Woody's Words

REACHING FOR THE INFINITE By David Woodbury For the Christian, there are times when we need to get an eternal perspective on life. So much of our life is impacted by the world we live in with its human and unchristian influences and values. There is a sense of constant pressure to set our minds and values by that which surrounds us. Our way of living here is largely dominated by the dimensions and constraints of our present existence. Reminders of the time limitations on our lives surround us, from the clocks on our devices, the breakfast TV show with its countdown clock ever present in the corner of the screen, and the incessant pressure of transport timetables that get us to and from our place of employment. Within a few decades, we have become acutely aware that the world has become a global village with limited space. Great waves of migration now reinforce in our minds just how crowded and limited our space has become.   A plethora of multi-storied apartments now cr...

A LETTER FROM PETER Chapter 2 Part 1 1 So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2 Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3 now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. In his first pastoral letter, the Apostle Peter urges us to crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. (1 Peter 2:1 – NLT) How necessary is it and how do we go about it? Within the kingdom lifestyle, there is always the necessity for development and growth and it will be a process of cooperation between personal realisations and decisions, and openness to the influence of the Holy Spirit. No traveller along this lifestyle is perfect and there are always issues we need to deal with. However, most of the initiative is left to us. God doesn’t force these things on us, although at t...

Has The Salvation Army abdicated its presence  in the public space? By David Woodbury In my previous post, I referenced an article by Andrew Bolt in The Daily Telegraph of 25 April 2019. It may well have something significant to say to The Salvation Army today: “To admit that Christians are the target of terrorism cuts across the left’s popular narrative that Christianity is oppressive. To have Christians seen as the oppressed would undercut their crusade – driven hard by the Greens – to drive Christianity from the public space (emphasis mine).” Of all churches, no one had a higher profile in the public space than The Salvation Army, due mainly to our brass bands that were constantly seen on the streets of our suburbs and regional centres. That profile is now so diminished that it is all but invisible, and we must question why we so willingly surrendered that presence. Many will point out that brass music is no longer fashionable and younger people have no intere...

A LETTER FROM PETER Chapter 2 – Part 2 9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 10 “Once you had no identity as a people;     now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy;     now you have received God’s mercy.” Bearing mind the previous verses about Christ as the cornerstone, we now begin to build a picture of what this new Christian community will not only look like, but also how it will function, both within itself and more widely in the world in which it exists. It commences with a strong sense of community. Individual Christians are building blocks but not of a great deal of use until they are blended together into a workable structure. The Bible knows nothing of individualistic Christians. Wherever God’s p...

A LETTER FROM PETER Chapter 1 – Part 3   10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. 12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen. (1 Peter 1:10-12 – NLT) Here Peter catches a glimpse of God plan of salvation that had been prophesied in the Old Testament.   The true servant of God is infused with a curious and searching mind, particularly about those things which impact the souls of all human beings, but this salvation was not for the prophets ...

A LETTER FROM PETER Chapter 1 – Part 2 The Hope of Eternal Life 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. Peter now moves on to reinforce that basis of our hope: salvation through Jesus. There is a sense of a doxology here which acknowledges the majesty and place of God and Jesus. He indelibly links God the Father to God the Son and in so doing takes humanity into the possibility of an authentic and intimate relationship with God. He wants his readers to understand that their place before God ...

We cannot have divided loyalties By David Woodbury I am intrigued by the mountains of goods piled by the side of the road on council clean-up days, a sight quite unknown in my younger days. I guess it says something about society today in the manner in which we accumulate and dispose of possessions in what is now a consumer society. I came across a YouTube clip recently which listed to top ten wealthiest Christian leaders. I cannot verify the authenticity of the claims but what was obvious was the multi-million dollar homes, cars and aircraft these people possessed. One even had a fleet of aircraft. As I watched I wondered how these people justified their lavish and extravagant lifestyles in light of Jesus who said: Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head. ( Luke 9:58 - NLT) I suspect that there is a subliminal influence at work today in society, even in the Christian community, that finds a certain s...