home > Pastor’s Desk > 2016 > May 27th > It Starts

IT STARTS

bearded-man-with-axeYears ago, an older farmer made a rare trip into his closest town to update how he cut down the trees on his property for firewood. The sales assistant showed him the latest range of chainsaws and then asked the bushy-bearded farmer, “How many trees do you cut down now?”

“Ohhh, I usually cut down about eight trees a day with ‘ol Faithful” he said.

“Well Sir, with this chainsaw you’ll be able to cut down at least twice that number!”

The old farmer handed over his hand-written cheque to the clerk and took home his new-fangled chainsaw. But less than a week later he stormed back into the small-engine shop and angrily slammed the chainsaw down on the counter and declared to the stunned sales assistant – “You told this thang would cut me sixteen trees a days!”

A parallel of the use of chainsaws to the Spirit-led Christian life“Yes,” said the clerk, “it should have done that easily.”

“Well, the best I could do was just ten a day! I want my money back!”

The sales assistant picked up the chainsaw from the counter and looking at it, muttered, “That’s odd.” Walking around from behind the counter with the chainsaw, he then pulled the zip-cord to start the chainsaw to see if he could hear what the problem was. As the chainsaw’s engine started, the startled farmer exclaimed, “What on earth is that noise?” It appears that even though the farmer owned a chainsaw, he had no idea of how to use it or what its potential actually was!   

I think there are many Christians whose Christianity is just like the farmer and his new chainsaw. Even though they now possess something with enormous potential, they actually don’t know how to utilise any of it. Not enough believers know about their spiritual zip-cord which can fire-up their walk with Christ and their effectiveness for Christ.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Galatians 2:20

The farmer who walked into the chainsaw shop had only ever used his old axe to make firewood. And just like many people who  have only taken the first step in following Christ and not learned to abandon their old way of living for the new life which Christ freely offers, the farmer actually possessed a new, far more effective and powerful tool which he neglected by using it just as he had with his old axe. Wielding a chainsaw like an axe might even look effective, but it is going to wear the wielder out in no time at all. It’s the same with trying to live the Christian life without the power of Christ. It can look effective, but after a while it wears the wielder out. This is why endurance is one of the hallmarks of a genuine believer.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 11:28 (NET)

But let’s cut the old farmer some slack and give him some credit. After years of wielding an axe he was worn-out. In a similar way, all true believers should be thrilled when a weary pilgrim wanders into church on Sunday in search of the rumoured ‘life-power’ which they’ve heard God gives freely.  Their decision to go to church is a great first step in finding the peace, strength, and wisdom for living life. Many people are worn out simply trying to keep up with the pressures of life. We need to invite them, welcome them, receive them into our dining rooms, and show them what living with and for Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit really looks like.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Second Corinthians 5:17

 Yet, a person can arrive in church on a Sunday for the first time and see people extolling their spiritual ‘chainsaws’. They can hear the stories of just how difficult life was when all they had was an axe, and how wonderful life has become since they received the free gift of a spiritual ‘chainsaw’. These worn-out souls who hear such stories can leave church that day with a new hope – hope that there is a better way to do life. Yet, they themselves are yet to exchange their old blunt axe for a powerful eternally self-sharpening spiritual chainsaw.

Sadly, some take the second step of inviting Christ to be their Saviour, Lord, Forgiver, and receive their spiritual chainsaw – yet are never shown how to use it. This is why Christian growth can never be measured in mere ‘years of service’, because there many many believers who still have not learned how to start their spiritual chainsaws. Perhaps they have never been shown. Perhaps they’ve brought their unhelpful and incompatible old ways and old thought-patterns into their walk with Christ. Either way, walking with Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit must be learned.

What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me — practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Philippians 4:9

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it.
Second Timothy 3:14

Simply asking Christ to be your Saviour without learning how to live in the power of the Spirit maybe just like the farmer who updated his axe to chainsaw without ever learning how his new chainsaw worked!

THE DECISION TO GET STARTED

Like all great adventures, the believer’s Spirit-empowered, Spirit-led, Spirit-filled journey with Christ begins with a decision – an act of the believer’s will. This decision is always informed by the Holy Spirit’s quickening of God’s Word. The believer reads Christ’s words in the Gospel of John and begins to hunger for the presence of the Promised Holy Spirit (“the Helper”) in their life.

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
John 14:26

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
John 16:7

This hunger leads to prayer. Not tame prayers. Not shopping-list prayers. Not where did I leave my keys prayers. Heart-rending, soul-shaping, life-altering, prayers. These kinds of prayers begin to pull the spiritual zip-cord of the believer’s new life in the Spirit which leads to a new way of thinking, a new attitude, and a new set of relationships.

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2

The believer’s new spiritual life, like any quality chainsaw, requires the right kind of fuel and material. Chainsaws don’t like dirt. The Spirit-led life doesn’t like the ‘dirt’ of secret sin. Dirt blunts chainsaws and renders them near-useless. Secret-sin blunts the spiritual-life of the believer and renders their witness and effectiveness ‘near-useless’.

 Decision > Desire > Prayer >

 THE SPIRIT EMPOWERED LIFE

Reading through Christ’s words in John 14:1-31;16:1-33, we see that the Spirit-empowered life looks like

+ deepening intimacy with God

+ spiritual revelations

+ reminders of God’s Word

+ extraordinary spiritual gifts

+ courage to endure opposition

+ leadership effectiveness that results in people being protected and cared for

+ and a passionate, persistent prayer life.

If you have surrendered your guilt-stained and sin-battered life to the Saviour, you have exchanged your old life for a new one. You have available to you the power of the Holy Spirit, “the same power which raised Christ from the dead”, to now help you to life effectively and bear much fruit for Christ. If you are tired and worn out on trying to be ‘religious’ in your own strength, and you want to know Christ more intimately, then it’s time to make a decision to pull your spiritual zip-cord and live the Spirit-empowered life! It starts with a decision that does not bend to feelings or whims. It awakens a desire for more of God in our life.  It leads to prayer which brings us to the cleansing of repentance through the washing of the water of God’s Word. It plants us in the community of the local church where become a pillar to strengthen the faith of our fellow struggling brothers and sisters. It sends us into a hurting, needy, broken and damaged world full of worn-out people who are dead-tired of doing life with an axe.

Amen.

Your Pastor,

Andrew

Let me know what you think below in the comment section and feel free to share this someone who might benefit from this Pastor’s Desk.

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HE WAS A KIND AND CHARITABLE MAN

home > Pastor's Desk > 2024 > March 22ndr > He was a kind and charitable man.WHO WAS KENNETH TYNAN? You’ve probably never heard of Kenneth Tynan. I hadn’t. I was introduced to him while conducting some research for my current PhD program on C.S. Lewis. In...

FROM LITTLE THINGS

The first time I heard the song “From Little Things, Big Things Grow” was in early 2008. I was trying to get my head around superannuation funds. I never knew of its writers – Paul Kelly and Carmody. Neither did I know it was originally a protest song. In my opinion, the original lyrics and melody bears no semblance to what we may consider protest today. Many will agree with me that it is now synonymous with Industry Super Funds. But its principles remain true in nearly every aspect of life.

ADVICE WORTH MORE THAN GOLD OR A MOUNTAIN OF CASH ABOUT HOW TO USE REJECTION TO BECOME AN EVEN BETTER, WISER, STRONGER YOU!

For several reasons I am qualified to help people deal with acute and chronic pain. Some acute and chronic pain can be resolved medically. Some pains can go a long way to being resolved with the help of a psychologist. Some pains can be resolved with a hug from mum. But there is a pain that a doctor cannot cure, a psychologist cannot counsel, a mother’s hug cannot alleviate. It is a pain that goes deep – beyond the defences of our integumentary system, our neurological system (including our para-sympathetic nervous system), our muscular system, our skeletal system, our lymphatic system, our renal system, gastro-intestinal system, our respiratory system, our cardio-vascular system, our hormonal system, and our half-share of a reproductive system. It is a pain that wounds: our memory, our sense of self, our estimation of our worth, our confidence, and our ability to connect meaningfully with others (our ability to love and be loved). It is the pain of rejection. It not only effects who we are (our identity) but it also leaches symptomatically into each of these ten-and-a-half biological systems which every human being possesses. I am going to offer all those who have experienced the pain of rejection how they can be healed from its wound, and actually become stronger, wiser, more confident, as a result.

THE MYTHICAL PATHWAY TO HAPPINESS

I’ve accidentally found myself enrolled in a Ph.D. program. I kind of blame Associate Professor Stuart Piggin for this. A few years ago I was having some serious discussions with him about doing a Ph.D. in Historical Theology at Macquarie University focusing on the contribution of Dr. F.W. Boreham. But I found myself unable at that time to proceed. In my discussions with him about my health prognosis and what I wanted to be able to do in the remaining time that I have left, he suggested focusing instead on Philosophical-Theology and enquiring with Monash University. I took his sage advice and did as he said. This week, I formally commenced with Monash as a part-time extension (distance) student. The result is that after my first zoom meeting with my supervisor I am now having to delve into an arena that requires me to be able to convince a critical secular audience that my proposal about the Bible’s truth claims are reasonable. Oddly, in order to do this, I have to explain in some depth what C.S. Lewis meant by the word, myth. And to do this I have to draw even deeper on the writings of a now dead French philosopher who is regarded as the greatest exponent of what a myth is! Therefore, I am going to tell you something quite shocking. It might be advisable for you to go and get a strong cup of tea, then return to this screen, and read on while sipping your tea, to absorb some of what I am going to tell you. 

Follow Me AS I FOLLOW JESUS

We all walk a path in life that is set before us. We start with very little experience and knowledge about the purpose of our life and the world beyond us. All of humanity experiences joy, wisdom, strength, weakness, suffering and hardship, especially those who are “contending for the faith”. Knowing Jesus is a very special part of this life journey.

A CERTAIN GOD

We can be reasonably certain about many things. In fact, without this certainty about life, none of us could function. We can be certain that tonight the sun will ‘set’. Tomorrow the sun will ‘rise’. After the February 28th it will be February 29th. This year there will be international unrest and much political instability in many parts of the world. In the coming months global warming will be identified by politicians as the source of floods and wildfires. Several high profile international celebrities will die this year. Archaeologists will make a discovery that will require some aspects of history to be rewritten. And you will certainly have one of the most memorable moments in your life in the coming days. You see, there are clearly some things we can be quite certain about. However, there are some aspects about our future that we cannot be certain about, yet in those moments we can be certain about what we should do.

LOW COST LIVING

Turn on any TV or radio news lately and there’s bound to be a story about the current “cost of living crisis”. We all feel it. Initially most people accepted the widespread price-rises were caused by 2020-21 pandemic lockdowns. But whatever the reasons for the rapid price hikes over the past two years, every time we go to the supermarket we feel it again. While governments are striving to curb the impact of this cost of living crisis, there remains a way to enjoy low cost living. The key to this is recognising that the most valuable things in life are literally priceless. The path to enjoying low-cost living is to be found in Christ, and what He taught — and it begins with treasure.

How To Know Jesus Better

It’s a scary thought to realise that the Jesus we have been told about and worship may not really be known to us at all. We can ‘know’ about someone or something, but not really know them. In Christian circles it’s often referred to as head knowledge not heart knowledge.

Knowing Christ Better

As a church, this year’s theme is coming closer to Christ by getting to know Him better. I feel that I am “the least qualified person” to tell anyone how this is done — but someone else has already claimed this distinction – the apostle Paul. After decades of hearing directly from Christ, seeing extraordinary miracles, being taken to heaven temporarily, planting churches across the Roman Empire, he could still say I would give anything to really know Christ – even if it meant suffering like He did! (Phil. 3:7-10). Therefore, I could say: If you do this or that, you will then know Christ better – but in my view, it’s not as easy as that! How we develop our relationship with Christ is shaped by several factors including our personality, our life experiences, our physical health and fitness, and our relationships with others (especially our parents and particularly our father). In fact, I believe that there is a relationship between how we have learned to build relationships with others (and notably how we have learned to relate to those who are closest to us) and how we then proceed to have a relationship with God. Even though I have expressed my lack of qualifications in telling anyone how to have a closer relationship with Christ, I still can, like one hungry beggar to another hungry beggar, offer you a few of the morsels of food that I’ve been able to find.

SOME PEOPLE HAVE AMAZING BUTS

I know of several people with amazing buts. There’s Jo’, Mo’, Sam, Esther, Jerry, and others. Each of these people were gifted by God with an amazing but that changed there life and the course of human history. Sometimes these gifts came with a …then, or …God, or …the LORD. When it comes to the size of things, a but is a relatively small thing (in Greek it can be just two letters: de) but it can have huge implications and enormously great blessings for multitudes. I hope to show you how this was the case with each of the people I have chosen as samples, and then show you how God is your God of buts.