was He John the Baptiser or was He Elijah? Brought to life again... A prophet, a sage, from a foregone age - will someone explain?
But take a look into the Holy Book. There is it all unsealed. The Lamb, the Son, the King to come in this One revealed...
Thus I'm driven to loose the ribbon on the gift of the Giver of life... And to rejoice at the sound of His Voice as He comes to end the strife.

Mark Rogers - 22 July, 2013.

ONLY JESUS!

Where do I go when my world's caving in?
Where do I go with my burden of sin?
Where is my strength when my patience wears thin?...
Only in Jesus my Saviour and Lord!
Who do I turn to when I struggle with myself?
Who is the Source of my strength and my help?
Who alone can save me from hell?
Only Jesus my Saviour and Lord!
Who could reach out His hand to heal and make whole
Who could bear all the sickness of my heavy soul?
Who could take all my sorrows and turn them to gold?
Only Jesus my Saviour and Lord!
Who can speak to the dead and tell them to rise?
Who gives wings to the weary and sight to blind eyes?
Who will come to deliver as I look to the skies?
Only Jesus my Saviour and Lord!

Mark Rogers 12th July, 2013

"LEGION - A Cautionary Tale"

How it occurred I'm not sure. But something happened to my friend.
It was on a stormy evening when to Satan his mind he did lend.
"Just a harmless bit of fun. Try it if your game!"
But since that time, I'll tell you straight. My friend's not been the same!
Strange things occurred on that night, things I can't explain.
But whatever happened to my friend made him quite insane.
The door was opened just a crack, enough to let the dark
Drive in like a big black hearse and roll up there and park.

And as the months and years wore on his behaviour grew more strange.
His mental state was failing 'til he was quite deranged.
They took him away to the lake on the other side.
Where he wandered among the tombs to the sound of the rolling tide.
A pitiful broken man was he, until the Lord Jesus came,
Who cried in that commanding voice, "Speak! What is your name!"
"Legion!", he shrieked in fear, "for we are many in this place!"
"Do not send us into the abyss, eternal fire to face!!"

So they begged of the Lord Jesus that He would send them into the swine.
Christ said, "GO!", then they tore down the hill into the salty brine.
And there sat the man on the next day, clothed and in his right mind.
And so Jesus said, "Return to your home and tell of God's power divine!"

Mark Rogers - 1 July, 2013

The Storm Inside

The storm around is raging, blowing fierce and strong.
My fears and angst engaging, it blows all night long.
Building to a crescendo, falling to a calm,
Only then to rise again, intent to do me harm.

Christ rests here beside me. His head has no concern.
He said we'd reach the other side, but still inside I churn.
As thrashing brine stings my face we rise upon a crest
And then with sickening speed we slide, giving us no rest.

But still His calm composure, unshaken by this drama,
Persists in blessed, peaceful rest, for Him there is no trauma,
Until His sleep is broken by cries of those He loves.
He sees our fear, our terror and surveys the clouds above.

"Master, we are perishing!" Loud our anxious cry.
He calmly stood inside the boat as foaming waves loomed high,
"PEACE! BE STILL!" was His firm command to nature's might.
The wind obeyed, the waves were quelled, but men were filled with fright!

"Who is He that gives command to the elements and their power?"
"Who makes the mighty waves bow low which threaten as they tower?"
"Where is your faith?" He queried them, so lacking in their trust.
Who do WE trust in the storms of life? In Him alone we must!

Mark Rogers 28/06/2013

Light Revealed

There is a Light that shines in you, the Light of Christ, clear and true; Bringing into clearer view, the Truth of God's clear Word.

But if that Light is hidden away, it's fiery flame to keep at bay, there is darkness and dismay - where it is not heard.

For the Word is a living sword, from the lips of Christ, the Lord! It is only coldly ignored at our mortal peril.

For that Word with all it's Light, will shine forth in the dead of night; beaming forth to give men sight and calling like a Herald!

Come from verge of death and hell, there is a Light that saves full well, the Power of which I cannot tell; to shine upon my way.

Such a Light is seen and heard from the pages of God's Word; It will shine on, undeterred, until that glorious Day!

Mark Rogers - 21st June, 2013.

The Seed

The seed fell from the Sower's hand
Tossed with a wide and gracious span.
Within a wide and gracious plan
The tiny grains are cast.
Some fell wide beside the way
Where on the path men walked each day.
Where birds descend seeds will not stay,
But be their brief repast.
Upon the rocks some fall so rough
Where roots do not have room enough.
They sprout and then hit harder stuff
And perish there from thirst.
And other seeds, cast wide and long
By the Sower's hand so strong
Were choked and pierced by weedy prongs,
Products of sin's curse
But see the soil so tilled with richness
Furrowed deep with long dark ditches
Into fertile furrows the Sower pitches
The seed that flourishes in its growing.
But the question for you and me
Is what soil we will be,
Trodden, shallow weedy or free.
In the harvest 'twill be showing..

Mark Rogers ~ 2013

"Jesus - Limited"

Can you imagine the Son of God in all His Omnipotent power
Waiting for the Father's Word in that long-awaited hour.
It was an hour long foretold by prophetic revelation,
In the fullness of God's time through sinless incarnation.
Messiah, He would come with Grace to walk throughout the land,
Proclaiming there in Israel the Father's mysterious plan.
Glad Tidings He would bring to all within the echo of His Voice
Of the Kingdom of God yet to come... "Repent and make your choice!"
For though in limited form He came at His humble birth,
This Kingdom of God His Father through Him would come to Earth..
This Word made flesh now brought to light in village and in town
The help of hearts now bruised and broken, the hope of souls cast down.
For though in limited form He came, in flesh and blood and frame,
There was life in all His words and salvation in His Name!
The Infinite became finite, the Eternal stood in time's passage
To sing over His people, shepherdless sheep, the love song of His message.
And though in time they would reject Him bringing Him sorrow and pain,
The human form of His earthly life would be glorified when He rose again.
Ascending as a Man to glory, Son of Adam, Son of God,
He would bear the sacrifice of His human flesh and blood,
To be the means whereby my flesh would one day see eternity,
To be with Him in Light and Life and the Love He bore for me.

Mark Rogers - 7/6/2013

GREAT FORGIVENESS - GREAT LOVE Luke 7:36-50

He stands in a prison, "I'm innocent!" he protests. She's in the next cell. She's already confessed. He parades like a lion patrolling the bars. She looks out the window at the moon and the stars.

He's above this terrible place, so he thinks. She's aware of her sins, in her mind the thought sinks. He's blind to his pride and the prison it creates. She's all too aware of the strength of those gates.

Outside the cell there's a Voice of One calling. To both He's their answer in their state so appalling. But he who proclaims his innocence boldly, ignores such an offer and stares at Him coldly.

She's on the floor, she weeps for her sins but she hears in that Voice where freedom begins. She pushes at the gate, no, it wasn't locked! She runs to His arms, ecstatic but shocked.

She now knows the freedom of the One Who set her free. She dances with Him as He would with you and me. Let us not for the sake of our vain human pride, stay in our prison while Christ is outside.

Mark Rogers
27th May, 2013.

TOO HARD TO PLEASE

"But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the will of God for themselves..." Luke 7:30a
The consumer culture that dominates our western society has led to endless modifications of products and utilities, services and recreational activities. Commodities that were once a fascination are now seen as tedious and (dare I say it) BORING!
Retailers and manufacturers all want to know what the consumer wants. There are organisations even within the Church that see it as their role to find out what congregation members want and then find ways of delivering the desired result to the people!
Is this how God means us to be?
Well, as Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the Sun". The contemporary church is often very much like the Pharisees of Jesus' day.
The Pharisees did not like the packaging of the Messiah - a Nazarene, a Carpenter. Nor did they like the approach of the Messiah - a friend of sinners who eats and drinks freely with tax collectors and disreputable types. Nor did they appreciate His message, one of grace and mercy.
However, God does not tailor His message to suit the desires and tastes of His hearers. The Gospel IS the Gospel, not because it meets people's needs but because it is the outward expression of the Heart of God the Father.
Jesus came playing the flute of the Father's song of love for the lost, a song that was so totally unfamiliar to the Pharisees that they rejected it. Before Christ, His predecessor John the Baptist, came singing a song in the minor key of repentance and they rejected that too!
May we learn a lesson here from the Lord. That He is the One Who sets the tone of His Gospel. We are not to change it to suit ourselves lest we find ourselves standing in the company of the enemies of our Lord!!

Blessings to you in Him .......Pastor Mark

~ Stellar Glory ~

The cool night-winds of May have blown the clouds away.
The Milky Way spreads its span overhead.
As I stand on my front lawn, long before the morn
And gaze in wonder at the sparkling spread.
From the North-East it spans to South-West overland,
It embraces the broad austral stellar glory.
All across the heavens in mighty stellar ribbons
It tells the mystery of salvation's story.
The crowning Southern Cross guides the weary lost
Homeward to their place of restoration.
And what appears like mist is God's great endless list
Of sparkling curtains draped across our nation.
A jet seems out of place as it runs its short-lived race
Beneath the might of such eternal distance.
What to us is a ceiling, a picture there revealing
Is eternity without rest or resistance.
Pin-points in the night of God's great heavenly light
Peeping through the blackness 'round each star
Makes me stand in wonder on the Earth here down-under
And say, quite breathless, "Lord, how great You are!!"

Mark Rogers - 16th May. 2013

FREE AT LAST!!

The world remains in a mixed state of disbelief, shock and delight at the news of the release of three young women in the U.S. Who have spent the last ten years locked in the basement of a Cleveland Ohio home by their kidnapper.
The three women Amanda Berry 27, Gina DeJesus 23, and Michelle Knight 32, were abducted and deprived of their liberty and their youth, living under the oppressive hand of their captor since around 2003. That was until early this week when Amanda berry decided to escape by smashing through the door while their captor was away from the house.
Taking her 6 year old daughter with her she escaped and raised the alarm. The other women were rescued by the police.
Now, I don't know about you, but this story grabbed my attention not only because of the tragedy of the captivity of these women for so long, but also due to one woman's heroism which led to the saving of the others ... "But what" I hear you ask "does this have to do with me?" Well, these girls, now adults, lived right under the nose of a fairly normal American community without being noticed. This is a tragic shame on society itself. The point for us Australians on the other side of the Pacific is this: HOW MANY PEOPLE IN OUR OWN NEIGHBOURHOODS ARE IN GREAT NEED AND YET GO UNNOTICED BY US?!?!
Jesus noticed the weeping mother in today's gospel story from Luke ch.7. He specifically went to Nain with the intention of raising a young man from the dead. He noticed her! He read this tragic open page of her heart. He read it ... BUT HE REWROTE IT!!
God can rewrite the tragic stories of our lives. We don't have to remain captive to the past for He is the One who says "IF THE SON SETS YOU FREE, YOU SHALL BE FREE INDEED" (Jn 8:36). Live the life of freedom for which Christ rescued you ...

Blessings to you, Pastor Mark.

Lessons from a Centurion

The Roman Centurion who sent his servants to Jesus with the request for the Great Physician to heal his desperately ill servants is an illustration of GREAT FAITH. The following points stood out to me as I was preparing today's message:

He was a Gentile and did not presume to lay any claim to the ministry of the Jewish Messiah. "I did not even think myself worthy to come to you"(v7)

He displayed great humility for a man of such authority.(v7)

He was a man under authority and understood the power of the word which the Lord Jesus spoke. He knew that the word of a centurion would bring about temporal results. Likewise the life - giving Words of Christ would bring about life-changing results for the servant who was dear to him.(v8)

He loved Israel. The Centurion showed his love of God's covenant people by building a synagogue for them in Capernaum.(v5)

He loved his servant.(v2) The big tough Centurion had a tender heart for his servant.

He fully believed in Christ's ability and willingness to heal. "But say the word and my servant will be healed"(v.7)

He was a man who amazed the Lord Jesus with his faith and profession. (v.9) Although he had no heritage or covenant , nor personal history of faith, no hold on the Messiah's claims as a Gentile, nor any great understanding of the Scriptures HE BELIEVED!! Faith overcame every obstacle!

This man is an example to all of us of the humble faith that catches God's attention. Oh that we would have such great faith!

May the Lord enrich your faith as you study His Holy Word!

Blessings in Christ, Pastor Mark ><>

SEEDS

There's a tree that you are growing from the seeds that you've been sowing,
whatever fruit soon may be found depends on what you sowed in the ground.

Pears or apples, peaches, cumquats all vary in their nature somewhat,
according to what was once planted, with their fruit you will be granted.

Apple seeds bring apples sweet, the law of nature you cannot cheat.
This too is the law of life, peace for peace and strife for strife.

Who mistreats his family and friends, will be alone at the end.
But she who loves and blesses and shares, will find much fruit she yields and bears.

They who plant seeds of discontent, will one day find reason to repent.
So my point is to repeat, the words of Him who washed men's feet.

"A good man brings forth from his heart, the good that's stored there he'll impart".
An evil man in like manner, will in the works throw a spanner.

Mark Rogers 21.4.2013

Speck-Spotting

I spotted a speck in my spouse's eye,
Not a splinter nor a splotch but a speck I did spy.
I said, "Spare me some space and I'll splash as I try,
To spring this speck with a sponge from your eye."
So I speedily sprang into a speck-spotting spree.
Spiritually springing specks with great glee.
I splurged at the urge many hours you see.
But of course you can't...you've got a speck, unlike me!
I said to my spouse as I sprang the gunk
From her eye like a piece of unwanted junk
At this task I was determined not to flunk
So I set about my spotting with correspondent spunk.
But 'twas then that my spouse did speak unto me,
"My dear, spite in your spotting I think there might be.
"For I spy a spruce in YOUR eye, yes a tree!
"If you don't spring that spruce then you'll never be free."
So I spied in the mirror not a speck but a spruce
Spoiling my spying 'til I was no use!
I spoke up at once, "I'm a silly goose!"
I'll spoon out that speck when that spruce is loose!
So my spouse did oblige with tweezers to rid
My eye of the spruce that I had since I was a kid.
And then I could spot and spy when she did
The speck that troubled her in her eyelid.

~~ Mark Rogers ...April,2013

Woe, No, and Go.

There is good news in the Gospel of Christ
For it proclaims the way to eternal life,
Imparted to sinners at the great cost
Of Jesus who died to save the lost.

But there is bad news in the Gospel as well!
For to reject it means an eternity in hell!
For those who stack their riches here below
The Gospel is Bad News and comes with a "WOE!"

For those who think that under their own steam
They'll enter heaven's gate, well they're living in a dream!
For the fuel gauge is on empty and the tank's running low.
Our good works are bankrupt and the Lord says, "NO!"

But for those who are humble enough to admit
That their righteousness is rags and won't help them a bit,
A welcome sign says, "FRIEND, IN YOU GO!"
For they trusted the Christ Whose blood did flow
So that a sinner like me such blessings would know.

---Mark Rogers-12/4/2013

"THE HARD ROAD TO FAITH"
-John 20:19-31-
from Pastor Mark

Whether we like to admit it or not, the Road to a Trusting-Faith is no picnic! Following the resurrection of Jesus this was shown to be true in the experience of His Disciples. In John 20:19-31 we find them shut away in the Upper Room...
APPREHENSIVE & AFRAID... "They were locked in for fear of the Jews. The Jewish authorities had seen to it that Jesus was crucified. What they be next? But then the Risen Lord Jesus came and stood in their midst.!! He didn't upbraid them, but He came with a.....................

BLESSING bringing BUOYANCY!...."Shalom!" He says to them. Peace! Into their swirling anxious world He brings His calm, quelling anxiety and bringing His Buoyancy that they might rise above turmoil.

COMMISSIONING them, He sends them in the same manner in which His Father sent Him! He also breathes the Holy Spirit upon them..."As the Father has sent Me, so send I you." as a .....

DOWN-PAYMENT  on what was to come at Pentecost in His fullest sense in terms of the power that the Holy Spirit was to bring them. He breathes the 'Ruach', the life-giving breath of God upon them. But Thomas wasn't there. When they told him what had happened he wouldn't believe them. HE WANTED...

EVIDENCE!!  Solid physical, visible proof was the only means whereby the doubting disciple would believe. "Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I WILL NOT BELIEVE!!" This sort of scepticism is typical of most of us. The Lord calls the person who speaks like this....

FAITHLESS! - If we had been through what Thomas had been through and not seen the Lord like the other disciples, would we have responded in any way different? The Lord responds to Thomas with...

GREETING and GOADING - "Shalom!" ("Peace, completeness and well-being") was the greeting and blessing Jesus extended again but this time personally to Thomas whom He had to goad as well. The Lord gave him what he requested but also gently chastised him, "Do not be unbelieving, but believing!" The scriptures tell us that, "Without faith it is impossible to please God." (Heb 11:6)

HOPE - Jesus saw hope for the future of His fledgling-church. Though Thomas doubted the testimony of the other disciples, he springs forth with the boldest declaration of Jesus' Divine Sovereignty to date: "My Lord and my God!!" Christ said to Thomas, "Because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" This is Christ's declaration over every believer who is to have saving faith in Him down through the ages...including you and me!!"

 

"RIGHT ON TIME"

The long, long years of expectation of Messiah's revelation
To deliver Israel from the hand of her oppressors
Led to hearts downcast in waiting, hope subsiding, faith abating.
Will He come to save us soon or leave us with our guesses.
He will be a Mighty King, He'll save us from the lash and sting
Of Gentile tyrants and their armies marching.
Surely YAHWEH in His might counts us precious in His sight,
With His grace and mercy over-arching.
I can see Messiah's form, bold and strong against the storm
Of Caesar's pagan empire He'll be victorious!
Riding on His mighty steed, He will come with Angel-speed
To show Himself all radiant and glorious!
Outside I hear the cheers and cries of "Hosanna!" passing by,
Children shouting, "Blessed is He who comes!"
I rush to see the hopeful sight. Could this be the One whose might
Will save us from the oppression of hellish thumbs?
The crowd is singing songs of praise. Could it be Him after all these days?
He comes to make the heartsick nation whole.
Here He comes! I know it's Him, with transparent seraphim.
But what is this? He's mounted on a foal??
And where's His army and His sword? How could this be the Mighty Lord?
As people flock to lay their cloaks before Him!
Why do they adorn His way with palms, they sweep the road and sway.
He has no comely form that they should adore Him.
But then to my forgetful mind come scriptures to which I was blind,
That the Lord had uttered this one key.
"Behold your King, He comes to Zion" The tribe of Judah's mighty Lion,
Humble and meekly mounted on a donkey.
The ways of God are not those of men, the same is now as it was then,
We are all afflicted with Adam's crime
But God in His all-patient grace comes to die in our place
Just as the prophets said...RIGHT ON TIME!!

Mark Rogers - 24.3.2013

A Vision for the Future (c/- St. Patrick)

It is significant that today, the day of our Annual General meeting, is St Patrick's Day. Patrick was the son of British Christian parents. However, he did not share their faith. He was a prodigal.
At age 16 he found himself captured by slave traders who sold him as a shepherd to an Irish master. But it was there that Patrick found God...or should I say God found him! He prayed as he watched over the flocks and told of how "the love of God and his fear increased more and more." He eventually escaped his captors and found his way home, a changed young man. He studied the Bible diligently until he felt ready to return to Ireland. When he came back to the Emerald Isle he was aflame with the Gospel and his preaching led to the conversion of many souls, delivering them from witchcraft and superstition. And don't think of Patrick as a Roman Catholic saint! He was a faithful man of God in his corrupt generation, aflame with the Gospel! He had much opposition from the Roman Church.
"But what," I hear you ask, "does this have to do with our AGM ...and me!?"
Well, Patrick had this wonderful prayer that he would pray regularly, a prayer that we call "St Patrick's Breastplate". It is a prayer that we could adopt for our church. Here is a small part of that prayer:
"I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's Word to speak for me, God's Hand to guard me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me from snares of devils, from temptations of vices from everyone who shall wish me ill, afar and near"
May God grant us such dependence upon Him, such reliance upon His Word, such protection from the snares of Satan, such wisdom, such might through His Holy Spirit that we as a church would be a strong tower for Christ, a lighthouse of hope, and a bulwark of protection for those fleeing deception.
May this be our vision and prayer as we press on for as long as the Lord tarries. Until He comes for His glorious Bride.

May the Lord bless you,
Pastor Mark. - 17.3.2013

"MORE REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY FROM THE GREAT PHYSICIAN"

The world says, "Get more money, win Lotto, win 'Who wants to be a Millionaire', and at last you'll be happy. Well...think again.
Jack Whittaker won a record $314.9m in Powerball in 2002. But since then his life has been a long list of arrests, lawsuits and broken relationships. His ex-wife says she wishes she had torn up the ticket!
William Post won $16m in 1988 in the Pennsylvania lottery. He later described it as a nightmare, and wishes it had never happened. He was sued by his girlfriend, his brother hired a hit-man in the hope of inheriting the winnings! Oh...I could go on with the terrible stories. Indeed, "the love of money is the root of all evil" 1Tim.6:10.
Why do people delude themselves into thinking that truckloads of 'stuff' will make them happy? It is a deception born in Hell!
Jesus' way of thinking is the reverse of this mythical deception that the world peddles. For example, He says ...
Blessed are you who hunger NOW, for you SHALL be filled! Blessed are you who weep NOW, for you SHALL laugh! Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast your name out as evil for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice IN THAT DAY and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets - (Luke 6:12-23).
We think that if only everything were plain-sailing then our lives would be happy and blessed. From Jesus' perspective that reverse is true. His focus is on the Kingdom that will come one day to bring joy and peace at last to the earth. And that knowledge should cause us to be contented.
So in the mean time, realise that if you are in need, then you are BLESSED!! Look up! There's a new earth coming!!

You are blessed,
Mark Rogers - 10.3.2013

DISCERNMENT ISSUES - NO.12 - YAHWEH AND ALLAH

On Thursday I went to a meeting of the New Lambton Ministers Fellowship down at Chaddies. It was an enjoyable time of discussion and fellowship.. to a point! At the end of the gathering I was involved in a discussion with a lady minister who had spent much time in the Middle East, especially in Israel. She happened in a passing comment to mention that the God of the Jews and the god of the Muslims was one and the same. After a time of discussion I could see that she was as entrenched in the affirmative as I was in the negative, and we agreed to disagree. But is this true? Well let me proclaim a loud NO!! ...and let me say why:-

1. Allah is the Arabian moon-god who until Mohammed came along in the 6th century was viewed as just one of many gods by the Arabs. It was the prophet who proclaimed Allah as the only god, more by whim than revelation.
2. Yahweh is the ONE TRUE GOD ("I alone am God...there is no other" Isaiah 46:9).
3. Allah is unknowable.
4. Yahweh on the other hand declares to His people, "I will give them a heart to know Me" Jer.24:7.
5. Allah declares himself in the Qur'an to be a god of vengeance and hatred towards those who are transgressors (2:190).
6. The true God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob abounds in mercy (Ps.86:5) and compassion (Ps 51:1).
7. Lastly, the Qur'an declares that God has no son and has no mercy on sinners (Surah 4:168-9).
8. The Lord Jesus Christ came boldly proclaiming His Divine Sonship and His equality with God (Jn 10:30; Jn 17:5; Col 1:15-27). This was what riled His enemies. It is through His Son that mercy and grace are poured out on sinners such as me...praise God!

My point is this: People are entitled to believe what they want, BUT don't throw Jesus Christ into the mix - He claims exclusive Lordship!! "There is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved" Acts 4:12.

Stay faithful, Pastor Mark. - 3.3.2013.

"THE PRICE"

I received an email update on Thursday from The Voice of the Martyrs .. I often dread to read the news from this wonderful missionary organisation-but read it I must! Squeamishness is never an excuse for ignorance.
Tanzania, like so many other African nations is beset with ethic and religious strife. Muslims viciously attack Christians and out of self-defence the Christians retaliate. Often this is done to simply defend their families.
An AOG church was attacked by young Muslim extremists on Feb 11th in Buseresere as meat was being delivered from a butchery owned and run by Christians (such deliveries are illegal in Tanzania by retailers of non-halal meat products). In fact, Muslim authorities demand the immediate closure of all butcheries owned by Christians.
When the local minister, Pastor Kachili, heard about the attack he decided to intervene. Rushing to the scene in the hope that he might avert a conflict he was confronted by the mob of angry young men. On seeing the Pastor, they ran at him with their swords and beheaded him ... Such is the price one has to pay in some parts of the world for standing for Christ.
May I ask you to pray for this church and others in Tanzania as they heal from this disaster. Pray particularly for Pastor Kachili's wife and several children.
There is always a price to pay for proclaiming the gospel, and even for simply being a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus left us an example, that we should walk in His steps (1 Peter 2:21). We may not be called to the total sacrifice of martyrdom, but we are all called to take up our cross daily and follow Christ (Luke 9:23).
Are we prepared to do this? Jesus said that it's a "must". It's not an optional extra.
Certainly makes you think about the depth, the character and the strength of your faith... doesn't it !!

Praying for you all, until Jesus comes
Pastor Mark - 24.2.2013

"A FAITH THAT YOU CAN SEE"

A few good friends stood in the gap between a man's need and the Lord.
In spite of the crowd they would not be deterred, nor would they be ignored.
That crippled man onto the rooftop his friends did bear.
And lowered him through the hole they made right in front of Jesus there.

Jesus saw their faith and said to him, "Your sins are forgiven you!"
He told the man to rise and walk to prove that it was true!
The lame man, now a free man, walked in liberty,
Because a few good friends with a faith in Jesus that He could plainly see.

CHORUS:
Give me a faith, Lord, that You can see; a faith that sets the captive free,
A faith that makes the lame man leap and puts praises in his mouth.
Give me, Lord Your hope to share, showing the world that You care,
May those who bear a burden there be freed from fear and doubt.

The man, once crippled, now could walk, and as the path he trod,
He lifted up his voice in praise, giving glory unto God.
He went home a happy man rejoicing all the way,
And all the people praised God and said, "We've seen strange things today!"

Mark Rogers - 11.2.2013.

LORD! If you are willing,
You can make me clean! - Luke 5:12-13.

"Unclean! Unclean!" the leper cried. His was a living death. "Unclean! Unclean!" he limped and sighed with every single breath. Shunned, and cursed, and so outcast to all who looked on him. Their mouths aghast, as he walked past. His eyes were gaunt and dim. The Law forbade them, lest the dread fall upon them as well ... to even touch such as he who said, "Unclean! Unclean!" in his living hell.

He searches for the sight of One there who is his only hope. One who in this sea of despair will throw to him a rope. His eyes set upon Him there, and to this Hope he runs .. He falls at His feet to declare his plight to God's own Son. "If You are willing, Lord," he cries, "You can make me clean!" There was Love in Jesus' eyes at this sorry scene.

"I am willing" the Master said, "BE CLEANSED!" and He touched Him. The leper looked, the leprosy fled which for so long had clutched him. A new man rose from that hallowed place, where Christ had changed his life. He returned with a joyful face to his children and his wife.

And likewise, you and I are bound by a sickness of the soul ... Crying out to be found by Jesus Christ who paid the price to make our sick heart whole!

Mark Rogers - 10.2.2013

What is CHRISTMAS ?

C is for Christ, the season bears His Name.
H is for Heaven, the Home from which He came.
R is for Reconciliation through Him both God and man
I is for Immanuel- "God with us" in God's Plan.
S is for Saviour, for thus He was to me.
T is for the Truth He proclaimed to set me free.
M is for Mary, virgin mother who conceived.
A is for Angel whose words with faith were received.
S is for Shepherd in the manger laid.

       ...This to me is Christmas. It's truth will never fade.
          All these things He is to me.
          Gifts of grace in Him I see
          Saviour, Shepherd, Christ and LORD
          Forever may His Name be adored!

--- Mark Rogers - 2012.

The Sick House

When we enter Luke's Gospel it is like walking down a long street with people lining the streets crying out to the Saviour with their various needs. When we arrive at number 38/4 Luke Street we enter in to Mr & Mrs Simon Peter's house where we find Peter's mother-in-law extremely ill with a high fever.
The first thing we notice about this situation is that there are several people in the room which seems to indicate that they thought that this dear lady was at death's door. Jesus had just come from a time of teaching, prayer and ministry in the synagogue. His time there had been fruitful with demons being expelled from some of the people there. His spirit had been strengthened by His time in the Torah and prayer. But I could well imagine that the Lord's heart was cheered by the faith of those who were there. The second half of this verse says that "the people made request of Him concerning her." What wonderful intercession! Their hearts were deeply concerned and they knew just who to go to...THE GREAT PHYSICIAN! How wonderful it is that we have One to Whom we can go Who is able to understand our human frailty,

YES!....but also to do something about it!!

Jesus "STOOD OVER HER", displaying His over this predicament. He "REBUKED THE FEVER AND IT LEFT HER". He displays His authority over the curse of sin, sickness and death and the results are immediate! The ministry of the Lord brings healing to this dear lady.

So what does this lady do? Take 3 weeks off to recover?...Go back to bed?...No! "She arose and served them." Her heart was so full of thanksgiving that it caused her to minister to the needs of others. No pity-party. No convalescence ...but service! "Immediately she arose and served them"(v39)

How much more it is that we who have received so much should then become the channels of God's grace to others. May this be our life's expression, in Jesus' Name.

Blessings to you in Christ Jesus Pastor Mark - 7th December, 2012

"Behold I Will Make Jerusalem A Cup Of Trembling Unto All The People Round About ....."---Zechariah 12:2

The front page of last Wednesday's Daily Telegraph looked almost like a page out of an apocalyptic novel! Paired together beside each other were the stories Sydney's beaches being turned into something that looked like a snapshot from Exodus with its blood-coloured water and the account of our Federal Government's determination to vilify Israel in the face of the Palestinian grab for statehood. The headline read:

"GILLARD DITCHES ISRAEL TO SAVE HERSELF"

The beaches will soon be rid of the algal bloom, but what of the vacillating position of our PM who is swayed by her colleagues hither and thither? The cabinet refused to back her original policy to vote against greater recognition for a Palestinian state. Only a few MPs stood with her on this issue. So...what does our fearless leader do? She votes against her own conscience in order to save her job! What she doesn't realise is that this has prophetic ramifications for our whole nation! Zechariah 14:2-3 says that those who come against Israel will be in the line of HIS fire as He goes forth to fight against those nations. "Jerusalem will be a cup of trembling....and a burdensome stone for all people all, that burden themselves with her." This may have a degree of historical fulfilment in the past but nothing like we see brewing in the present.

Let us pray for Israel and the Jewish people worldwide that are also experiencing animosity. The Lord, Yeshua ha Mashiach, will come soon to deliver His people after the Tribulation of those days to come.

This also means that the day of our transformation in the twinkling of an eye is even nearer!! So keep your eyes turned toward heaven for the day of our redemption draws near!! (Luke 21:28)

Blessing to you Pastor Mark  Friday 30th November 2012

"He Came To His Own...And His Own Received Him Not!"

You'd think they would have twigged...after watching Him grow and then
Observing His manner, His expression, so unlike other men.
The kindness in His eyes, the righteousness in His voice
From His childhood days, so unlike other boys.

You'd think they would have noticed deep within their minds
The spark of His Divinity with Humanity intertwined.
In the workshop with the timber selected with such care,
With the hammer and the nails He breathes a silent prayer.

He smiles that knowing smile. He knows every care
Of those who come to Him for a table or a chair.
He constructs a workbench, a plough, or a yoke
And sows a seed of love in the heart of ordinary folk.

But He leaves one day without so much as a farewell or a warning.
He folds His worker's apron and heads for Jordan on that morning.
His sense of deeper purpose is found in Jordan's streams.
His words of power and wisdom are filled with heaven's themes.

But then one day He returns to Nazareth's narrow streets.
All has changed and all is strange in the people that He meets.
He knows they'll not receive Him. He knows their hearts are colder
Than the peak of Hermon's mount now that he is older.

Now that He is empowered to speak the Gospel truth
His words, His ways so different to the days of His youth.
He stands in the synagogue and speaks such words of grace
Intertwined with stinging truth to those of double-face.

They block their ears against Him and rush Him to the cliff
He could not convert their hearts. Their pride He could not shift.
But His eyes read them deep within and their venom comes to nought.
He walks right past them. They'll not achieve the evil plans they sought.

His time is not in their hands. God Almighty rules His days.
He will give His all at a time that His Father ordains.
He walks right through and past the murderous shouting mob.
And goes on to perform the Messiah's awesome job.

Mark Rogers - 23rd November, 2012

The Life Giving Message of the Gospel

A riddle: What can be kept all the more securely by giving it away to others? ...
Answer: Your Faith !!

In fact, if you are not seeking to keep the faith and give it away at the same time, I would venture to say that your faith is not the same faith the apostles knew. Vital to their understanding of the Gospel was this urgency to proclaim it!

Such faith is personal but not private!
It is to be taken to heart but not hidden.
It is to be a matter of the soul but also to be expressed in life.
It is to be a matter of quiet reflection but also earnest proclamation.
It is to be cherished as precious to our hearts and cast forth as seed to take root in the hearts of others.

On Friday I heard on ABC Radio a request for blood donors from the Red Cross. Their reserves have fallen dangerously low. Entering into the Christmas/New Year season they are approaching a peak in the need for donations. Without them people may die! And yet we have something even more precious for the dying souls of the lost: The saving Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way that His blood can be applied to these desperate souls is through the Everlasting Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The vital work of our missionary organisations and our local church too, must always have at its heart the eternal-life-giving message that has been the saving power of God for sinners for the past two thousand years.

As we hear from Colin Scott today who represents GMP (Global Mission Partners) and COCOA (Churches of Christ Overseas Aid) I pray that we will grow in our understanding of the urgency of the Gospel for people both at home and abroad. We wish Colin God's blessing in his ministry and as he shares with us this morning.

The blessing of the Lord be with you,  Pastor Mark.  16.11.2012.

Nazareth

In the streets of Nazareth there runs a little boy,
Full of childhood wonder, fascination and joy,
Full of hope and life, He absorbs it all afresh...
For in this little boy there stands God in the flesh!
He is more than meets the eye. He is the Holy One.
He is the great Messiah. The Father's only Son.
And one day every eye will see and every knee will bow.
But then, alas, it will be too late. Receive Him now!!!
He grows into a Man - unlike other men.
His neighbours look upon Him with respect...but then,
At thirty He leaves home for He is not what He seems.
He folds His carpenter's apron to head for Jordan's streams
And there in Jordan's flow the Lamb of God is bowed,
"This is My Beloved Son!" says the Father from the clouds.
"Listen to Him, Learn from Him, in Him I am well pleased".
He will proclaim salvation, the Kingdom of God's peace!
In Nazareth He stands in the synagogue to teach.
"The Spirit of the Lord has anointed me to preach
The Gospel to the poor, healing for the broken heart,
Freedom to the captives, liberty I will impart.
Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your very ears."
The long expected Messiah is stand here!
But they chose not to hear Him, they rejected God's own Son.
They could not see Messiah revealed through such a One.
He came to His own but His own did not receive
Him whom through life would come...
If they would only believe!

Mark Rogers  8.11.2012.

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints" Ps 116:13

When a beloved one dies in the Lord, to us, down here, it is a sad goodbye ... But to Him whose gaze is spread wide through eternal time and distance it is always "Welcome Home"!

How wonderful it would be to live with God's perspective. How wonderful to live with a vision of the new place the Lord is preparing for us rather than to be preoccupied with the old one that is falling down.

Our homecoming is so precious to Him. It is then that the Lord sees the harvest of souls safe in His Father's house. It is wonderful to walk with Jesus here on earth but infinitely more wonderful to sit at His feet in His heavenly kingdom, with the labour of earth behind us.

I can't help but think of our dear brother Dick Jones who died last week. Dick had walked faithfully with the Lord for many years. He loved God's Word...but his ability to do the things he once did was hampered by the frailty of ageing and sickness. How wonderful for him to have his "strength renewed like the eagles" and especially for Dick who loved to run in his younger days "to run and not be weary and to walk and not faint". This is why the death of the saints is precious to the Lord ... We are free! ... We are home! We are absent from the body but present with the Lord! Amen! Amen!

"Free at last, free at last, I thank God I'm free at last.
On my knees when the light passed by I thank God I'm free at last.
Thought my soul would rise and fly, I thank God I'm free at last.
One of these mornings bright and fair, I thank God I'm free at last,
Going to meet King Jesus in the air, I thank God I'm free at last."

Blessings to you, Pastor Mark  2.11.2012.

"Lo, I Come Quickly"

"The Bridegroom cometh!" cry His friends
The dark night of waiting has come to an end!
"The Bridegroom cometh!" robed in pure white
He is radiant with glory and precious in our sight.

Arise His beloved! Arise to His call!
But some of His beloved are asleep in the hall.
Oh they're busy - they fuss and they bother like Martha
But they are not busy with the business of the Father!

For the Bridegroom cometh! The time is late!
His footsteps are heard approaching the gate.
But there are meetings to be held and budgets to balance
She ceases to wait for her Bridegroom so gallant.

"The Bridegroom cometh!" again comes the call,
But now the cry is most urgent of all
Light your flames! Arise! Go out to meet Him!
It is time for you to welcome and greet Him!

But alas the flames of many have died!
They are blind to His coming and deaf to His cry.
They don't see His beauty and they don't hear His call.
Now I wonder if they were part of His Bride at all!

Mark Rogers  26.10.2012.

The Royal Lineage of Messiah

Through Abraham and his family God went about His plan to rescue humans from the doom they were consigned to as a result of Adam's fall. But don't think for a minute that this was God's 'Plan B'. Remember that Yeshua, Jesus, our Anointed Redeemer was 'slain from the foundation of the world'. It was no afterthought! The Cross was God's predestined plan long before the first glimmer of light. The long lineage of Jesus' ancestors is testimony to those who walked in the path of faith leading to Golgotha where the Lamb of God gave His all.

In Jesus' genealogy we see that He is not just The Son of Man, the Son of Adam, but He was also like Noah in that He is the only means of salvation from judgment (1 Peter 3:20-21). He is the Righteous Seed of Abraham. He is the Father of Faith (Gal. 3:16). He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah (Genesis 49: 8-10). He is like Joseph, shunned by His brothers but ends up being their deliverer. He is like David, the Shepherd-King. He is like Boaz, the Kinsman-Redeemer of Ruth (the gentile slave). He is like Isaac, the Son freely-offered and delivered from death.

The ancestral line of our Lord depicts Him as the fulfilment of the Promise of the Ages and the Hope of all who look to Him in faith. The Scriptures all point to Him from Whom all blessings flow to us!

May I encourage you to do some study yourselves on this wonderful biblical theme ... "..and beginning at Moses and all the prophets He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself". (Luke 24:27).

Blessings to you, Pastor Mark  19.10.2012.

"The Beloved Son"

Jesus always says "Yes"
Yes to the Father's will
He will not falter or second-guess
His plans He will fulfil.

He said "Yes Father, I will go"
To save the lost sheep of Israel
I will journey to the world below
Where Adam and his children fell.

I will take on frail flesh of man
I will labour with wood and tools
In the Jordan one day I will stand
In obedience to Your Divine Rule.

I will hear Your loving strong voice
"This is My Beloved Son"
I am pleased with Him as My choice
For the lost of this world He has come.

I will speak of the Truth of Your Word
I will pay the price that it costs
And when man despises what they've heard
There I'll give my life for the lost.

I will take my life back as I choose
In Resurrection power I will stand
Then I shall intercede in truth
For My flock at Your righteous right hand.

One day I'll come again as I said,
And I'll stand on Mt Zion when it's done
Your crown shall rest on My head
And Your "Yes" loud and clear the Nations will hear
"This is My Beloved Son!"

Mark Rogers  12.10.2012.

EMMAUS

We walk the road to old Emmaus, heads cast down, hearts in pain.
We spoke together as thoughts assail us, striking our memories again and again.
"What went wrong? Why this night?" The Son has set and darkness besets us.
All our hopes have taken flight. Could it be that God forgets us?

Who is this One who walks beside us, hidden from our earth-bound gaze.
Troubles dark and woes betide us for the Light of the world has gone.
He knows not, so it seems, of recent history - how this grief has come our way.
To Him it appears to be a mystery, why we are as we are today.

But then without a word of warning His righteous words rebuke our fears.
He marvels at our sullen mourning, our eyes so red and stained with tears.
Foolish ones and slow of heart to believe the promised hope
Which ancient prophets did impart. Who is this One who interlopes?

He opened up the living pages from Genesis to Malachi
Showing us sin's steep wages and why Messiah had to die.
When at last we reached Emmaus town we begged of Him to stay, our Guest,
So at the table we settled down, He broke the bread which He blessed.

Our eyes were opened as the bread He broke,
which we could not see from within our prison.
The way He prayed, the words He spoke, "It is Jesus, and HE IS RISEN!!
Our hearts are stirred. Our faith is aflame!
We fly like stallions, bold and strong!
The Gospel in our Lord Jesus' Name is now our everlasting song!!

Mark Rogers .........  5.10.2012.

The Fullness of Time - Luke 3:1

We've all had that uncanny feeling of "coincidence" in our lives. Like the time I bumped into a schoolmate from Penrith walking down Hay St. In the middle of Perth 3250km away, just a couple of months after leaving school! A coincidence!

But when it comes to the great incarnation and revelation of the Messiah to Israel in the 1st Century AD we see according to scripture that it was no coincidence. Galatians 4:4 tells us "when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son". The fullness of time was come? What does this mean? The Lord God had seen from the standpoint of eternity-past that this chapter in history was the best time to send His Son to redeem lost mankind. This was partly for the following reasons:-

• The exact fulfilment of prophecy (especially the prophecy of Daniel 9:24-25) revealed in many verses of the Old Testament.
• The unified nature of the Roman Empire bringing the 'Pax Romana' (Roman Peace) to most of the then-known world .. Although very uncomfortable and humiliating. The Roman roads also made travel throughout the empire safe.
• Israel's down-trodden desperation under Gentile rule causing them to cry out for a Deliverer. The masses flocking to John the Baptist are evidence of this.
• The common Greek tongue adopted by all within the empire as a unifying language.
• Jewish religion and culture had spread through the captivity and subsequent dispersion of the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians in 722BC and Judah's invasion by the Babylonians in 586BC. This led to a framework through which the Christian gospel could be proclaimed.

God had His plan ... So when we read Luke 3:1-2 with its mix of Roman and Jewish governing and religious authorities we see God at work in history bringing about the right circumstances for the revelation of His Son and the eventual communication of the Gospel throughout the world.

Blessings,    Pastor Mark.    28th Sept. 2012.

THE WAITING IS OVER !
Luke 2: 21 - 40

"Patience is a virtue, possess it if you can - seldom in a woman, but never in a man"

I don't know how many dear elderly female aged-care residents have quoted this old saying to me over the sixteen years I've worked in aged-care. They love to say it at any sign of male impatience. There may be an element of truth in their words but I think we're all inclined to be a little short-fused at times.

Likewise, Israel had almost lost her patience in waiting for the long-expected Messiah to come. Oh, how they needed Him! They had strayed so far from Him!

But now as Mary & Joseph make their way around the Temple, a dear old man by the name of Simeon, issues forth this wonderful song of praise:

• He was waiting for the "CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL."
• He would not die before seeing "the LORD's MESSIAH".
• He praised God for this "Light that Lightens the Gentiles", the glory of Israel.
• He warned on the other hand that this Messiah would cause the RISE & FALL OF MANY ... That He would be spoken against ... That He would "reveal the hearts of many".

Few recognised the young Messiah when He first came to His Father's earthly House. But Simeon's words not only show that he recognised Him, but that he also worshipped Him.

WILL WE DO THE SAME?

Blessings,    Pastor Mark.    21.9.2012.

KING OF KINGS

Pompous princes and conquering kings
Assume their power on this earth.
In regal robes, crowns and rings
They trumpet forth their shallow worth.

They will soon be done and dusted
Fallen from their high estate
Crowns all tarnished, sceptres rusted
No longer exalted, no longer great.

Then at last, the Great Messiah
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
He whose eyes now burn with fire
He whose tongue is like a sword.

Shall come upon this earth descending
With His saints all clothed in white
Bringing empires to an ending
Christ will rule in His own right.

But wait! He lies here in a manger
With no sceptre, crown nor throne
Prelates threaten Him with danger
Seeking to reject the Stone.

But He will be this earth's salvation
He will be the Cornerstone
He alone will rule the nations
Jesus Christ, and Him alone.

Mark Rogers  -  7th Sept. 2012.

" Abba ! Father ! "

Before there was space, or time or earth
My Father in heaven, You saw my birth.
You saw me in Your Son, predestined in grace
Since eternity past You've been preparing me a place.

As a Father You raised me up to stand
You guided me gently by the turn of your hand
When I fell as often as You knew I would
You'd pick me up and turn it to good.

Yes, You are my Father - You won't let me go
You are my Father, my pathways You know
You hedge me in before and behind
You protect me from that to which I am blind.

When I think that my strength has come to an end
You set me aright again and again.
You are my God, I lay down my all
You are my Father, You answer my call.

You are my Father, there is no-one else
Who is worthy of praise, whose glory to tell
I fall on my knees and 'Holy' I sing
You are my Father, my God and my King.

But of all the amazing things You have done
The most amazing of all is the gift of Your Son
By whom I was ransomed, redeemed and restored
By whose Spirit I cry "Abba! Father and Lord".

Mark Rogers    31.8.2012.

Just You Wait and See !

The ostentatious false display
Of human pride may have it's way
But God will have the final say ...
Just you wait and see.

The pompous, proud, parading world
Will sweat and swoon in a downward swirl
But a grain of sand will become a pearl ...
Just you wait and see.

A tiny seed fallen in the dark,
Awaits the sun to ignite the spark
To raise the mighty ironbark ...
Just you wait and see.

A virgin girl of no reputation
Holds within, the earth's salvation
The Christ, the Hope of all the nations!
Just you wait and see.

He grows, He dies and like a seed
He's buried here among the weeds.
He rises, hungry souls to feed ...
Just you wait and see.

He's gone now to prepare a place
For those who long to see His face.
He'll take them home, all saved by grace ...
JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE!!

Mark Rogers  -  24.8.2012.

WHAT DO WE SEE IN MARY? - Luke 1:26-38

She was young ... Largely unsullied by the world's evil ways. She knew nothing of fame, wealth, or adulation. She was lovely in many ways, but there was something in Mary that spoke of a deep beauty beyond cosmetic appearance.

Her desire to serve the Lord God of her fathers was evidenced by her preparedness to serve others. Her prayerful heart nurtured a humble willingness to obey whatever He would call her to do. However, she had no idea just how all-encompassing the implications of that willingness would be. Mary knew that obedience was the way to seeing God's will realised in her life. So saying "No", "Wait" or "Later" to the Lord for her was unthinkable.

It's not every day that a young teenage girl is visited by an angel... But when Gabriel appeared to Mary, he found that although she was stunned by God's announcement that she would be the mother of the Messiah, she was ready to do the will of the Lord. This would mean suffering the misunderstanding and innuendos of others in the small town of Nazareth as her soon-to-be husband decided momentarily to secretly divorce her. It would mean watching her baby boy "increase in stature and wisdom" beyond that of other boys. It would mean watching the masses crowd her out as Jesus attended to their needs... And it would mean watching him dying in agony on a Roman cross. Indeed, as the angel warned her, "a sword would pierce her own soul". This little baby Boy was no ordinary child. He was more than a beautiful infant. He was more than a human messiah. He was even more than the generations of hopeful Jewish prophets imagined ... HE WAS THE VERY SON OF GOD HIMSELF!
YAHWEH IN HUMAN FLESH AND BLOOD! If you don't think that's awesome - you need to fine-tune your awe-ometer!!

At almost every point Mary put aside her own comfort, her own personal desires and her own plans for those of the One she was to bring into the world. In Mary we see the fruit of the Holy Spirit manifested beautifully. Her life is an example of the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, meekness, self-control and faith that God desires to see growing in all of us.

Blessings to you, Pastor Mark.    17.8.2012.

Yielding to the Hands of the Potter

The Christian life is never stagnant. Until that day when the Lord takes us home to His Father's house, we can never say that we've arrived. The Holy Spirit is constantly challenging us, motivating us, strengthening us, transforming us and counselling us. This is all so we might become more like Christ.

We live in a world that puts pressure on us to conform to the norm. But if we open our eyes to see the outcome of such yielding we might think twice, outcomes such as are stated in Ephesians 4:17 to 5:4 ...

• A futile mind - full of thoughts that are vain or destructive.
• A darkened understanding - unable to perceive the truth.
• Alienation from God.
• Ignorance
• Blindness of heart.
• Devoid of feeling, etc, etc.

The apostle Paul instructs us to put off these moth-eaten old garments with which we have clothed ourselves in the past. He tells us to put on the "new man" which is our new inner self by the spiritual regeneration of the mind.

While the Lord accepts us as we are - He doesn't want to leave us that way. He is continually going about the business of changing us into the image of Christ.

As the clay in the Potter's hands, we are to yield ourselves to the pressure of His loving hands ... He is making something beautiful out of our lives.

Blessings upon you,   Pastor Mark.    10.8.2012.

DOCTOR LUKE

He cared for the sick around the clock
In the old city of Antioch.
His heart was full of kindly compassion,
Although his time was strictly rationed.
"Cone in!" he'd say with a kindly smile,
Then they'd pull up a chair and talk a while.
"It's hard to breathe Doctor Lucas!"
"Your lungs are afflicted with congested mucus!"...
"Apply this compress, take this tonic",
"Lest your condition become quite chronic!"

Then through the town came a man named Paul
Whose deeds and words astonished all.
He reasoned with the Stoics in the market place
About the Gospel of Jesus and His grace.
He'd heal the sick and preach to the poor.
So Doctor Luke had to hear more!
His mind was opened the more he heard,
His heart within was deeply stirred.
Before too long he was on a mission
Caring for Paul as his private physician.

Luke recorded with care the acts that he witnessed,
All the while caring for brother Paul's fitness.
Meticulously each detail he would record
And interview those who had walked with the Lord.
Today in the books that bear Doctor Luke's research
We have a history of the Lord and His church.
Most Excellent Theophilus would never had known
How far the seeds of this Gospel would one day be blown.

Mark Rogers  -  3.8.2012.

The Obstacles to Obedience

Zacharias, who was to become the father of the Messiah's forerunner John the Baptist, was a godly man who was offered a wonderful opportunity to participate in the outworking of the redemptive plan of God ... But he nearly BLEW IT!!

He incurred the anger of one of the Chief Angels of the LORD! (not a very wise thing to do). The Angel Gabriel came with startling news, a life-changing announcement for Zacharias and Elizabeth. He came with a Divine Promise that they were to have a son at last. This son was to be the herald, to prepare the way of the Lord! But Zacharias, through human reasoning, displeased and angered the Lord.

How often, like Zacharias, we refuse to believe the plainly declared Word of the Lord. Zacharias asked for a sign (I don't think that being struck dumb was quite what he had in mind!) But nonetheless his reluctance to co-operate with God - reinforced by an angelic visitation in the Holy Place whilst offering incense to the Lord ... Could have earned him a lightning bolt or two! So being struck dumb may not be so bad!

God is not served by our own sense of reluctance or inadequacy. Faith in Him also requires that we have a certain faith for Him to use us!! No ifs or buts!!. Humility is not the same as perceived inadequacy. If God delivers the command, He will also provide the wherewithal to perform the task to which we are called.

Wouldn't it have been wonderful if Zacharias had said "Yes Lord! Anything You say Lord"!

Just as wonderful to God is our obedience to Him. Who knows what He may yet have in store for us when we willingly surrender ourselves to HIM!

Blessings to you, Pastor Mark    27.7.2012.

LUKE

Today we embark on a journey through the Gospel according to Luke.


Luke, the evangelist, is a unique character amongst the chroniclers of the Bible. A physician, historian, theologian, companion of the Apostle Paul, skilled multi-linguist and most probably a Greek - alone amongst the Hebrew authors of Bible volumes... But unlike the fables of Aesop and the supernatural fables of Greek mythology the Gospel according to Luke makes it very clear that this is no fairy-tale; no imaginative concoction of the human mind; no fanciful creation of artistic endeavour - NO WAY!

Luke tells us at the outset that these things were "fulfilled among us" and that the record of events was conveyed to him by eyewitnesses and ministers of the Word who "delivered them to us". This is an accurate account of history.

As we travel through this wonderful Gospel account over the coming year or so let us take to heart its powerful life changing message, for the Gospel is not history alone. But as Paul the Apostle said, "It is the power of God to save people" (Rom 1:16). Each of the Gospel accounts have their unique angle on the life and message of the Christ ... Jesus of Nazareth.

Let us join together and study this magnificent book with all its hope for the hopeless; it's care for the wounded; it's salvation for the sinner; its guidance for the lost and its clear proclamation of the everlasting Gospel!

Bless you,    Pastor Mark.    20th July, 2012

"AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER"

What sort of story would have the Hero of the tale shunning his damsel in distress?
What sort of great promise from One so true could be shown in final history to be false?

Many people have painted a picture of God like this...that He does not keep
His promises! That after all His promises to His people he has now 'welched on
the deal'. PERISH THE THOUGHT!!!

"GOD IS NOT A MAN THAT HE SHOULD LIE!!"
Even after Hosea's portrayal of God's people as an unfaithful wife in the
extreme the LORD, out of His great love calls His people to return.

And here is the most wonderful promise: after all the wicked deeds of Israel
at this juncture in history, there is still in the heart of God (who is LOVE Himself)
healing for the backslidden, hope for the hopeless, cleansing for the wicked.
Here is love- free and unmerited!...and a promise that God's righteous anger will
be turned away from Israel.(v4)

And Who provides the means whereby this will happen?
GOD DOES!!
This is what the scriptures call "PROPITIATION".
This is a two-fold act whereby God's anger is turned away by appeasing Him
through sacrifice...but also reconciling the offender/sinner to Him. He does not
cast them off. NO! He draws them near!

God's promise here clearly points to the Cross of Christ Jesus! Where
sinless blood was shed to turn God's righteous anger away from undeserving
sinners. (Rom.3:24-25)
The promises that follow (Hosea 14:7) all flow from God's merciful act of
grace...THE CROSS OF CHRIST.
Here is hope for all.
"AND THEY-THE LORD AND HIS REDEEMED, WILL LIVE HAPPILY EVER
AFTER!"

Praise God!..........Mark Rogers    13.7.2012.

ONE HOPE - HOSEA 13

There is, in the eyes of God, no greater sin than pride. It was the ruin of the Northern Kingdom. The old saying "Pride cometh before a fall" manifests itself very clearly here.


1. Self-exaltation led to humiliation (v.v. 1-3) This is a common Biblical theme. We only need to look at Lucifer/Satan himself, Adam and Eve in the garden, Nebuchadnezzar etc to see the outcomes of arrogant pride. Israel thought that she could do without Yahweh and adopted the terrible worship of Baal. The outcome? Humiliation! Like fog, blown away, like smoke - vanishing with the wind.

2. Comfort led to forgetting her only Saviour (v.v 4-8). Indeed, pray for God to meet your needs but don't pray for ease and comfort! Comfort is the sure-fire path to complacent apostasy. "They were filled and their heart was exalted; therefore, they forgot ME!" (v6) There is fearful retribution for those who forget the Lord!

3. Seeking for help elsewhere led to destruction but there is a hope in help from the Lord (v.v 9-14). Even in an apparently destroyed state the Northern Kingdom is promised a helping hand from the Lord ... IF there is a turning to Him. There is no other who can save, but the LORD alone! He will ransom them "from the grave". The dead nation shall live again.

4. From Fruitful to Fruitless - This fruitfulness of which the Lord speaks is not 'of HIM'. The wind shall come from the east, from the wilderness and drying wind from the Lord shall arise drying up the fountain of prosperity and posterity in the North.

As always the Lord's intention in bringing such calamity upon His people is to turn their wayward hearts back to Him. May it be so with us, that whatever difficulties come our way we may turn to Him in our strife!

Blessings in Christ,    Pastor Mark.    6th July, 2012

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Yes it's THAT time of year again! The beginning of the financial year. It's also time for the mid-year sales. Out goes all the old stuff for a pittance compared to it's normal price to make way for the new stock. However, it does us good every now and then to do a bit of a spiritual stock-take too.

The LORD, through His prophets, frequently got His people to do a stock-take of their spiritual condition, looking at the things they had come to value ... AND the significant things they had come to neglect, i.e. HIM! In Hosea, chapter 12 is the story of Israel and her spiritual bankruptcy, and even Judah, the previously faithful southern kingdom is said to have fiddled the books (v7). So the LORD brings a charge against Judah of using "deceitful scales!" Making that which is of value seem worthless and that which is worthless seem valuable! (sounds much like the culture we live in today!)

Israel/Ephraim in the North was having trouble with their own exchange rate. "Surely I have become rich! I have found wealth for myself!" But the LORD weighed them in the balance and found both their spiritual condition and their social and economic practice wanting!!

We desperately need to look at ourselves and our own walk with the LORD and TAKE STOCK! ("Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxieties. See if there is any wicked way in me" - Ps. 139:23 nkjv).

So let me suggest that, individually and as a church we seriously ask ourselves these questions:
* What are the things that I/we hold as being of highest value? ... Comfort? Safety?
* What priority do I place on nurturing my walk with God? ... 1st, 2nd, 153rd?
* How does "Seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" manifest itself in our church budget ? ... In my day-to-day life?
* How is my money and my budget displaying my faithfulness to Christ? ("Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" - Matt. 6:21).

Bible open ... Heart open ... Ears open ... Now we can begin ... Again!.

Prayerfully yours ... And HIS!
UNTIL HE COMES!
Pastor Mark    30.6.2012.

A SIGN OF HOPE

"Oh Mark!" said Mr Allenby (alias 'computer genius' - 'webmaster') last Sunday. "You haven't answered your emails for four months!" .. I said, "what emails?" He pushed a couple of buttons (which I didn't know existed) and out came hundreds of emails!! But among those emails was a lovely letter by a lady named Natalie (written in February!) and I quote:

"Dear Pastor Mark,

I just felt to send a quick word of thanks and encouragement to you and your church. I am a Christian and attend another church in Newcastle ... For years I have driven past your sign so visible on Croudace Street and have always been so encouraged when it boldly proclaims the truths in God's Word.

In a time when so many in our city might not have a favourable view of the church ... It's great for everyone who drives past your sign to see that churches are alive and active and being a positive influence in Newcastle ... And every time I drive past your building I am reminded that we (Natalie's church) are not alone in this. There are churches like ours and yours across this city with the same desire ... To share the good news of salvation.

I just wanted to say thank you for the great encouragement something so seemingly small has brought to me. And I'm sure there are many more who could say the same, Christians and non-Christians alike. It's far more than a sign. It's a demonstration that the heart of your church, like ours, is to unashamedly declare God's love ...

So every time I drive past that sign I will continue to pray that God blesses you and the congregation there and that He continues to help all of us to be effective in sharing with our city the truth about the forgiveness and hope that is available to all through the wonderful sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus!

God Bless,
Natalie".

All I can add to this encouraging letter is "TO GOD BE THE GLORY"! And thanks to our dear brother Phil Boyle, who so bravely scales the dizzy heights atop that ladder to make sure the Word gets out!!

Blessings,    Pastor Mark.    22nd June, 2012

A Deeper State of Origin

Wednesday night saw the second match of the NRL State of Origin 2012 series. And it was great to see the NSW Blues win 18-8 over the Queensland Maroons. An interesting factor in the whole Sate of Origin idea is that of loyalty. These men are playing for teams on both sides of the border ... but when Origin time comes around contractual obligations give way to a deeper loyalty and cultural connection - to their home state!

Well, somehow Israel had forgotten something just as deep, yes, even deeper. They had forgotten their own State of Origin!! They had forgotten:-

• Who they were
• Whose they were
• Their history
• The promises given to them by the Lord
• The slavery from which they had been delivered
• The tender hand of the Lord who healed them
• The mighty arm of God who delivered them
• The gentle cords of love that drew them out of slavery
• The providing hand of the Lord which fed them and provided their every need

Because they had forgotten the Lord and backslidden, they were to undergo a time of oppression once more. But after the testing and the oppression, comes deliverance and mercy. The Lord will remember His people for "He is God and not man". Even the Church in most places has consigned God's covenant people to the rubbish dump. But God remembers His promises.

One day the Lord will indeed restore His people completely. "They shall walk after the Lord. He will roar like a lion. Then His sons shall come trembling from the west ... Like a bird from Egypt. Like a dove from Assyria and I will let them dwell in their houses" says the Lord.

The Lord is in the restoration business. His faithfulness is an iron-clad guarantee. Through the House of Judah will come a Deliverer - Yeshua, Messiah, the Supreme future King of all Israel and of every Gentile knee that bows in allegiance to Him!! Remember WHOSE YOU ARE and WHOM YOU SERVE.

on bended knees,  Pastor Mark    15.6.2012.

The Competitive Spirit

Our world thrives on competition. We learn it at pre-school or even before that with our siblings. We compete for the attention of our parents. At school we're encouraged to compete academically and on the sports field. In relationships we compete for the affections of friends and sweethearts.

But how tragic it is that the God who loves us so completely has to compete with the foreign gods and idols that invade our hearts and divide our minds! This was the Lord's experience with Israel in the times of Hosea. They had altars built on many a hillside, some to Yahweh, some to Baal, some to territorial gods. As a result the Lord did not prosper or bless them. The conclusion they arrived at due to their lack of agricultural and financial success was not spiritual "how do we get reconciled to the Lord?" but political "we have no king because we did not fear the Lord". Thus implying that if they had a king, he would make all things right.

The Lord Yahweh, El Shaddai, Adonai, is ONE! He and He alone is worthy of our worship. He tolerates no rivals for the affections of His people. Until Israel returns with whole heart to her Lord and the Church of Jesus Christ is purified from her apostasy, the Lord will withhold His full blessing. Israel must come to the end of herself ... She will cry out to Yeshua her great Hope. The Church will be purified in the rapture, when the Lord separates the wheat from the chaff of apostate Christianity.

But let me ask you this morning, where are your affections today? Are they divided? Is your worship of the Lord easily interfered with? Are there other activities that win your attention on Sunday mornings? Are there other books that win out over the Scriptures?
Does T.V. dominate your thinking?

These can all be modern IDOLS!!!

While we enjoy competition the Lord our God does not!!!

Blessings,    Pastor Mark.    8th June, 2012

WHY MISSION ?

Today we welcome John & Remy Tan and their daughter Jenelle, from the Far East Broadcasting Company, who will be sharing with us from the Word of God and their experiences.

It is worthwhile asking ... What is it that motivates a couple, a family, an individual, to leave everything and go on the mission field?

The Commission - the Lord Jesus commanded His disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15). This was the Lord's parting imperative for the spread of the saving message of Christ.

The Call - Every individual Christian is called to be a part of the mission to which Jesus Christ has called His church. But there is that special call which is laid on the hearts of believers to whom a special mission is given such as overseas service.

The Concern - The desperate state of the human race should touch the hearts of us all. When Jesus looked out on the masses of His day .. He saw their lost state, their great spiritual need and had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a Shepherd. So He commanded His followers, "The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into the harvest" (Matt 9:36-38).

Such is our responsibility and our joy as believers, to participate with our Lord in the great task to which we are called ...UNTIL HE COMES !!

Blessings to you,  Pastor Mark    3.6.2012.

HOW GREAT ART THOU?

"How Great Thou Art" so often I'd sing,
Indeed, He is Lord of everything!
But if this I do believe, here is my suggestion:
That "How Great Art Thou?" should be my question!

Art Thou great enough to handle my troubles,
When my worries increase and my stresses double?
Art Thou great enough to help me to stand
When things don't turn out quite how I'd planned?

Art Thou Great to redeem and Gracious to save,
This sinner who stood condemned as a slave?
Art Thou Great to renew and restore and make whole
and able to raise up my body and soul?

Yes! oh Yes! I'll say it again!
Yes, God is great and forever He'll reign!
He is the Lord of compassion and love.
With His powerful Right Hand He reached down from above.

He stretched out the heavens and planted the fields.
With great foaming waters the oceans were sealed.
And teeming with life are the skies and the mountains
And the rivers all brimming with life are His fountains.

He created the whale, and the wombat and wasp!
The great mighty oak, the the maple and the moss.
He made Man in His image to till and tend the earth,
To uncover it's treasures, its power and its worth.

But Lord, Thou art Great and gracious and kind,
Best seen in Thy Son, so clearly defined!
When for sinners and sorrows like me and mine,
Your love and Your Power on the Cross are intertwined....

....To save and to rescue and redeem this lost soul,
To heal and restore me, making me whole.
And one glad day to raise me to new life in Your Son.
Oh How Great art Thou, Lord! The victory will be won!!

And then on our knees before Thy great throne,
We will fall on our faces to worship Thee alone.
Yes! Thine is the Kingdom by Thy greta sacrifice.
How Great Art Thou, O Lord Jesus Christ!!!

Mark Rogers    1st June, 2012

The Perils of Rebellion

The Northern Kingdom of Israel became the lost tribes of Israel, simply due to the fact that they refused to stand out from the surrounding nations and be seen as a holy people. They adopted pagan lifestyles and became like everyone else. They took on gentile religious beliefs and idols which they believed they could worship as well as Yahweh. As a result they were seen no more.

There were pockets of faithfulness here and there however. The Lord never leaves Himself without a witness. The Northern prophets are proof of this. But the overwhelming majority lived in rebellion or apathy against their God and so their punishment was assimilation after the Assyrians conquered the Northern Kingdom in 721BC. Hosea probably lived the final ten or so years under this evil empire. Not until 1948 AD did we see the reversal of this. They are told NOT to rejoice (v1), NOT to inhabit the Lord's land (v3), NOT to perform empty religious rituals (v4) and that they won't be celebrating holy days!

The Lord had seen such potential in His people but they blew it! ... DELIBERATELY!! "They went to Baal Peor and separated themselves to that shame!". They were supposed to be a HOLY nation separated unto God. But they chased God out of every corner of their religion, culture, family and government - whilst still attempting to display a token semblance of obedience. Their hearts were not humbled whilst chasing after pagan gods, and so God would visit them, NOT to bless but to judge!!

There is here a dire warning not only for Israel but also for the Church of Yeshua.

How much more should we who are the recipients of God's abundant grace in Christ Jesus, hold our hearts up to the spotlight of the Word of God and say: "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Ps. 139:23-24).

We are not like the rest of the rag-tag mob. We are to separate ourselves from the world ... As the Bride of Christ.

Blessings,  Pastor Mark    27.5.2012.

HERE AND NOW IN THE LIGHT OF FOREVER

There's a new day coming sooner than you think
When the followers of Jesus will be gone in a blink!
But while I long for that day when He returns for you and me
I want to be a light so that others may simply see.

Jesus said, "You are the light of the world", "the salt of the earth"
To be a witness from Sydney to Hobart, Darwin to Perth,
And wherever we are planted, there we must sink our roots
And blossom forth our witness, so to bear good fruit.

We must shine our light in the darkness - the light of Christ within
To show that there's a shining hope in this world of sin
Where vain conceit and pride dominate the scene
Let us show the love of Him who came and washed us clean.

So Lord, I pray, that by our lives we'll show the way of life
May our words and deeds show the character of Christ
That we might be faithful to the very end
Until we bow at Your feet, when You come again.

Mark Rogers    18.5.2012.

LISTEN TO THE TRUMPET - or FACE THE TALONS!


Hosea 8

"See the shofar to your mouth! He shall come like an eagle against the house of the LORD"

Here is the LORD as the shofar-blowing shepherd warning Israel, through Hosea his prophet, against the LORD coming as an eagle in terrifying judgment.

We don't often realise it, but the LORD'S warnings are a sign of His grace. He's giving us time
To repent. He could come unannounced in terrifying judgment but the Bible is full of warnings that announce a period of grace before certain judgment would fall upon the prophet's audience, those who hear God's Word.

The people and government had ignored the precepts and principles of the Law of the LORD. "I have written for him (Ephraim/Israel) the great things of my law, but they were considered a strange thing" (v12). How tragic that God's people had forgotten the truths laid down in the Torah. How eternally devastating that they had not only forgotten the Law of God, but they had forgotten their God, their Maker!! (v14). We too forget God and His Word to our own detriment and at our own peril.

The LORD wants us to change. "He is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2Peter 3:9). This is the prophet's mission and purpose ... To speak forth the consequences of rebellion, the outcome of repentance and the blessed state of returning to the LORD GOD.

To this end He has sent His Son, for He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

Blessings to you all,  Pastor Mark Rogers    13.5.2012.

"CONSECRATION"
James 1: 19-27

Lord, now that I am a new creation,
This is my earnest supplication:
May this life that lives within
Cause me to despise all sin.

Brought forth by Your Word of life,
May I turn away from strife;
Swift to hear and slow to speak,
Slow to anger, always meek.

May Your living, active Word
Be lived by me, not only heard.
May it's message in me burn,
Your life to live, Your ways to learn.

What is this faith that I believe
If not to work and interweave
A life of Christlike words and deeds
By which I meet my brother's needs.

Here is the true religion of Christ
Who for our lives was sacrificed:
To live and speak as He ordained
And by this world to be unstained.

Christ in all my life displayed,
As in Gethsemane He prayed,
"I in them ... And they in Me".
Your life in mine,  Lord .. O let it be!!

Mark Rogers    4th May, 2012.

REMEMBER

Memories come in different colours.  There are golden reminiscences that fill our hearts and minds with warmth and joy, as we recall sunny moments that draw our minds back to happier days.  There are solemn grey moments that hover on each year's calendar like a thick, dark cloud ...   and there are deep red memories that stand tall on the horizon simply because of their world-changing impact.  -   September 11 has become synonymous with a series of tragic events that changed many lives forever.  December 24, 1974 will be for many a stark time of reflection on Cyclone Tracey and April 25 is permanently etched into the Australian psyche as ANZAC Day.

Memories are so important that when we forget a significant date, eg. A partner's birthday, an anniversary or an important occasion, then we find ourselves red-faced and having to do a bit of explaining!

The Lord Jesus knew about our propensity to forget.  This is why He left us with a way to remember what He has done for us.  The Lord's Supper, the Holy Communion, The Breaking of the Bread...whatever you like to call this solemn celebration, is His way for us to bring to our minds and our hearts the significance of the Cross and all it means for us.

On ANZAC Day we remember the sacrifice of young men and women who gave their all for the freedoms that we and other nations hold dear.  This is the way freedom works.  No true freedom should be taken for granted.   It is a gift from God...the freedom to vote, to travel without fear, to practise our faith without hindrance, are all costly freedoms.  And as generations go by we must clasp close to our hearts the price, the sacrifice, the pain behind the privileges and freedoms we enjoy.

We must never forget that all our eternal hopes are pinned on Him who said, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends" (John 15:13)

He said it, He lived it....He challenges each of us to take it to heart in our own lives and remember the price required to make that hope our own.

Blessings to you,  Mark Rogers    29.4.2012.

HIS RESURRECTION AND OUR RESURRECTION

In my younger years one of the great exciting adventures we would embark on was the big trip to Adelaide to visit my paternal grandparents and other family members in Adelaide. Grandpa was the Curator of the North Road Cemetery. My Grandpa's work was completely involved with the dead for over 60 years. Graves were dug, great monuments were erected over some, and others were humble little plots. I often felt that some who had those great statues built over their resting places were trying to still assert a sense of presence and permanence in this world.

One day, however, one magnificent day, there's going to be a ruckus in that cemetery ... And in many cemeteries around the world! Graves will break open and bodies will be raised from their lifeless forms ... Many from dust and ashes! Life will triumph over death! Living glorified bodies, more beautiful and glorious than they ever were, will come forth from some of those dark places.    YES! ... Christ will have come as a Thief in the night! The Archangel will have given one earth-shattering SHOUT!  The trumpet of God will have let forth a call to arise ... And those who in their earthly lives believed in and trusted Christ as their Lord and Saviour will be changed in the twinkling of an eye to rise and meet the Lord Jesus Christ in the air!   (1 Thess. 4: 13-18)

This is our great hope!   And in  1 Cor. 15  we have further affirmation from the Apostle Paul that Christ's resurrection predicates and reassures  OUR  resurrection!  (Hallelujah!! )

"But now Christ has risen, the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep!"   "We do not sorrow as others who have no hope."  (1 Thess 4:13 NKJV).

We live today and forever in the reality of the Resurrection.   We dwell in the anticipation of His great coming to raise the saints of every generation since Calvary's triumph:  "IT IS FINISHED!"
The fatal blow to death was delivered on that Resurrection morning. We are just waiting for the final outcome of that great victory.

May the Lord fill your heart with a deep assurance of the life that awaits every believer in Christ.

THIS IS OUR GLORIOUS HOPE!

Amen   and   Amen!

Blessings to you in our Risen Lord,    Mark Rogers.    22nd April, 2012.

The Power of His Resurrection

Jesus loves me, this I know,
for the Bible tells me so.
Upon the cruel cross He died,
Just to draw me to His side.
This great truth I do believe,
Saving grace I have received.
His body and blood wield their might
and rescue me from sin's dark night.

But if this is all on which I'm founded,
My two-winged faith is surely grounded.
One wing flaps, one wing is broken.
Alas my faith is but a token.
For Christ is risen in this hour!
He imparts His risen power!
This is more I want to know
and in this resurrection power to grow!

To know Christ and to know His life
Delivers weary souls from strife.
To know Him in His strength to save
Makes the timid heart stand brave.
To know Him daily standing by me
When troubles come and sorely try me.
To know Him is my one desire,
The goal to which I now aspire.

Christ within us, O what joy,
Fear and failure to destroy!
Building a temple within our frame
To the praise of Jesus' Name!
His power carries us on through,
Our destiny in clearer view.
Two wings of faith now carry me
To resurrection life so free!

Mark Rogers ...  13.4.2012.

THE CROSS AND THE EMPTY TOMB

The jagged beams of Calvary
Move my heart in thanks to Thee
The empty tomb in the garden below
Turns my head to look in hope

The cross makes me bow my knee
To worship Him Who died for me
The empty tomb brings expectation
Of the day when He will rule the nations

The cross means that He died for us
In His sacrifice I trust
The empty tomb means that He lives
Today forever such hope He gives

The cross means that the old is gone
Never more to drag me down
The empty tomb means all is new
In my heart I know it's true

The cross tells me that mercy reigns
Through the lifeblood from Jesus' veins
The empty tomb so boldly says
He triumphed in His righteousness

The cross proclaims it is done
The finished work of God the Son
The empty tomb's old open door
Says ... I Am alive for evermore

To the cross I look and I am moved
For there such love to me He proved
The empty tomb says look ahead
He will return just as He said.

Mark Rogers    4th April, 2012.

HOSANNA

Conquerors come and quickly fade now,
The kings of ancient Rome and Greece,
In the dust their bones are laid now,
Their mighty empires now have ceased..............Streets that hailed great Caesar's might,
                                                                      Now lay quiet, him forgotten.
                                                                      Armies flanked him left and right
                                                                      With their schemes, all buried, rotten.
In their graves now quietly laid,
Long abandoned their kingdom's battles.
Their role in history long ago played
No more their rusty armour rattles.....................But our KING, who can account ...?
                                                                      Into Jerusalem He rides
                                                                      No mighty steed, no snorting mount
                                                                      A humble donkey He sits astride.
No crown, no armour, chariot nor sword
He has no battalion by His side
Here He comes, the humble LORD
As the Scriptures prophesied............................See your KING comes to you
                                                                      Righteous - salvation in His hands
                                                                      On a donkey's back and right on cue
                                                                      According to the Father's plans.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion
O daughter of Jerusalem, Shout!
This lovely Lamb is Judah's Lion
Let your praises now ring out! ..........................Four days hence your song will alter
                                                                      For this One you call your King
                                                                      Soon your faith in Him will falter
                                                                      Curses in His face you'll fling.
Raise Him high upon the Cross now
Your greatest hope is in His shame
Your greatest gain is in His loss now
Your brightest promise - Yeshua's Name!

Mark Rogers    30.3.2012.

"Thank God it's all over. I've had enough"

The newspapers on Friday all carried on the front page the pictures of a beaten man, a fugitive, a criminal who had been on the run from the police after a murder in 2005. Covered in filth all he could say when arrested by the police was "Yes I'm Malcolm Naden. Thank God it's all over. I've had enough".

The long arm of the Law finally got their man after 2466 nights in the wilderness.

This is much like many of us. We run from God. We hide, ashamed of our own sin. We flee from the Saviour who laid down His life for us. The Holy Spirit is on our tracks, laying deep conviction in our hearts ... And then, breathless, hopeless and friendless we stop running.

Exhausted, we realise that our only hope is in this One, this Jesus, who came to lay His life down for us. We realise that our sinful delights no longer hold any fascination for us. They only lead to death.

Broken, filthy and repentant we come to the Cross, our only hope. "Thank God it's over. I've had enough".

But we must walk the next step. Not only sorrow and remorse for our sin, but trusting, believing in the Lord of Life who cleanses us, redeems us and gives us new life. The Lord wants to lead us on to Life, taking from us the filth of the fugitive years of our time on the run.

What a blessed relief is found in the Cross. My sin dealt with, forgiven and cleansed. New life imparted. New hope is found.

Are you running from Him? Sooner or later you'll have had enough! ... And you'll thank God!

Waiting to forgive you and heal you is the Lord Jesus, who loves you so much more than you'll ever know.

"Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!"

Blessings,   Mark Rogers    25 March, 2012

EVAPORATED FAITH - HOSEA 6

The faith and commitment of some is there yesterday, wavering today, and gone tomorrow!

Referring to the faltering faith and languishing love of Israel and Judah in the 8th Century BC, Hosea puts it like this: "O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away" (Hosea 6:4). I don't believe the Lord was in a quandary here. God is never uncertain, vague or indefinite! "Therefore", the LORD says, "I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth" (v5).... And what is this cutting comment, this sharp word from God's mouth?

The people were deficient in the following areas: FORGIVENESS and CHARITY ... "For I desire mercy and not sacrifice" (v6a). The people's hearts had grown cold. While fulfilling their ritual obligations, they had neglected the more weighty matters of the compassion and mercy GOD required of His people. GOD can see through the thin veil of stuffy religion. We must be prepared to voluntarily place our hearts under the microscope of GOD's Word and let it search us by reading and meditating on it daily. Are you doing this?

KNOWING GOD .. Not only are we to be forgiving and charitable towards people, but the LORD says, "I desire ... The knowledge of GOD more than burnt offerings" (v6b). This is not some kind of academic process here. The LORD is essentially saying, "I WANT YOU TO KNOW ME!! ... I WANT YOU TO KNOW MY WAYS!!". It is all to easy to think that if we have our doctrine, our Biblical knowledge right then we are walking close to GOD. This is only half the story. The prophet is not speaking here concerning head-knowledge but rather the deep knowing of the True and Living GOD in the heart. Like the old BeeGees song the LORD is asking, "HOW DEEP IS YOUR LOVE?"

YAHWEH had a covenant with His people. A covenant to which He remained faithful. "But", the LORD says, "LIKE MEN they have transgressed My covenant; there they dealt treacherously with Me" (v7). God's people were not to behave "LIKE MEN". They were to be "a peculiar people".

We, too, are to act differently to the world. In the power of the Holy Spirit we are to live consistent, merciful, gracious, holy, GOD-honouring lives. May we never fall into the trap of allowing the affairs of this life to dry-up our faith. It's all too easy to let it happen.

Blessings to you as you stand firm in faith,    Pastor Mark. 18.3.2012.

WARNING !!!

Driving along on an outback road,
Pulling more than the recommended load,
I notice lights on my dashboard panel
But I've never taken time to read the manual!

So, how would I know what those things mean?
I look around and survey the scene.
They seem to indicate that something's wrong.
But the road is hot and the journey long.

And the next garage is miles away...
But I'll be there later on today.
So with a jar of vegemite
I smear right over those annoying lights!

There! That'll fix the problem now.
I wipe the sweat from off my brow.
Out of sight and out of mind... But
I must've been stupid and pretty blind!!

'Cause then, out from under the hood
Comes a noise that doesn't sound too good!
And then there's steam and a shake and a splutter
I'm veering left towards the gutter!

The sun is setting on that outback road,
There's me ... Sitting like a grumpy cane toad.
Why didn't I heed the warning?
I've been here since six this morning!

But how much more it's to our peril
That we ignore the signs that herald
The coming of Jesus Christ the Lord!
But ... Is it you He is coming for?

The warning signs are all around.
May you, in Christ, on that day be found.
Don't be stranded miles from home
When He comes to claim His own!!

Mark Rogers    9 March, 2012

A SPIRITUAL AND MORAL VACUUM
HOSEA 4

I sometimes shudder at the thought of what will become of the world once the church has been taken out of the equation by the rapture.

One doesn't have to think too hard to imagine the spiritual and moral vacuum that will remain when the preserving character of the Salt of the Earth and the hopeful presence of the Light of the World has been extracted leaving a gaping wound in an already sin-sick world.

Hosea encountered a similar situation in his day. He speaks of what has been removed from Israel's Northern Kingdom and the apostasy of the consequential void that followed. In verse 2 of chapter 4 the prophet cries out a charge against the Nation: "There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land" Why? Why was there no truth, no mercy and no knowledge of God. They had forsaken God's Law-the Torah-the source of instruction given directly by God in spiritual, moral and social affairs. Take the commandments of God away and the prospects are bleak. Likewise, these laws have formed the foundations of the laws of most civilised nations in the world. But as we have watched those laws being slowly eroded by the winds and waves of man's rebellious quest for "freedom from God" we have also had to suffer the consequences. Dire consequences such as those written in verse 2 rush in to fill the void. You don't have to try hard to sin! Just remove all that is good and as night follows day, the darkness of fallen human nature will explode in rampant celebration of all that is evil.

Such decay even has an effect on the natural environment (v.3) "Therefore, the land will mourn and everyone who dwells there will waste away with the beast of the field and the birds of the air, even the fish of the sea will be taken away." This is the bleak outlook of a Godless, Christless world. We are starting to see the outcome of this in our schools where Scripture is no longer taught or welcome; in our entertainment where anything goes and in our parliaments where previously unconscionable Bills are being passed. As the Lord says, "They break all restraint" (v.2).

As long as Christians today are proclaimers of the truth, vehicles of mercy and knowledgeable about God and His Word, then there is hope also for others. Don't underestimate the power of your witness, your presence in the places where you "live and move and have your being". You are a witness for Christ. You are the reserving Salt and Light of the world.

It is His presence in and through you and me that can make all the difference to those for whom life is dark and decaying.

God's Blessings be with you,   Pastor Mark. 4.3.2012.

ARE WE GROWING TIRED OF HEARING ABOUT ISRAEL
AND THE END TIMES ?

Any mother who cares will tell you that you can't feed a child on Jaffa's, Jelly Babies and & Jubes and then expect that child to grow up healthy, happy and hearty ... And yet this is often the case for the church. Not willing to learn about important foundational issues and doctrines of the Scriptures, they set themselves up for spiritual sickness.

But how important is it that we learn about the Old Testament ?

Remember that Paul in 11 Tim 3:16 said that "ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for instruction in righteousness" . Both the Old and New Testament Scriptures have much in the way of armoury to equip us withy skills of discernment for these last days (in which deception has increased).

Surely as believers we want to apply ourselves to things that are profitable. But remember too, that Paul here at his time of writing was thinking of the Old Testament Scriptures, since the New Testament was only in the early stages of being written.

The history of Israel in the O.T. (relating to the past) carries with it a great deal of instruction as to the faithfulness of God, the promises of God pertaining to the end times, the promises of the coming Messiah in fulfilment of prophecy, the significance of the Jewish people through whom Jesus Himself said salvation would come (John 4), the worship of Yahweh, the One True God and so much more.

Being alert and aware of what the Lord is doing today in Israel in these latter days and what He is about to do is crucial to how we live. I believe there is no greater spur in the Bible for Holy living than the knowledge that the Lord Jesus could call at any moment. This is not the time for lackadaisical, lukewarm faith. The teaching from the prophets and the patriarchs of Israel I believe, is more relevant today than ever! Because we live in days very much like the days of Noah, Lot and Hosea.

Let us take the time to read the Old Testament Scriptures as well as the New, to study their meaning for Israel but also to glean the rich message they have for today. It's time to nourish and nurture our souls and our spirits on the whole message of God's Word.

Blessings,    Mark. 27.2.2012

"KHESED"

When her heart was cold, self-willed,
His was constant - He loved her still.
He drew her into barren lands
Of shadeless dunes and burning sands.

Her thirst was great for things forbidden,
But enduring love in Him was hidden.
At the end of herself at last she discovered
That her only hope was her heart's true Lover.

Likewise we, with straying heart
Tear ourselves from Him apart,
Only in that place to find
That without Him we were helpless, blind.

His voice of grace calls out our name.
He knows our heart, our sin, our shame.
He sings to us of love so great ...
We pause... We think... We contemplate...

How great is Love, like His, to know.
A love which like the mighty flow
Of rivers raging through the wild
To make of me His love, His child!

Mark Rogers 17.2.2012.

DISCERNMENT ISSUES (cont'd)
"The Universalist New-Age Deception"

I was listening to ABC on Friday morning in the car on the way up to the church office. Jill Embersons's program was featuring former fashion designer, now new-age guru Mother Maya. The interview was a promotion for the "Bodhi Festival" coming to Newcastle later this month (24-26 Feb).

The former David Jones building will be transformed into a wonder world of the New-Age teachings and practices which have become synonymous with contemporary spirituality. It will feature Moth Maya and also Mother Claire (who calls herself a "Christian priest & guide" among a myriad of other deceptive teachers It will all be preceded by a grand procession through Newcastle. Mother Maya said she was calling all Novocastrians to join together in their quest to seek the "Divine Mother" in all of us. She said you can call it Jesus or Buddha or whatever !!! She also told listeners to "be the fullness of yourself. Reclaim your sentient tradition" (whatever that means). She said that "faith comes from experience. I am my awareness which is the whole universe" (Oh really?!) And if you can't figure it all out, don't worry, because she said "we have many lives to figure it out". Obviously pointing to the fallacy of reincarnation!

You might say "But that's just a small fringe group in our Christian society". But I'm sad to say ... Sorry folks, but we the Bible believing Church, are now the minority - the fringe group! Even in the Church, there are those who promote these egocentric, esoteric, erroneous philosophies - merrily carrying their followers off to hell. One of the speakers will be a Mother Claire Watts (USA) A Christian mystic/priest.

Brothers and sisters in Christ... If this is not showing us that we are now in the last days - I don't know what is. We as believers, must stand for the truth of God and His Word. Jesus and the Words He spoke are not compatible with any other religion/belief system. All the religious leaders of this world have gone to their grave leaving their deception to live on in the minds of those who follow them.

It is a sorry reality that such teachings are infiltrating even the Christian Church in many places - prising people away from a sincere devotion to Christ and the inerrancy of His Word.

We must be prepared in these last days to take up the whole armour of God that we may be able to stand in the evil day (Eph 6:13-18). The evil day is here ... Are you standing? Is your armour on? I pray that it is!

Blessings,    Pastor Mark 12.2.2012

HOSEA

Today we begin a series of studies/sermons from the book of Hosea. There is an overarching, wonderful broad theme in this prophet's message and that is this:
No matter what we do, God's "KHESEDH" (Hebrew) ... God's Abiding, Steadfast Love is ever extended to those who are His. Even when Israel rebelled against Him, acted like unbelievers, pursued other gods and played the spiritual harlot! He was still patiently waiting for her to return. They were still His chosen ones.

The Israelites of the Northern Kingdom became so inter-mingled with the surrounding cultures that they lost their identity, their faith, and their hope. But God had not forgotten them.

Although the Lord says He "will bring an end to the kingdom of Israel", He will provide a way back to right standing with Him through the House of Judah because they repented and turned their hearts back to Yahweh, after their dreadful time in Babylon and through them came Yeshua the Messiah. Northern Israel's rebellion eventually led to the Samaritan heresy. So, in Hosea's children, born to his unfaithful wife Gomer, we see the outcome of such rebellion. The three children were named Jezreel (meaning scattered), Lo-Ruhamah (no mercy), Lo-Ammi (not my people).

This time of great trouble for Israel, although severe in it's judgement, is only a foreshadow of the Great Tribulation - "Jacob's trouble" which is yet to come after the rapture of the Church. But even here in the first chapter of the book, hope is offered. At the junction of the first and second chapters is this wonderful promise of hope!

Chapter 1: 10 to 2:1 "Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, 'You are not My people', there it shall be said to them, 'You are sons of the living God.' Then the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and appoint for themselves one head; and they shall come up out of the land, for great will be the day of Jezreel ! Say to your brethren, 'My people,' and to your sisters, 'Mercy is shown'.

Under their 'One Head Yeshua, God will restore them, reinstate them and rain mercy upon them!

Pastor Mark 5.2.2012.

IT IS IMPORTANT WHAT WE BELIEVE

We believe that when Christ returns, He will establish His Kingdom and rule for a thousand years in Jerusalem. Israel will be a leading nation in the Kingdom and the Church will rule and reign with Him. This is called Millennialism (meaning 1000) see Rev 20: 4-6 and many other Scriptures.

But today most Churches do not believe this. Most believe that Christ is reigning now and that the Millennium is here now. This is called "present or realised millennialism". It is better called "Anti-millennialism, or Amillennialism" because it actually denies a literal one thousand year rule. They say Satan is bound now, and the promises made to Israel in the OT are now fulfilled in the Church which is the New Israel, or Spiritual Israel, having taken the place of literal Israel whom God has cast aside.

How, when, where and why did this doctrine come about?

Originally there is no doubt that the early Church held strongly to the Millennialism we believe - in this Church. But in the 3rd and 4th centuries, the influence of Greek believers brought Gnosticism into the early Church. They believed that anything material was essentially evil. Some did not even believe that God had come in the flesh, hence 1 Jn 4:1-3. And among them were philosophers for whom a literal interpretation was too materialistic. It did not allow them to exercise their mental capacity. An allegorical approach allowed them to have flights of fanciful imagination.

At the same time, the Roman Emperor Constantine was supposedly converted and made Christianity the State Religion. This gave tremendous impetus to Amillennialism. After all, the Emperor did not want to hear about a coming Kingdom. As far as he was concerned, the Kingdom was there already. It was not appropriate for Romans to look for any Kingdom other than the Roman Empire to which they belonged and to which they were to be loyal. So the theologians of the day swung in behind the Emperor to teach that there was no future Kingdom on earth other than Rome.

Max Hall 27.1.2012.

Ezekiel 39: 21 - 29 (NKJV)

"I will set My glory among the nations; all the nations shall see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.

"So the house of Israel shall know that I am the Lord their God from that day forward.

"The Gentiles shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity; because they were unfaithful to Me, therefore I hid My face from them. I gave them into the hand of their enemies, and they all fell by the sword.

"According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions I have dealt with them, and hidden My face from them."

"Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: 'Now I will bring back the captives of Jacob, and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name -

'After they have borne their shame, and all their unfaithfulness in which they were unfaithful to Me, when they dwelt safely in their own land and no one made them afraid.

'When I have brought them back from the peoples and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and I am hallowed in them in the sight of many nations,

'Then they shall know that I am the LORD their God, who sent them into captivity among the nations, but also brought them back to their land, and left none of them captive any longer.

'And I will not hide My face from them anymore; for I shall have poured out My Spirit on the house of Israel,' says the Lord God."

 

The Signs of The Times

Jesus said, "Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES." Matt 16:3

God never leaves Himself without a witness. As Ezekiel was the voice of God in Babylon, so Jeremiah was the voice of God in Jerusalem. He told those in the captivity to build houses and settle down because the captivity would be for 70 years, Jer 29:5. And he warned those in Jerusalem to cease from their abominations or Jerusalem would be destroyed. Ezekiel saw the abominations in Jerusalem in his vision in Ezek 8 to 11. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer 1:13, Ezek 24:3-14) also used the vision of a boiling cauldron of meat to illustrate what would happen to Jerusalem. It would be boiled until the meat was burned away! Meaning the total destruction of the City.

But the leaders of Jerusalem deliberately misinterpreted what Ezekiel and Jeremiah said. They said it was not the time to build houses in Babylon, because Jerusalem as a cauldron would not destroy them, but protect them (from Babylon) Ezek 11:3. Furthermore they said it was not their sin, but the sin of the captives that caused the problem, and since they were now gone, those left behind would inherit the Land Ezek 11:15-16. False prophets were supporting them, saying peace when there was no peace Ezek 13:10, 16.

God thoroughly condemned them for their audaciousness. He said the dead bodies in the city would be the meat, and the city the cauldron, but those leaders would not be in the city. They would be destroyed outside the city in the border of the Land Ezek 11:7-12. This was fulfilled exactly at the last moment when the leaders including King Zedekiah tried to escape and were caught by the Babylonians at the border of the land and destroyed. This was predicted in Ezek 12:1-16 and recorded in Jer 39:1-10.

How much like our times. The signs of the end of the age are all around us but our leaders spin a yarn to explain it all away. The Middle East, national alliances, politics, wars, earthquakes, pestilences, environment, lawlessness, apostasy, occultism, are all clearly predicted as signs of the last gasps of the earth as we know it. But nobody takes any notice.

Max Hall 13.1.2012.

AN OUTLINE OF EZEKIEL

1    THE GLORY OF GOD AND COMMISSION OF EZEKIEL - Ezek 1 to 3
1.1. The Glory of God - Ezek 1
1.2. He is Commissioned - Ezek 2
1.3. He is Prepared - Ezek 3

2    THE JUDGMENTS ON JERUSALEM - Ezek 4 to 24
2.1. The Doom is at Hand - Ezek 4 to 7
2.2. The Vision in the Jerusalem Temple - Ezek 8 to 11
2.3. Why the Doom will come - Ezek 12 to 24
2.4. How the Doom will come

3    THE FUTURE DESTINY OF SEVEN NATIONS - Ezek 25 to 32
3.1. Ammon, Moab, Edom, Philistia - Ezek 25
3.2. Tyre, Sidon - Ezek 26 to 28
3.3. Egypt - Ezek 29 to 32

4    THE FUTURE DESTINY OF Israel - Ezek 33 to 37
4.1. Ezekiel as Watchman and Fall of Jerusalem - Ezek 33:1-35
4.2. The Shepherds of Israel - Ezek 34
4.3. Judgment on Israel, Edom (Mt. Seir) - Ezek 35
4.4. Land Restoration, Regathering and Millennium - Ezek 36:1-38
4.5. Physical, Spiritual and Political Restoration - Ezek 37

5    THE INVASION OF GOG AND MAGOG - Ezek 38-39
5.1. The Attack - Ezek 38:1-16
5.2. God's Response - Ezek 38:17-39:29

6    THE VISION OF THE TEMPLE RESTORED - Ezek 40 to 48
6.1. The Temple Itself - 4 chapters - Ezek 40 to 43
6.2. The Worship in the Temple - 3 chapters - Ezek 44 to 46
6.3. The Land of Israel Itself - 2 chapters - Ezek 47 to 48

 

PRESSING ON

As we begin a new year today we leave behind an old year. We leave behind 2011's regrets, sins, mistakes, it's disillusionment and disappointments. We now take up the challenges 2012 presents. We cannot rest on our old laurels. We must deal with the time that is at hand, as we look forward to our Lord's glorious appearing.

One of the temptations of the Christian life is for us to imagine that because we have had an area of victory or a small triumph in our walk with the Lord we can take a break. "I don't have to keep on persevering in that area of the Christian life; I did some of that last week!"

But the Christian life is a race, a fight and a walk. It's the day-to-day living, the blow-by-blow battle against an unseen enemy. It's taking up your cross and following in the steps of our Lord Jesus.

In today's reading from Philippians 3:12 - 4:1 we read the words of the Apostle Paul, who tells us in very pictorial language that the life of the believer is no stroll in the park,. We have not yet attained to the resurrection when we will receive our rewards from the hands of our Master. We are to PRESS ON to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of us. We have been arrested by His wonderful grace, but it is for a purpose - that we may in turn lay hold of His design for us. It is the same for all of us - that, filled with the Holy Spirit, we strive forward to excel in the inward development and the outward expression of the character and ministry of Christ Jesus through us.

This is our upward call from the Lord. To be like Him. Not that we have already attained or are already perfected ... BUT WE PRESS ON !

Maranatha !!

Pastor Mark 1.1.2012.