Insight for Living Australia's Blog

I’m sure you’ve looked at the TV over the past few weeks as I have and wondered what on earth is happening in the world. Bombings, civil war in the Middle East, glassings in city nightclubs, it goes on and on. You get to the stage where the sheer volume of negativity around creates in you a desire to grab the family, throw them into the car and head for the hills, so they can be afforded the protection they need.

As we all know, this isn’t a solution, as the world is behaving as it has since Adam and Eve, and will continue to do so until Jesus returns. We can’t change the world, but we can develop within our children qualities and characteristics that will help them maintain a healthy and positive perspective.

What I’ve noticed is how many families become fractured because parents stop guiding their children. By the time you become a parent you’ve experienced many of the ups and downs of life, giving you a street-born wisdom that should be passed on to your children. Many parents seem to abdicate their parental responsibility to mentor their children at all stages of their lives. Guiding them is not about domination but playing the role of lifesaver in the early years and their coach as they become independent. Although Jesus didn’t have children, he modelled the sort of parent we need to be, guiding our children through the world’s minefield because we’ve had to do this ourselves: “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)

While we may do an effective job with guiding our children, the fact is that we won’t always be there when they need us. So, how do you protect your kids during these times? The answer lies in their character.

Character is a learned and internalized set of Godly values. This is the best protection you can give your kids, and it will come from a relationship with Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul reminded the new Christians in Corinth that because they are followers of Jesus, he would always be there to guide them through life’s problems:

“No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” (1 Cor 10:13)

In another of Paul’s letters (Ephesians 6:13-17), he uses the image of a suit of armor to explain the protection that a Christian has in dealing with the troubles of the world. How reassuring this is for a parent to know that in their absence God’s hand will be at work protecting their children. While the promise is there, parents have a responsibility though to teach their children the following while they’re young:

• faith in Jesus Christ.
• about God’s truth
• how to live a righteous life.
• how to graciously stand up for their faith
• the hope that comes from salvation
• a knowledge of the Bible.

The best way to protect your children now and in the future is to teach them God’s ways. It’s never too late to start; each day will present you opportunities.  Take it seriously, and don’t leave their spiritual education to chance.

Peter

Yesterday, ANZAC Day, I was talking with my daughter Carla who has just begun her Masters of Education and now finds herself in front of a class of young children while on teaching rounds. The class is a broad mix of various ethnicities in a southeastern suburb of Melbourne. Our discussion centred on her experience of suddenly having to care for and teach 20+ children, where English is the second language of the home. This can be a very daunting assignment for even the most well trained educator.

I reflected with her, my eldest, on the experience most parents encounter when they bring their son or daughter home for the first time from hospital. Frankly, you’re a bit stunned that this little child is now totally dependent on you for everything. The responsibility is huge! While some are ready to handle it, others struggle with it, and some never adjust to it.

One part of a parent’s role is to prepare them for life. This means taking them on a journey from dependence to independence. This is not an easy task and will require intentional and purposeful activity and thoughtful planning.

When preparing a child for life you have to show them how to relate with their physical, emotional and spiritual world. This last one, the spiritual, is the most important but often the least attended to. Everyone is in search of his or her spiritual self and, as a Christian, I believe that all of humanity was created for an external relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. (John 3:16)

Mums and dads can learn a lot about parenting by simply reading their Bible, understanding how God, our Father, has prepared us for life. Here are a few thoughts to help prepare your children for life:

• Help them grow as people just as God grows us. 1 Cor 3:6-9
• Teach them the value of God’s Word. 2 Tim 3:16-17
• Teach them perseverance and unconditional love through your actions. Luke 15:3-32
• Demonstrate how to forgive. 1 Peter 3:9-10
• Bring joy and peace to the home through the hope that comes through Christ.  Rom 15:13
• Teach them to be diligent in achieving God’s purposes. Phil 2:13
• Always be available and reliable in spite of life’s circumstances. Rev 1:8

Whether you have a newborn, teenagers or adult children, it is never too late to model God’s qualities as a way of preparing them for the rest of their lives.

Peter

Young couples can get quite worried when it comes to being first-time parents.

What did I do wrong?

The thought that once the baby is born you’re responsible for this totally dependent life can be daunting. Any parent reading this knows the nervousness beforehand, and the rude awakening that hits you once you arrive home from the hospital with your son or daughter. You’re confronted with the realization that no one else but you have to make the decisions that will care for and nurture your infant along the path to maturity.

Let’s face it, parenting is a job most people end up having to tackle, but without training and rarely, any experience.  Should that deter you? No! The reason is that we were made by our Creator (God) for the role. Each of us possesses the skills, the knowledge, the intuition to be successful parents.

A friend of ours we’ve known since she was a baby, had what I’d term “child-a-phobia”. Where children were, she wasn’t. But, some three years ago, in her early 20’s she needed work and began cleaning a child-care centre. Something happened! We’ve watched in amazement at how her innate abilities with children have blossomed. This year she’s begun teaching in a kindergarten after completing her studies. While she doubted her ability to love children, and the skills she’d need to care for them, they were there all along.

The message . . .  don’t be put off by parenting . . . you were made for it.

Over the coming weeks we’ll be looking at three aspects to parenting that define this job we’ve been given. These elements aren’t difficult and you’ll say, “Is that all it’s about.” Simply put we, as parents, are required to provide (for their needs), protect (them from harm) and prepare (them for life).

Please join me as we see how God the Father, and Jesus his Son, has used each of these to grow us as Sons and Daughters of God.

Peter

While sitting here at Vancouver International airport, waiting for my flight to London to visit the Insight for Living office, I’ve taken a moment for a coffee. Right in front of me is this gigantic fish tank. The colours are exquisite, as are the variety of fish, starfish and anemone you can see. It’s such a serene picture as these graceful creatures float in the artificial current. There’s no hurry, no antagonism. There’s ample room for everyone to go about their life. I don’t know about you, but I looks pretty idyllic.

Many times in history we’ve heard of countries or people groups in conflict with each other, with one or both suggesting they are on a mission from God. But when God’s Son, Jesus, came to live among us He said we are to live in peace with each other. His message to Christians was for us to show others how it should be done. This is what He said: 

“To you who a ready for the truth, I say this: Love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.” Luke 6:27-30 The Message

This means we turn the other cheek when someone has wronged us. It means we don’t retaliate because this only leads to an escalation of conflict.

Jesus could have taken control of the situation when He was being taken for His execution. But instead He submitted to it, even saying “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” Grace and peace were Jesus’ characteristics and the words the Apostle Paul used to begin each of his letters in the New Testament. 

That’s a good reminder for us to seek lives of serenity . . . just like these fish!

Peter

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A few years ago my daughter, Eve, and I visited the UK on somewhat of a quest. As she was studying history at Melbourne University we decided to venture to good ol’ Mother England in an effort to absorb the culture and heritage that form the bedrock from which my side of the family is hewn.

One place that struck the heritage chord was Whitby, in North Yorkshire. Whitby is a small fishing hamlet, nestled inside a safe-harbour that is nothing more than a tiny inlet sliced into the high cliffs facing the often-treacherous North Sea. While rather insignificant, this port is tied inextricably to Australia, being the place where Captain Cook learned seamanship while crewing on the Quaker boat, Freelove, carrying coal to London in his early days at sea. Each time Cook entered Whitby’s harbor, the ruins of the magnificent Whitby Abby would be seen high up, silhouetted by the sun that crossed to the south. These cliffs have remained consecrated ground since the defeat of Penda, the pagan king in AD 657, because the townsfolk are thankful to God for their deliverance from an array of marauding hordes from Europe.

While standing on the wharf of Whitby’s protected marina you gain a new perspective of the difficulties of life in the mid to late 1700’s, and yet, you are also aware of the strength of connection that existed between these people and God. Faith was a normal part of their lives because they knew that it was by the grace of God that they were alive. These times were tough and people clung to their Saviour to get them through life’s difficulties.

As Eve and I continued our travels we ended up in a little town on Easter Sunday. We were staying in East Devon, and found a quaint Miss Marple type church in the small rural town of Musbury. As this was a Church of England church, and not wanting to offend anyone, I asked the vicar if we could take communion with the fellowship. Our request was met with warm enthusiasm. And, this is what I love about the fellowship of believers; wherever I travel and meet other Christians, the bonds of faith in Christ allow me to connect with brothers and sisters that I’ve never met before.

On entering St Michael’s we noticed an elaborate stone carved mural (circa 1611) of the Sir Francis Drake family kneeling in their segregated pews. What impacted me was not that I’d come to worship in a shrine to this famous explorer, but that Sir Francis Drake worshipped the same God who loves me. While we were born four hundred years apart and on different continents, we are brothers in Christ. His faith is my faith. Such a thought makes you stop and consider the breadth and depth of God’s love. Whether it be Captain James Cook, Vice Admiral Sir Francis Drake or little old you or me, our Heavenly Father loves us and is worthy of our complete adoration, thanksgiving and attention.

Sitting here today, four years after my visit to Whitby and Musbury, I admit to feeling sad at our nation’s declining commitment to Christ. Australia was founded as a Christian nation, yet unless we stop and celebrate the significance of the Christian faith in our heritage, we run the risk of denying the very foundations that make us what we are as a nation. While some might be quick to deny our roots, consider that at the time of our federation in 1901 96.1% [1] of Australia’s population identified themselves as Christian. By 2011 this figure had dropped to 61.1% [2]  and if current trends persist, within the next twenty years our country will no longer be identified as Christian.

You have to wonder what our world might become should we not return to the bedrock from which we’ve been hewn. American historian, Robert R. Palmer, in his classic college text book A History of the Modern World [3] writes about the positive legacy that Christianity has given humanity  :

“It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the coming of Christianity. It brought with it, for one thing, an altogether new sense of human life. For the Greeks had shown man his mind; but the Christians showed him his soul. They taught that in the sight of God, all souls were equal, that every human life was sacrosanct and inviolate. Where the Greeks had identified the beautiful and the good, had thought ugliness to be bad, had shrunk from disease and imperfection and from everything misshapen, horrible, and repulsive, the Christian sought out the diseased, the crippled, the mutilated, to give them help. Love, for the ancient Greek, was never quite distinguished from Venus. For the Christians held that God was love, it took on deep overtones of sacrifice and compassion.”

Palmer provides us with the good summary of how faith in Jesus Christ has been an integral part of our western heritage for over two thousand years, transforming the world towards heaven. In the moments before Jesus left us to return to the Father He gave us a prophesy of sorts: “…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 NIV). Many consider Australia the ‘end of the earth’, and so it is the responsibility of all of our 13 million Christians to work hard at passing on the legacy of our Christian heritage that is part of our very roots.

Peter

[1] http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/56C35CC256682BC0CA256DEA00053A7A

[2] http://www.abs.gov.au/websitedbs/censushome.nsf/home/CO-61

[3] Palmer, Colton, Kramer A History of the Modern World McGraw-Hill College p16 2001

One lunchtime recently I was chatting with an old friend and we got to talking about the unrelenting busyness that is eating into our family way of life. I know I’m not the only one who’s suffering from the stress of a busy life. Why do we let this happen, when we know better? Why does our work life often force us to sacrifice those elements of our lives that are most important . . . our families and friends? To think that a ‘choice’ has to be made is absurd. A balanced life respects the needs of your work, your spiritual life and your family.

This isn’t a new concept. In fact, our grandfathers worked hard to establish a balanced working culture. If my memory serves me correct, Labour Day in Australia (and probably around the world) was a signal for the balance to be restored. As a young boy I remember the mantra being spoken: 8 hours work – 8 hours play – 8 hours sleep and 8 bob a day (That was 80 cents per day for those of you who are much younger than me.)

Many studies have been undertaken on the impact of an unbalanced life style. There are negative effects we might casually ignore without knowing they are symptoms of a greater problem. You might have seen some warning signs like these:

• Stopped spending time with God

• A loss of intimacy

• A lack of time with the children

• Irregular meals with the family leading to disconnection

• A lack of friends

• Fatigue leading to inability to carry out home or work responsibilities

• Responsibilities have to be reallocated so needs are attended to.

There is a problem

Like any problem, the greatest hurdle is to recognize it exists. Guys are notoriously unaware of the hole they’re falling into. You can’t keep kidding yourself by saying that things will slow down.  They don’t! Other justifications like I’m doing it for my kids or I have to do it, likewise don’t hold water. In the end, all of these statements are just other ways of allowing defeat in the situation.

Charles Hummel in his book The Tyranny of the Urgent says that our suffering is from jumbled priorities. When we’re at work we have no problem developing business plans, marketing plans, project plans. We have apps for tasks lists, Things to Do Today lists, electronic and traditional diaries. We spend time and money on strategy meetings and creating vision statements, mission statements and anything else that can keep us on track. But, what about your spiritual and home life? Even God had a plan for Jesus, and when Jesus had finished His work, He was called home. ‘I have finished the work which you gave me to do’ (John 17:4). If it’s good enough for God to have a measured plan, why not you? What’s your plan look like? Here are some ideas as you grapple with your priorities this year:

• Set aside time for reflection, reading the Bible and prayer.
• Make time together a priority. Your children need you to provide a stable and happy environment. They learn from how you relate not what you say to them.
• Plan to have at least one meal together each day. Sit down at a set table and develop the art of communication (without the TV on).
• Establish a vision for your home, and for each person, including your partner. If you don’t know how you wish your family to be in the future, how can you work towards it?
• Understand what stresses you out by asking your partner and then discuss how you can reverse the problem.
• Establish a central family diary or calendar and use it to plan what is coming up.
• Introduce some helping and fun routines back into the home. These give stability and security to all.
• Establish and communicate clear boundaries with your children. This is part of their security fence.
• Revive your romance. Think back to your courting days and find new or old ways to ‘woo’ your sweetheart.

Your spiritual life, work place and home must be balanced in order for you to enjoy all life has to offer. I have to constantly work at this, and for the most part I succeed. Doing something about it is a good place to start.

“”My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity.” Proverbs 3:1-2 NIV

Peter

Over the Christmas period I was chatting with a couple of guys from church and I happened to bring up the movie The Life of Brian.

We were talking about the way people venerate ancient Christian artifacts and places, as though these objects provide some increased direct connectivity with God.  The chains that bound St Peter, and the steps Christ walked up to stand before Pilate (La Scala Sancta), are well known places visited by pilgrims in Rome. In Jerusalem, people eagerly touch a part of the wall along the Via Dolorosa where they believe Jesus steadied Himself on the way to Calvary. The Life of Brian highlights such practices with a satirical example of Brian’s lost sandal.

One of our small group commented that they’d never seen, nor ever would see, The Life of Brian because it was nothing more than cheap blasphemy made for commercial purposes.  I’d seen the movie in my early twenties while visiting London, during a time when I was backpacking around Europe, and could see the religious satire that was the background to the film.

The 70’s produced three very successful ‘religious’ entertainment events. The Life of Brian was first staged in 1979, and, being the last of the group, was most probably included because its point of difference was its comical angle. In 1971 Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak brought us the musical Godspell. One writer says of this hippie inspired stage show, “(it’s) a slap-stick, harlequin, blasphemous, musical supposedly based upon the gospel according to St. Matthew.” In that same year Jesus Christ Superstar took the world by storm. I can still remember my uncle storming out of the Melbourne show in disgust because of their irreverent portrayal of the Virgin Mary.

While Christians hold significantly different views on whether the stage is the right place for portraying the story of our Saviour, Jesus Christ, sometimes, if you look carefully, you will find some nuggets that are worth savouring.

In the musical Godspell, the third song in the show’s score is based on a prayer ascribed to the 13th century English Bishop, Saint Richard of Chichester.

Day by day
Day by day
Oh Dear Lord
Three things I pray
To see thee more clearly
Love thee more dearly
Follow thee more nearly
Day by day

Saint Richard’s story provides an important background to the intent of the words quoted in the song Day by Day. At the age of 38 Richard became Chancellor of Oxford University before entering the priesthood. During his ministry life he was a stalwart of the church and a vehement supporter of the canon, enacting many regulations to ensure the clergy remained faithful to their calling. Now, take a look at the full prayer written by Bishop Richard.

Thanks be to Thee, my Lord Jesus Christ
For all the benefits Thou hast given me,
For all the pains and insults Thou hast borne for me.
O most merciful Redeemer, friend and brother,
May I know Thee more clearly,
Love Thee more dearly,
Follow Thee more nearly

There’s such wonderful theology in Richard’ prayer.

The New Year is always a time of envisioning the future. Some of us make resolutions, while those like me, who find them all too hard to keep, simple select a few things to work on over the coming year.

I seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance on how to grow the ministry’s impact and how to be the best husband, father, and friend possible. Keeping in step with God’s plan is not easy because He doesn’t write a simple list for us to follow. And that’s where prayer comes in. Saint Richard of Chichester provides us with a model for our relationship with God that we should all consider, and the musical Godspell adds an important element worth remembering.

Verses 1 to 4 - Appreciate your life, the good and the bad. God is merciful.

Verse 5 - We were born to come to know God. Prayer and His Word will give you clarity.

Verse 6 - God deserves our total love. The more you get to know Him, the more you will love Him.

Verse 7 - The world is a dark place and we need to stay close to Him in all circumstances.

Lastly, these three lessons must become part of our daily lives, appropriately bookended by three words in the musical version of the prayer . . . Day by Day.

My prayer is that in 2013 you will draw closer to God through an ever-deepening relationship with your Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Peter

Over the past few days the church has received a hammering from the press since Prime Minister Gillard announced the long overdue Royal Commission into institutionalized child sexual abuse in Australia. While abuse has been perpetrated across a raft of organizations in the past, the church has become the focus of the discussion, primarily that of the Roman Catholic Church.

I was raised in a loving, strongly committed Catholic family, and attended our parish primary and secondary school as was the norm in those days. My mum and dad taught me to love the Lord, and while I attend a Baptist church these days, the foundations I received from my parental and school upbringing were fundamental for the strength of my faith today.

There’s been much said in recent days, and will be said for years to come, about the abuse dispensed by clergy. My four brothers and I attended Christian Brothers’ schools and for the most part it was a positive experience. However, in those days, the teachers were quite brutal as they meted out their strange form of discipline in the form of well crafted straps made of leather and soaked in brine. There were certainly times when we steered clear of teachers who ‘couldn’t be trusted.’ I remember my angst as an eleven year old at being the last in the showers after our P.E. lesson. Thankfully, I was never a victim. We never said anything to our teachers, and no one ever mentioned these concerns to their parents. You just wouldn’t go there!

What saddens me about this whole issue though is not just the injustice and irreparable damage done to young impressionable children, but how the greater church is being dragged down, labeled as some evil institution. The disrespect the whole church now experiences because of the abuse of a few plays right into the hands of those who would deny the existence of God, or who would work to see it destroyed.

The gospel writer, Matthew, recorded Jesus’ words when he talked about the correct relationship that should exist between adults and children.

“… whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”

The ‘in my name’ portion of this verse is vital to our understanding of what Jesus is talking about. You can tell if someone is truly walking tall with God because they profess to a faith in Christ and have been endowed with characteristics, which we call the fruits of the Spirit. The apostle Paul, after reeling off the characteristics that show a person isn’t walking with Christ, provides these positive attributes:

“… the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23

In my experience almost all of those I’d class as clergy, from a wide variety of denominations, would display these traits, as would most I know who would call themselves ‘Christian’. But as we all know, wherever people gather in association, there will be some who are the bad apples that spoil it for everyone.

What bothers me most is that it’s taken such a long time for this issue to be dealt with. If we go back to Scripture, Jesus was so protective of children that he had a quick and easy means of dealing with those who abused them – not that acting like vigilantes was part of his thinking. Jesus’ figurative statement doesn’t beat around the bush . . .

“If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! Matthew 18:6-7 NIV

The church, in its broad sense,  is a remarkable and wonderful institution because it is merely the gathering of people who have a desire to worship the Living God, and grow closer to him through prayer, fellowship and the study of his Word. But because it is a gathering of people, there will always be those who undermine its noble qualities because of their social, emotional, psychological or spiritual dysfunction.

The two leaders of the New Testament church, Peter and Paul, both have much to say about Christians being subject to the law of the land just like everyone else. There are no exemptions, in fact, Christians are held to a higher requirement, to which they will be ultimately judged.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” 1 Peter 2:13-17

The abuse of children, both past, present and, sadly, in the future, is a symptom of the sinful and depraved nature of a few. The problem is that the church, as with other community based institutions, hasn’t taken immediate and decisive action. Rather than protecting the institution they should have assigned the proverbial millstone to such people before they caused harm to others.

I pray that the Royal Commission will heal the lives of those abused, including some of my school-mates, and eradicate the deceivers from the midst of our churches that otherwise perform a vital role in Australian society.

We can all remember a time when a grandparent started a conversation with, ‘I remember the time when . . .” Your eyes probably rolled back in your head as you settled down for a lengthy period of nostalgia. The end of the monologue most likely finished with a comment on how much you’d grown, which was all the more painful because you were in your late teens at the time.

It has to be said that those were ‘the good old days’, just as today will be part of ‘the good old days’ we tell our grandkids about in the future. Every generation recalls better times of the past, primarily because they’ve had time to mull them over, selecting to recall what was good while choosing to ignore those things that caused us pain. Nothing ever stays the same because progress happens whether you want it or not. You can’t stop it. You just have to get used to it.

When we get older it’s all too easy to fall into the trap of constraining growth because we simply feel safe and secure in what we know. Good and useful progress has never been instigated by the complacent or sedentary.

Imagine if the 32-year-old Thomas Edison was only satisfied with his job as a businessman rather than looking for a way to develop a practical long-lasting, electric light globe. Also consider life without the phonograph or the motion picture camera he invented. If Edison hadn’t created new technologies to improve the way we live we’d all be sitting by candlelight entertaining ourselves by reading, playing acoustic instruments, or telling stories. While a simpler life may have its benefits the good use of technology can enrich our lives significantly.

Sometime in the 4th century before Christ, there was a man named Jabez. We don’t know much about this man but that he was from one of the clans of Judah. His name means “Pain” because his mother had a painful childbirth when delivering him. No doubt he carried the significance of that name wherever he went. Jabez is mentioned only once in the Bible, in 1 Chronicles. But his significance is founded on the fact that God singled him out from all of the genealogies recorded in this part of the Bible. Jabez made an impact on God because he pleaded to Him for new opportunities to tell people about God.

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:10 (NIV)

This non-descript character of the Old Testament wasn’t content with the status quo. He had a vision to communicate his love for God to a much broader audience. He sought the Lord’s blessing and guidance, but also his protection, as he increased his sphere of influence.

In these New Testament days, Jesus calls us to enlarge our territory to share our love for him in an ever-increasing circle. The influence we exert does not have as its objective wealth, power or the manipulation of people but simply to connect our families, friends and workmates with Christ.

The way we do this is to teach the Biblical principles of the first century church by using contemporary methods and technologies. While Jesus’ message stays the same, its delivery mechanism should change so it parallels culture, age, and social demographic.

Insight for Living’s most difficult juggling act is delivering Bible teaching and study content to a diverse audience without compromising the message.

Two weeks ago we launched an App designed for iPhone, iPod, iPad and Android devices. After installing the application on your phone or tablet you can listen to all of Chuck Swindoll’s Bible-teaching programs, wherever and whenever you have 3G coverage. The App gives you access to all of our written content, my blog, IFL Australia’s website, videos, social media links and much more.

While grandpa might be right about the good old days of yesteryear, you have to admit that technology has also presented us with opportunities we never thought possible. It was only 25 years ago that the most advanced way of communicating wirelessly to some one on the move was with an alpha-numeric pager. Today you can be driving your car to work, relaxing at the beach while on holidays, or sitting in an outback roadside café, and still listen to some of the best preaching you’ll ever hear from the Bible.

Talk about enlarging your territory. Wow!

Peter