Christmas Bush

No snow here. It is summer. But we have beautiful Christmas Bush. The Lord who made the universe, the sun, the earth, the seasons in their time, made Christmas Bush. I wish you all the very best for the Christmas season and New Year.

May you know and love the Lord more each day as we look forward to His coming. Maranatha!

The Dear Unknown Brother

The day before Christmas I happened to be in Parramatta (the city before you get to the city...) and amidst the hurried crowds, tired business people and jolly sprukers, a lone voice spoke out in the middle of the square, telling people how to be saved. Every shop had its bargains displayed along the pavement for those last minute buys, and here was a man offering people the secret of eternal life, something no money could buy. And it was free. People, do you have any idea of the priceless treasure you have just passed by? Do you not know that this man is holding out the answer to your eternal destiny, and you have failed to even take the remotest interest? This man, if you had listened, was telling you that our Creator sent His own Son to die on the Cross, in your place, so that you may have your sin forgiven and not have to face an eternity in hell. This man was telling you about the wonderful, saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This man, like his Master, and brothers before him, was not ashamed to be ignored, refused and even ridiculed for the sake of the Gospel. Thank you brother.

On Prayer

Today our dear pastor preached on a simple, but vital truth. The mark of an effective and Spirit filled believer is a life soaked in constant prayer. I am blessed to attend a church where the pastor lives what he preaches and is a man of prayer, who makes prayer a part of the church's life. I was pricked to the core that my prayer life has been less than what it should be, because not only do I become focused more on myself that my Saviour, but I also let down my Brethren.

“The superficial results of many a ministry, and the deadness of others are to be found in the lack of praying. No ministry can succeed without much praying, and this praying must be fundamental, ever-abiding, ever-increasing. The text–the sermon–should be the result of prayer. The study should be bathed in prayer, all its duties impregnated with prayer, its whole spirit the spirit of prayer.

“I am sorry that I have prayed so little” was the deathbed regret of one of God’s chosen ones. That is a sad and remorseful regret for a preacher. “I want a life of greater, deeper, and truer prayer,” said the late Archbishop Tait. So may we all say, and this may we all secure.

God’s true preachers can be distinguished by one great feature: they are men of prayer. Often differing in many things, they have always had a common center. They may have started at different points, and traveled by different roads, but they converge to one point: they are one in prayer. To them, God is the center of attraction, and prayer is the path which led to God. These men do not pray occasionally–not a little or at odd times. But they so pray that their prayers enter into and shape their very characters. They pray so as to affect their own lives, the lives of others, and to make the history of the Church influence the current of the times. They spend much time in prayer, not because they watch the shadow on the dial, or the hands on the clock, but because it is to them so momentous and engaging a business that they can scarcely quit.”

–E.M. Bounds, (1835-1913), Power Through Prayer

Lord, forgive my lack of prayer these past days.

The Truth About the Cross

SImple Thoughts on the Cross

I used to teach my children that the Cross is the centre of the entire universe. In fact, I likened it to the mathematical number plane, where the x and y axis - both of which travel to eternity in every direction, intersect at zero, the very centre of the number plane, forming a cross (for those of you who can remember high school maths). I also used to explain the wonders of the Cross and its mathematical proportions, known as the Golden Mean, found time and time again in nature and music....the very signature of God surrounds those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. But for those who are not mathematically or scientifically minded, we discovered the Cross in our neighbour's backyard as well!


For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Romans 1:20

God bless you, dear friends.

Absolute Captivity

"Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ." 2 Cor. 2:14

"The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ’s triumphs. We are not in God’s showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing—the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ. How small the other points of view are—‘I am standing alone battling for Jesus’; ‘I have to maintain the cause of Christ and hold this fort for Him.’ Paul says—‘I am in the train of a conqueror, and it does not matter what the difficulties are, I am always led in triumph.’ ...

"Paul’s secret joy was that God took him, a red-handed rebel against Jesus Christ, and made him a captive, and now that is all he is here for."

My Utmost for His Highest : October 24

I was reminded of this again, when visiting Berit Kjos' 'Crossroad' site (see link above right). On more than one occasion when Paul writes, he begins "Paul, a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ..." (Ephesians 3:1-3, Philemon 1:1-3) He was not a prisoner of Rome, or the Jews, but of God. You are in your situation because the Lord Himself has placed you there. If He has not told you to leave, then stay and He will enable you to do so. He will no doubt use your 'prison' for your refining, until He has you in a place of complete surrender, and until there is the sweet, lovely fruit of His character emanating from your life. (Galations 5:22) It is easy to say, but not so easy to practise. As soon as I think I am doing better, the pruning scissors are put to me again. I am a wretched, slow learner and the flesh always wants to complain and have its way. Lord, I want sweet fruit which will bless others, not bitter fruit. But how often my prayer is that the Lord will not just help me to endure, but that He will even make me willing to endure in the first place. It is the surrender to His will which must come first. Suffering can be endured in anguish and bitterness of heart, and others may still admire our human grit...but if the heart is not surrendered, not completely relinquished, then it is worth nothing in the Lord's sight. Abide in Him, and let Him have His way.

John 15:5,8 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Letter to a Sister

Dear L____,

Beloved sister in the Lord, I am writing, because I am concerned for you and because I love you as a friend, and I thought it may be helpful if I share my own experience with you. I am not wishing to interfere in your life or your decisions, and we are free to choose, but I say this merely to urge you to think carefully about the course you are taking.

It is by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are redeemed; we are bought with a price. He has taken us out of the world, and given us Life. It doesn't matter what we have done in our past lives as sinners; He has made us clean and we are acceptable to Him. 'But as many as received Him, to them gave He the power to become the sons and daughters of God, even to them that believe on His Name' (John 1:12). We are family with Him and with other true believers, and we are free from the power of sin which used to control us.

Dear sister, I am married to a man who is an atheist. He does not respect my faith, and is antagonistic towards all things sacred. It is a sad and lonely existence, because I cannot share that which is most precious to me, with the man I live with. I go to church alone, I cannot speak of the things of God in my own home, and often I must bear his direct anger and blasphemy. He likes things which are offensive to me, and does not care about that. This is the experience of being in a relationship with a non-believer.

We may think that we share many common interests with a person or partner. They may be kind, caring and courteous towards us. But those things do not necessarily last, and they are not enough to cement a lifelong relationship. Light and darkness do not have anything in common and we cannot pretend that they do (2Corinthians 6:14-18) . One day, my husband and I will go our separate ways - one to everlasting life, and one to eternal hell and torment and that is a terrible, sad pain which I must bear on a daily basis. I will not spend eternity with my husband in his present unsaved state.

When I married my husband, we both attended church, but in actual fact my husband was not truly born-again. He was a false convert who had never repented of his past sin, and sadly he fell away from any saving knowledge of Christ after we were married. I had ignored the Lord's warnings to me, and entered into the marriage, assuming that my husband was a believer. If we knowingly enter into a relationship with a professing non-believer, that is a different matter again. In fact, it is disobedience to God. We can tell ourselves that it is not important. Our partner may promise to respect our beliefs and even allow us to go to church at first......but that can easily, and usually does, change. We are torn between our relationship with a man and our relationship with the God we profess to love. We are also more likely to commit fornication, and the danger of going back into sin, is that it then has a hold over us, making it almost impossible - or at least very difficult - to end the relationship.

We can not make it right by praying for the person's salvation in the hope that they will convert, because we have no assurance that this will happen (1 Corinthians 7:16). It is more likely that we will compromise and that our own faith will be shipwrecked through sin, particularly since, as women we are more sensitive emotionally and more likely to be deceived (1 Timothy 2:14). Dear sister, I say this again from personal experience, because I care about you. I am so sad to see that you are beginning to miss church and fellowship with us, and my fear is that this is as a direct result of your friendship with a man who is not a believer.

Please consider carefully the path that you are on. You are in my prayers every day, and I beg with great sorrow in my heart, that you do not leave your First Love, this same Jesus Christ who gave His life for you. Let Him be your Husband, dear sister. Return to Him with all your heart, and know that He will help you and strengthen you. Let Him be everything to you, and know that I will continue praying for you, as will all your friends who love you.

Your sister in Christ,


Bonny

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art-
Thou my best thought by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.


Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word,
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.


Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for the fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower:
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.


Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art.


High King of heaven, after victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. Amen.

(Ancient Irish, tr. by M.E. Byrne)


This is my favourite hymn, although I have many that are dear to my heart. Somehow, these old ones have something that most contemporary Christian music lacks. Perhaps it is because they were written with blood sweat and tears at the foot of the Cross, or perhaps it is because they come from times when the Church had not yet become so wayward in its doctrine....

I sometimes contemplate whether, in a prison cell, I would be singing a hymn such as this, or would I be bopping along to "Jesus is my best buddy down the road...."?

All praise and glory to His wonderful Name. God bless you.

My Testimony

TodayI visited my dear sister in the Lord, Hope, after my patchwork class. I don't have much contact with the outside world these days, since I only work on Fridays now. We were talking, amongst other things, about our testimonies and how the Lord drew us both out of sin, and the world, and gave us new life in Him. I never cease to be amazed at how He could call someone like me, with all my stubbornness, laziness and faults, and make me into a new creation. What a marvellous God we serve.
I grew up in a church environment, but it was a dead, traditional church and I don't remember that I ever heard or responded to the Gospel. With the little that I did know, I remember that I did love Jesus from an early age, and considered myself to be a Christian. However, because I was not truly born again, I had no power over sin, and I lived a duality - church on Sundays and flirting with the world the rest of the week.
During my years at university, I continued to struggle with sin, and decided that perhaps I should become an atheist like most of my lecturers. It was then that I was given a vision of a white handkerchief flapping in the wind, almost flying away......except that a hand was holding that handkerchief by one thread. From that moment, I knew that I could never leave Him and that He was hanging onto me. Despite my sin and rebellion, He had not let me go. And the search began.
I went through a time of deep repentance, and there was a battle for my soul in those days. I had dabbled in many carnal and even occult activities. I still could not say that at that time I was born again. Although I had returned to church and my heartfelt desire was now to love and serve the Lord, I still struggled with sin.
But the Lord is longsuffering and abounding in mercy. How patiently He bore me!
I married, assuming that my husband was a Christian with the same deep desire for God as me. This was not the case, but the Lord uses all our circumstances and sorrows and trials to bring us to that place of complete surrender to Him. That is the work of the Cross.
One day I prayed "Lord, I am willing to completely surrender my life to you - to go all the way up the mountain - and I am no longer afraid of the cost". It was a couple more years, however before I was ready - the ground still needed tilling!
I was finally born again in May 1995, and what a birth it was! On my face on the loungeroom floor, I wept as I saw myself for what I was. I had no love. All the love, goodness or compassion I imagined myself to have was worth nothing because it was my own and not His. If I did not love Him with my whole heart, then I could not love Him at all, so therefore I was fit only to be sent to hell!
And He saved me. Even me!
I would love to say that from that time on, my life was one beautiful sucess story, that my husband got saved, my children all grew up in the Lord, I walked in sinless perfection ever after.....
But that is not the reality. The process of sanctification is a daily refining, and there is work to be done in me yet, and there always will be whilst I dwell in this old tent.
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. And be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death, if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already made perfect, but I follow after if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus."
Philippians 3:7-14
May the Lord bless you all dearly,
Yours in Christ
Bonny

Election Eve

Well, the elections are over and the results now finalised. Last week in the lead up, during the height of the media driven campaign, the 'church' was asked whether it should have a political opinion, and if so, how should 'Christians' vote? Apparently there was no single, authoritative answer given, at least not that I heard. Surely it is the duty of a Christian, in a democratic country, to choose carefully, examining the moral and ethical stance of all parties? Surely we must be guided by such things....but apparently not. Do we just accept the claims of both major party leaders, that they are Christians or do we examine their walk, their speech and their integrity before validating their vote-catching claims?
I know that there are powers and agendas at work in politics which go way deeper than we will ever be allowed to see. I know that in these times, Satan has powerful men and stooges where he wants them, throughout the world, in preparation for antichrist to be revealed. The Lord knows. But I pray for and respect our leaders, whether good or evil, as we are commanded in Scripture to do (Romans 13, I Peter 2:13-17, 1 Timonthy 2:1-4) that some may turn and be saved.
We know also from Scripture that man's choice is often not God's choice. This is evident in the choosing of Saul as King, again later after the death of Solomon, when the kingdom was divided on account of Israel choosing Jeroboam, who was not the rightful heir. We ultimately get what we deserve.
There is a sense that hard times are ahead, with rising fuel prices, interest rates and hints of world recession on the horizon. But I dwell on Jesus' words in John 16:33. He has overcome the world, and what is more, He will be back to reign over every nation. We are not to fear the days to come. He is our hiding place and Redeemer. He is our Provider. And although we must live bodily in this world, and go about our business here, remember that we are not global citizens, dear brethren. Our citizenship is in Zion, our kingdom is elsewhere.
Trust Him alone for the times ahead.

Treading on Sacred Ground

I think in these last days we are seeing a greater separation between those who know and truly seek the Truth, and those who are happy to stay in apostate churches. Most churches are filled with false converts, who have never truly repented in order that they may believe and be saved. Few live the Christian life. I say this with love and with great sorrow, fully acknowledging that I myself was in error for years, and because I have sat under many bounty-hunting dogs who work and use their congregations to death. I could really go into more of this, but I wanted to share a sad realisation......and forgive me for offending because I know that I am standing on what is, for many, sacred ground.

Did you ever go to a Billy Graham Crusade? Did you ever say the sinner's prayer there and go forward with the masses, asking Jesus into your heart as your personal saviour? How many think that because they have repeated the 'sinner's prayer' they are are saved, and then spend the rest of their days wondering why they have no power over sin in their lives? Why is there no growth, no love for the things of God? Why do so many 'fall away'?

I hold Billy Graham to account for the thousands, if not millions, of false conversions in the evangelical church, and for perpetuating the lie that repeating the sinner's prayer can save a person.

Sadly, this man has revealed in a recent interview that he does not believe Jesus Christ to be the only way of salvation. No true believer would say that. Billy Graham embraces catholicism and other religions.



He considers high level freemasons and satanists to be amongst his best friends, and the world respects him. In John 15, Jesus says "If ye were of the world, the world would love his own". Beware of those whom the world loves.

This book by Dr Cathy Burns is worth reading.

http://www.cephas-library.com/evangelists_new_book_about_graham_by_cathy_burns.html
I have said my piece for now.

Please Take This Seriously

If you are Australian, please substitute 'Australia' for 'America'. There is no difference. For more Paul Washer sermons and other classics, I will shortly provide some links.

Welcome to my blog.....

This is my first entry. I hope that what I write will always be truthful, encouraging and thought provoking. I hope that my friends will feel welcome. I hope you will enjoy the links to other sites and blogs. I named the blog 'View From the Mountain' because I live on a mountain, but more importantly, because Isaiah 52:7 says the following:
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good; that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth!"
My God reigns!