Life in a Church

Proverbs 16: 1 We may make our plans, but God has the last word. ² You may think everything you do is right, but the Lord judges your motives. ³ Ask the Lord to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out.

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Listen to the music and you will see that this spirit is running riot in our churches. Continue Reading →

Introduction As we have been discussing for several months the Galatian Christians were being strongly tempted to take on keeping the Old Testament Law as a means of pleasing God. God’s Law was never designed to empower us to live… Continue Reading →

Background After reading this part of my report to our AGM; “To release the expression of the diversity of gifts that Jesus gives to his whole Body remains a challenge into the future (Rom 12; 1 Cor 12; Eph 4).… Continue Reading →

UP to 75 per cent of ministers, pastors and priests suffer from stress-related issues, says a psychologist researching clergy concerns, and up to 25 per cent have taken stress leave or suffered serious burnout. Grant Bickerton said burnout rates were… Continue Reading →

Personal Matters A man tries to kill himself by running straight in front of my friend’s car, a brother’s niece hospitalised and on suicide watch, children who are too anxious to go to school, a ministry forced to move on… Continue Reading →

PERSONAL MATTERS Spiritual passivity rules much of the Body of Christ; my local Anglican congregation hardly reacts to my preaching and charismatic gifts lie dormant in corporate worship across the churches. Yet believers never seem to lack energy to accuse,… Continue Reading →

PERSONAL MATTERS Recent encounters have challenged me to comment on the shape of Sunday church services i.e. liturgies1)The English word “liturgy” derives from a Greek word for public service and is generally used for a set order of congregational worship… Continue Reading →

Introduction Fear has become a part of our everyday life. This time last year I was in a meeting with some older people in our area whose primary concern was street crime. One had recently been bashed by a young refugee… Continue Reading →

Destruction by evil powers always befalls the Bride of the Lord whenever she refuses his protection, Whoever knows resurrection power cannot fear, “whatever man may do”, because they are fully assured their Protector will never forsake them. The marginalisation of the power of the gospel in preaching leaves the Bride spiritually unprotected from evil powers. more… Continue Reading →

“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you…Let him who has done this be removed from among you. For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as present, I have already pronounced judgment on… Continue Reading →

A Challenge for daily living Pain, grief, rejection, failure – to some extent for all of us at some time. You have no suffering at the present time? Be thankful and give glory to God. Suffering for the victorious Christian?… Continue Reading →

1)Since an angel witness tells us that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” the measure of any prophetic voice, old or new, will be their faithfulness in proclaiming Christ [Rev 19:10]. By this standard the spirit of… Continue Reading →

-Becoming a Prophetic People 15 Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 ‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not… Continue Reading →

by Timothy Tay It is not surprising that glory and weight go together for in Hebrew the word glory (kabod)1)http://biblesuite.com/hebrew/3519b.htm has its root meaning as weight or heaviness. Thus Paul wrote that he would gladly exchange his afflictions for a far more exceeding and eternal weight… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates Background Revival is an exciting topic – its stories of the supernatural overwhelm us and we long for the sorts of things we hear of from the Third World to happen here. I want to suggest… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates Being a professional Christian for over 25 years (ordained in 1982), and having taught theology for about 15 of those, I am always amazed at the identity confusion amongst Australian believers.  Relatively few seem to be conscious… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8; Mark 1:21-28 Introduction Moses prophesied to a rebellious Israel in the wilderness; ““The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me…it is to him you… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates Introduction Western Christianity is in the midst of a spiritual crisis with issues of sexual immorality, ignorance of scripture and prayerlessness abounding.1)If it is true that, as Charles Spurgeon stated, the prayer meeting is the spiritual… Continue Reading →

WHEN JESUS APPEARED ON THE PREACHING SCENE IN GALILEE THERE WAS SOMETHING RADICALLY DIFFERENT ABOUT HIM COMPARED TO OTHER TEACHERS: 21 “And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. 22 And… Continue Reading →

Western culture prides itself on the democratic principle of governance. Individual rights and equality are worshipped; this is what is at the heart of the current debate about “gay marriage”. Everyone knows that Australians, perhaps more than any other people,… Continue Reading →

Jesus himself said, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.” (John 10:17 ESV). HE DID NOT MEAN THAT THE LOVE OF GOD WAS CONDITIONAL, BUT THAT THE… Continue Reading →

True spiritual authority is rarer than we would care to admit, and what is taken to be authority is often a mixture of personal charisma, spiritual gifts, education, rank or reputation. This is where we face a major obstacle in… Continue Reading →

The promise of being indwelt by God and indwelling God is a central element in New Testament salvation, ““Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come… Continue Reading →

IN GOD’S ORDER THE OBEDIENCE THAT LEADS INTO EMPTINESS FLOWS INTO FULLNESS: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing… Continue Reading →

ULTIMATELY ALL AUTHORITY FLOWS THROUGH CHRIST TO US FROM THE FATHER: “there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom… Continue Reading →

In summing up Jesus’ present authority, the author of Hebrews cites Psalm 8:4-6, showing that he understands is that the original promise of dominion given to humankind through Adam has been fulfilled through Christ (Heb 2:5-9). Elsewhere the author expounds… Continue Reading →

NEXT: Life and Ministry 

There are two contending schools of thought to explain the source of the authority of Jesus. The first is that Jesus exercised his authority as God, the Second Person of the Trinity. It was natural for Jesus to give commands… Continue Reading →

1)These terms, like the way they are used in the New Testament, are meant to be gender inclusive. by Dr. John Yates Personal matters Even though it is several years since I left the ministry for which I am best… Continue Reading →

by Charles Slack  (Isa 53:5) But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. We Christians know to whom that verse refers.  But… Continue Reading →

Another Word for Australia. by Dr. John Yates October 31, 2011 Background This is the substance of a prophetic message I shared at the Commonwealth Prayer Initiative (CPI) in Perth on October 29th 2011. It lacks the footnoting, biblical detail and… Continue Reading →

When To Step Down? by Timothy Tay The Catholic Archbishop of Perth, Barry Hickey, had announced his resignation at the age of 75 after reaching the mandatory retirement age for bishops and archbishops introduced by Pope Paul VI (the pope… Continue Reading →

And the Need of Drawing Resources from Fresh Fire years ago. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit one hundred years ago, many Christians had their passion renewed.  as recorded in the book of Acts. Thank God that by centennial… Continue Reading →

by Timothy Tay Apart from the traditional churches that are around for centuries the relatively newer churches are characterised by multitudes of church leadership style ranging from fully democratic1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy to complete totalitarian.2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism There are strengths and weaknesses found in all… Continue Reading →

  The Pentecostals worldwide celebrated Azusa Street Centennial in Los Angeles three years ago. With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit one hundred years ago, many Christians had their passion renewed. Pastor Allen Tan (Yew Fook) They began to read… Continue Reading →

by Timothy You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates We are often arrogantly certain that we know in what form the next “move of God” will come, meanwhile neglecting various foundational patterns laid down in the Bible that are universal for all humanity. Amazed by… Continue Reading →

& a People Prepared for Revival1)I am using the term revival as meaning a restoration of new covenant Christianity. I do not have in mind here large meetings, prominent evangelists and other phenomena associated with modern revivalism. by Dr. John… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates The Revival of our Time 1. A revival that begins with what we have rather than what we do not have. I see many earnest Christians praying from a position that focuses on what we lack… Continue Reading →

1)This term is used in an inclusive way throughout the paper. by Dr. John Yates Introduction God is building a temple2)1 Cor 3:16; Eph 2:22; 1 Pet 2:5 across the world made up of believers, and in the End the earth… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates In a recent controversial but penetrating book, the Anglican evangelical scholar Alister McGrath makes the following comment: ‘modern evangelicalism has spawned a number of ideas and attitudes that bear a disquieting resemblance to the worst excesses of… Continue Reading →

1)The above message was first delivered at the Transformation Conference – Equipped to transform Friday 26.10.2007 JY sermon Introduction Western Australia is a state full of natural riches – deserts, beaches, forests, iron ore, gas, diamonds, bauxite, mineral sands, pearls,… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates Expect the Wounds of a Friend Every revival begins with a wave of repentance1)See this emphasis on repentance as a precondition for the outpouring of the Spirit in the preaching of Acts e.g. Acts 2:38; Acts 3:19; Acts… Continue Reading →

by Dr. John Yates Things to Expect in 2007 Something wonderful is about to happen, Jesus is about to visit our city in a most intimate way.  He is “coming soon” to the church as he speaks of in Revelation.  Most of… Continue Reading →