Blog - Eastside Life Church

‘Test all things’

Posted on May 3, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

Seeking Confirmation of What You have Heard or Seen

(‘Testing all things’)

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Test all things; hold fast what is good.

As our loving and protective Father, God wants us to seek clarity or confirmation of any ‘leading’ we may have received from the Holy Spirit whether through prophecy or any other means like an impression or a scripture ‘jumping out’ to us in our reading the Bible.

Why fall in the ditch on either side?

Posted on Apr 27, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

Ever heard someone talk mostly about the need for God’s power as the solution for the church’s perceived weakness. Then others who talk about character and fruit as the solution. There are recognizable factions that argue their case from scripture, yet it seems to me that both sides should be embraced and work together in tandem to reach people.

Cutting through the fog

Posted on Apr 23, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

Isaiah 11:1-4

There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. ²The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

³His delight is in the fear of the Lord, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears; ⁴But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, And decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

In this passage (which many interpret to be a prophetic reference to the 7-fold Holy Spirit’s work in Jesus’ life and ministry), there’s something

that stood out to me.

‘Weird or Wonderful?’

Posted on Apr 13, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen, Uncategorized |

To many, the Holy Spirit may be too far out for them, somewhat distant perhaps, weird even. Their experience may be limited and unfortunately some even have a ‘bad taste’ because of something that happened that pushed them away.

This need not be so. Not even close, as Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit to be a comfort, strength and help in all matters we face.

As if by Magic!?

Posted on Apr 6, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

As if by magic!?

Many wonder how Jesus did it, all those miracles.

It seems as if He just did them, some say to prove He was God in the flesh, others because He was moved with compassion to meet the needs of the suffering that He met. Besides His motivation to perform miracles, which seems to be a combination of both, there remains the need to understand how He did so, knowing that He was born as a fully-fledged human, and how this applies to us today.

Jesus loves to serve us… even today – it’s His nature

Posted on Mar 30, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen, Uncategorized |

Mark 10:45

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

This scripture is most often used to show how we should be servant minded and lay down our lives for the benefit of others – something than is assumed to be against our nature! That is indeed so, at least partly so. I contend that when we come to know our new nature in Christ, trust Him to meet our needs, we are freed up to be other minded.

How far do you want to go?

Posted on Mar 23, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

Our Father has paved the way for total freedom, not just some low form of life a few inches above some zero baseline between sin and righteousness.

John 8:36

Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

The unknown can be known

Posted on Mar 16, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

I remember lying in bed as a youngster, about 7 years old. My brother and sister were out somewhere, and my parents wanted to visit someone down the road about half a block away in the evening. Back in South Africa in those days it was acceptable and safe to leave someone home alone, especially if you had a big dog like our Sausage Dog or Dachshund in the house (just kidding).

The ABC’s of your Life and Mission

Posted on Mar 9, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

The ABC’s of Life & Mission

Where do we start? Where did Jesus start?

Matthew 3:16-17

When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. ¹⁷And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Jesus lived in obscurity in ‘sleepy hollow Nazareth’. Then suddenly He became a 30-year-old overnight sensation. What happened at His baptism can serve as encouragement to us in our life and mission.

God can and does reach everyone

Posted on Mar 3, 2016 in BLOG, pastors pen |

What about the people in….?

Have you heard the argument that Jesus can’t be the only way, because what about the people in remote places: jungles etc, who have (supposedly) never heard the Gospel?

Of course this is an unprovable hypothetical question, nevertheless God has shown three key ways in which He reaches out to all mankind everywhere.