About

Without recognising primary Christian foundations, imagination and theories replace the Gospel, for example, mythology. Individually we may also be dealing with conditions that persuade us to think in distinct ways. We have foundational issues mixed concurrently with our personal issues. This leads somewhere.

We may choose to come under the power of the Cross of Christ, thereby letting God do His work upon us in an ongoing way, or go in other directions that will continue until changed. Part of the nature of sin is that it has no concern for “time”, causing a continual cycle toward us until Christ’s authority is granted and received.

We have seen consequences of not being under the Lord’s authority, whereby major stumbling blocks are never dealt with. But what is a stumbling block? It is evident by not seeing spiritual growth. In our website article on slavery, we see the example of a “leader” taking up a pro-slavery position, stating the world and Christianity will be permanently ruined if church, state and society allows freedom of black African Americans. The “content” such people had to offer others was narrow and limited, always. Do we see this in other examples today? Yes.

We also see lines of thought that match a narrative others hold that at times are without alternative views. How would we know these views? For example, we state that the moment cells divide at conception this defines a human as per the teaching that God makes men imaged by this generative process that is passed onto each generation, and that God sees the potential for that human life, all before the human has awareness and conscience.

Similarly, we have a view that God is outside the boundaries of time, so He see the future of mankind while at the same time men have free will. These kinds of views show the ideas behind them, or where people are coming from when stating a view. It is helpful to know more about the source of a view than simply accepting a view as if it were true by the virtue of it having been stated. (This is particularity relevant, in my view, to politics.)

If a person has a long term agenda to accomplish a goal, eventually having the power to enact it, we wont know what truths and lies are told unless our own search for truth is continually developing, unless we find relevant information. Popular outcomes do not mean correctness. Righteousness does not have the same demands that deception needs to be believed. If we see processes at play to deceive, we have an immediate awareness of things not being right in some way. But further than this is discernment in Spirit. We may hear something odd, be confused, yet simply know a thing is a lie.

As we are not neutral beings, our lives must go in a direction. Are we aware of the decisions our minds and hearts make? It is usually said that crisis will take us to the end of our tether – then God can help. Yes, but it is also the case we may seek, ask, and open our lives to the Lord to avoid crisis we would not want – though, we are not immune from crisis as we are human.

The intention here is not to cause the reader stress, but to offer discussions, (which in themselves are limited on a website), that may help us in our development and awareness. Truth is really valuable for our lives and builds us up so we are in a better place than we were before.

Those who do not develop repeat the same things, in fact reverting back to teachings that are incorrect. If someone has never experienced release from sin, or even absence of a sin (we know there is controversy around definitions of sin – but for the sake of our description here) they will teach our sins are covered as we have no power to overcome sin, being human. Hence the way people use Paul’s letter to the Romans to live with defeat.

This reflects the person’s loss and inability to testify of victory. But victory only belongs to those things which are under the power of the Cross and the direction Jesus wants to take us individually (and of course corporately). It is appealing to those who stay under defeat or under addictions – where the term addiction may not always be the correct diagnosis, to speak in error from a place of defeat.

We are not of course promoting puritanism, but development, so, when we look back over the years we know there have been distinct changes, degree by degree. If we do not get this developmental content from our leaders and preachers, there is a huge problem as they remain stale, and have nothing to offer in the long-run. As an example, we see false spirituality in the guise of social activities determining success, rather than fellowship in the Body of Christ, all the while people having unchallenged freedom with things the Lord does not accept. Thus the ongoing questions of what is really from the Lord or not, given the state of humanity.

The problem is when people remain “fleshly” with side effects of being overly joyed at how well a person dresses or speaks, rather than seeking and connecting with spiritual matters. In fact, we see historical examples from large Churches in the 1980’s where content is virtually without spiritual content and shameful, yet followed enthusiastically by masses. How did we get there? Certainly in revival the Lord’s presence is not stoppable. This phenomena as mentioned does not occur when God is present in true revival. People sometimes try to coerce God into revival or mimic it. While we note such things, we recognise we are still the clay in the potters hands. Even when things are not going well, we do not know how God is using it. This does not mean God is not present in non-revival settings as He is always with us and shows His grace all the time.

Those who do not develop in Spirit rely on techniques such as telling everyone else what they must do, what they define as sin. The question then is, what is Christian truth? This is a constant activity around us. It is not meant to stress us out, but to be really interesting to our whole lives.

People’s words and actions come from many sources such as their life history and upbringing, culture and environment, experiences, feelings, reasoning, biases, intellect, revelation, interpretations and so on. We are each unique and yet part of all of this. Understanding others requires awareness, active listening, acceptance of differences or hearing them, and expanding our connection with people unlike ourselves. Without this, we risk missing what is really going on.

Letting go can be just as important as holding on to what we believe, especially when humility is required and our self-image is challenged. If we build our identity on our own foundations, seeking approval, (or else) we may hinder God’s work in us. I often say we must put down our swords and not pick them up until God says so – yet our human instinct is to grab them at the first chance. Our behaviour has not changed.

In a world full of every imaginable attitude, may we seek to respond with balance, reliability, stability, and genuine love – avoiding being naive prey for “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

This website aims to explore topics many of us face. We are enriched by the variety of people around us, but we must let go of the expectation that everyone will agree with or like what we do. Helpful changes are only possible through awareness and choice, not routine habit.

We do have to be careful not to let judgement or pride set in. There are Church speakers who helped me greatly many years ago, who I do not spend time listening to now. A number of preachers will have problems. I can immediately think of issues and a specific incorrect teaching from a renowned preacher, related directly back to his parenting and childhood past. Hence the need for care.

These writings have a history involving many specific people. When they were previously published in 2012 under an Australian trust entity, it was decided personal identity information was to be kept private. At that time, an online forum was offered, though people gravitated to popular Christian websites, so we remained an ongoing presence which is in the current form. The content is not meant to upset. It is provided for consideration, how we may have support in being more aware of how we think and behave, how we may develop. The articles presented have been modified from time to time, as we keep learning and developing how we present content. Sometimes I review an article and trim it down, remove what doesn’t make sense without a known context, etc. etc. These presentations are not going to be perfect.

I recall around my final high school years reading Watchman Nee. His work was a page turner. The Lord kept impressing upon me one lesson after another. This keenness to learn was common among several Christians I knew where we were recently born of the Spirit, but not all. We had to buy every brand of bible we could, every Christian book, a Concordance, spend every minute learning, go to churches, talk to those we thought were experienced in Christ. We didn’t know anything about human behaviour or what conflicts lay ahead. We were green, but not in the joy of the Lord.

As I read such works, I found areas I could not relate to, or which seemed to contradict me. It was best to put these aside until such time as they made sense on a re-reading. Watchman Nee was always like this. My view is the same, to park what we don’t yet understand, and see where it goes later. This is nothing to do with not being grown up enough, or not. Attitudes are key to our development. I learnt where people hardened attitudes or placed emphasis on things that truly should not be. I encourage all folks I see seeking the Lord, but I do feel and understand the challenges when we are not getting answers, when others block or harm us, our own persona struggles and vulnerabilities that can take years as they beset us while deeply desiring truthful progress. May some of the content on this website reflect your own situations.

the avocado seed

We use the outline of the Avocado seed for the website logo. In real life, the seed has two halves. I think of the gospel as two halves that need to be joined. One is salvation and redemption, the other is healing.  Jesus was very strong on this in ministry and in sending out disciples, as in Luke chapter 10.

If an Avocado seed dries and remains such over many years, it becomes as hard as a rock and splits in two. It can still grow from one of these halves, but is not as good. We are not meant to flippantly throw away half of the Gospel through claims such as healing or miracles no longer occur. Tell that to a person who engages an Angel, one whose life is spontaneously healed with the presence of God, or who falls over in repentance before His presence. Who are we to determine the rules. Something in us wants relationship with God. Jesus does not break the reed than bends in the wind. Alas! Others want to break the reed in their own name while using the Lord’s name to confuse us. We emphasise awareness as a key to help us, but this is imperfect. We benefit by all that God provisions for us. Let us keep the Avocado seed together when we decide to plant it. Our issues vary in intensity, time and complexity. Sometimes a season of peace. Sometimes one of great expenditure of energy. How we deal with things today prepares us for how we deal with things tomorrow. As we change, we drop things that once were of interest, and find new interests more suitable to our development.

So, a the Apostle Paul advises us, may we work out our faith, each one of us. This is where we discover the unknown and enhance our identity and meaning. There will be some bumps along the way. We will expand in ways we didn’t know about, and be amused at prior thinking.  Jesus surprises us. He said to let the crowds eat as much as they wanted. Did we expect that?

If we ignore spiritual opportunity, we have no power to remain neutral anyway. When compared to Christ, we start to see our own ongoing losses which worsen or harden our characters over time, including the expressions of the same in our physical bodies. We see obvious misguided beliefs such as what manhood is, rather than Christ’s manhood of service, obedience to God, humility and sacrifice. I do not want false leaders and wiley “servants” to wash my feet.

May we start our sight into how God looks down on man, that His ways are not ours, changing our perspectives over time. God does not offer punishment and roadblocks that are impossible to resolve as men would demand of others.

A genuine search for God is honoured. If you want to find him, he will do it.  It can be a simple first step such as asking God to be in your day, to thank him, talk to him (prayer) or to read some bible verses during the week. It is the Holy Spirit who knows the depths of our heart, who is fully able to be with us and lead us to faith in Christ so that our new relationship will be encompassed by the fullness of the one true God by virtue of the divinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are told that the angels are keen to look into such matters as these relate to mankind, meaning they learn from us, and we learn by the both the good and the bad temporarily upon this earth. We are no longer creatures without substance as a result, but fully able to be presented by Christ before God.