Category: Discipleship

LIVE INTENTIONALLY………….. How to go from a nobody to a somebody so that you won’t just be an anybody

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In 1980, I unexpectedly left the business world in Adelaide to join the pastoral team at Blackburn Baptist Church in Melbourne as pastor for youth and young adults. Nine years later, I was to face another radical change.
Sue and I found ourselves packing up our family’s belongings in 8 suitcases and traveling to Los Angeles in America to study at Fuller Theological Seminary. I studied for two years in Fuller’s School of World Mission which was founded by Doctor Donald McGavran who was regarded as the most influential missiologists in the twentieth century.

Dr McGavran was a brilliant multi gifted person whose services were in great demand. However, there …

Approval by an AUDIENCE OF ONE

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It wasn’t that long ago that I was walking away from the checkout area of Woolworths supermarket that I looked at the loose change that the assistant had given me and realised I had been overpaid. I was in a hurry and said to myself that “Mr Woolworths” is not going to miss the small amount that had been overpaid to me.

But my conscience got the better of me and made me go back and sort out the discrepancy with the staff member. And as I did, the staff member thanked me and said that not many people do this and asked why I did it. The words that …

WORDS THAT HAVE SHAPED MY LIFE (115) “Many Christians are educated beyond their level of obedience.” (John Maxwell)

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A pastor from Argentina called Juan Carlos Ortiz was concerned that his church was educated beyond its level of obedience. His people knew a lot more than they were putting into practice and many of them were getting two or three sermons each week with little opportunity to apply what they had been taught.

One Sunday, Juan Carlos Ortiz stood up to preach on the words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” To the amazement of his people, on each of the following Sundays he came back to preach the same sermon. Each time he said, “We are not moving on until we obey this command

WORDS THAT HAVE SHAPED MY LIFE (114) “Don’t forget to say THANK YOU”

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In my childhood days, one of the most important pieces of advice my parents gave to me when receiving a gift was, “Don’t forget to say, thank you.” Having an attitude of gratitude was of the highest importance.

Similarly, my wife Sue has told me how her mother impressed upon her to be gracious and thankful to others because, “you can afford to, that is why I named you Susan Grace.”

One of the most prominent qualities of a godly person that can be found in the Bible, is that of thankfulness. So important is this attitude of gratitude, that it is continually mentioned in the Psalms and in Paul’s …