I have uploaded two new free MP3 messages to my main website. You can listen to them on the links below. They are all less than five minutes and under 1mb.

• We are new in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17)
• David’s boldness inspires me (1 Samuel 17:32-37)

God Bless,

Dave

As a new Christian back in 1989, and even today, I love the fact that we are completely changed on the inside the moment we come to Christ.

The Bible tells us in Titus 3:5 that, “…He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.” We are washed internally and have been born again.

We are completely new. We are not reformed, we are not rehabilitated, we are not re-educated – we ARE re-created in Christ. The old really IS swepted away!

I really love facing life knowing that I am completely new on the inside. I love knowing that the creator of the universe re-made me. I love that He turned me back to His original blueprints for me.

I also love that it was a work that He has done. It is not done by human effort, it is ALL His work. It is done completely and perfectly. It is finished.

If you are in Christ, you ARE a new creation!

God Bless,
Dave

Walls for a city control the flow of traffic and they also provide proctection by keeping the enemy out. They are restrictive, but it is a good type of restriction.

Having walls around a city gives a sense of freedom and safety. You know you can move around freely within them and be safe from outside attack.

The same goes for the walls of self control in our lives. We need the discipline of self control to keep us safe too. It provides boundaries to live within.

Just like a city without walls is open to attack from the enemy at any time, so is a person who has no walls of self control or boudaries in their life.

Self control is an important part of life. For the Christian it is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). It allows us to say no when tempted and yes when God asks us to do something.

If we are living by the Sprit then the walls of self control will be a natural outflowing in our lives.

Heavenly Father, I pray that I will be a person who has strong and fortified walls around me. I pray self control will be evident in my life. Help me to live by Your Spirit everyday. Amen.

God Bless,
Dave

1. You are going prepare a place for me

“My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going.” John 14:2-4

2. That you promise never to leave me

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

3. That one day I will hear these great words from You

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21

4. That when you return you bring salvation with You

“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.”  Hebrews 9:28

Let us all remember the great promises God has in store for those who love Him.

God Bless,

Dave

“For more than 75 years, HCJB Global’s passion has been making disciples of Jesus Christ. Using media and healthcare, we are setting truth in motion around the world.

Working with partners around the globe, we now have ministries in more than 100 countries. The gospel is airing in more than 120 languages and dialects. Thousands of our healthcare patients are meeting Jesus. Nationals are being trained as missionaries, pastors, broadcasters and healthcare providers.”

Today they shared about the short wave radio broadcasting facility they have in Kununurra WA. Below is a short video that shows their set up.

HCJB INTRO from hcjb.australia on GodTube.

Erwin Lutzer correctly stated “in marriage, the goal is holiness, not happiness.” Marriage was intended to be a God-ordained commitment between one husband and one wife for one lifetime as one flesh. Sin has broken that, and we see those effects all around us. However, we have the Power in us to overcome. Christ is faithful to hold marriages together when they are centered on Him and His redemptive work on the cross. If our marriage is focused on holiness, happiness will inevitably follow. I’ve never met a couple who has divorced because they were pursuing God too much.

The rest of the article about marriage and divorce statistics is found here http://www.edstetzer.com/2012/09/pastors-that-divorce-rate-stat.html

God Bless,
Dave

He was talking about using your words well to build up and encourage. He also touched on not passing on gossip.

He finished with this accronym as a guide – T.H.I.N.K.

T – Is it True?
H – Is it Helpful?
I – Is it Inspirational?
N – Is it Nice?
K – Is it Kind?

I thought it was a great lesson to passing on to our kids and the young people in Merredin. It is a good reminder for all of us too.

It reminds me of Ephesians 4:29 “Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”

God Bless,
Dave

The part that always gets me inspired and very emotional is the section from verses 32-37. It says…

³² David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

³³ Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

Every time I read it I am amazed at this young man who did not see the giant, he saw a man who “defied the armies of the living God”. He saw a loud, prideful, warrior who was no match for the Lord and His servant.

I love the way he drew on his past experiences of God coming through for him and rescuing him from the hands of the lion and bear. He knew God had done it in the past and He would do it that day. He had a confident boldness in God.

I don’t know about you, but I wish I was more like David at times. I wish I would stand up and battle for what was right. I wish I would take a stand against the “giants” we face today.

The reality is the power is there. The favour of God is there. The backing of the armies of heaven is there. We just need to take the stand in God and step out.

God Bless,

Dave

4 essentials for a church board meeting

Church boards are notorious for wasting time on minuscule operational matters.

Focus your board on essentials by including these agenda items in your board meetings at least 3 times a year.

1. Dashboard

A dashboard of your key stats which show membership, attendance, percentage of members in small groups & serving, baptisms & key financial trends.

2. Care of the Pastor

Boards should be asking their pastor, “how are you”? Use these 6 questions board members should ask their pastor as a guide.

3. Are we on track?

Look again at your core mission & convictions & have the discussion – are we on track?

4. Where do we want to be in 5 years?

Boards must leave the day to day operations to staff & key volunteers & focus on the future.

Becoming
by Julie Ackerman Link

Read: Luke 2:41-52

Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. —Luke 2:52

I grew up in a small town. No famous people. No busy streets. Not much to do. Yet I’ve always been thankful for my quiet, uncomplicated upbringing.

One evening when my husband and I were attending a business dinner, a new acquaintance asked me where I was from. When I told her, she said, “Aren’t you embarrassed to admit it?”

Unsure whether or not she was joking, I simply said, “No.”

Although my town was sometimes belittled for its lack of sophistication, it was not lacking in things that matter. My family was part of a church community in which parents brought up children “in the training and admonition of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).

Jesus also grew up in a small town: Nazareth. A man named Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). Jesus proved that the answer is yes. Even though He grew up in an insignificant place, He was the most significant person in all of history.

Experience taught me and Scripture confirms that what matters is not where you grow up but how you grow up. Sometimes we feel insignificant compared to sophisticated people from prominent places. But we are significant to God, and He can make us strong in spirit and filled with His wisdom.

O teach me what it cost You, Lord,
To make a sinner whole;
And help me understand anew
The value of one soul! —Anon.

What we become is more important than where we’re from.

I am on FriendFeed too if you want to connect there. It is sort of like Twitter where you share status updates, but you have more than the 140 characters. You can also share pictures and movies too.

My address is http://friendfeed.com/davequinn.

God Bless,
Dave

There is some great stuff in here to keep us on track.  I was writing a blog post about this and then I read the notes from the New Living Translation Life Application Study Bible (LASB).

LASB notes: 4:23-27 Our heart—our feelings of love and desire—dictates to a great extent how we live because we always find time to do what we enjoy. Solomon tells us to guard our hearts above all else, making sure we concentrate on those desires that will keep us on the right path. Make sure your affections lead you in the right direction. Put boundaries on your desires: Don’t go after everything you see. Look straight ahead, keep your eyes fixed on your goal, and don’t get sidetracked on detours that lead to sin.

After thinking about the passage and the LASB notes I imagined a security guard standing outside a door. He was big and strong and held a clipboard with names that could enter.

Love, joy, peace, encouragement, inspiration, right thinking, godly goals and God’s principles were allowed in. Everything else that would pollute us was politely refused entry.

Let’s all post a security guard on our hearts today. I am going to. The big decision now is will they look like a CIA Agent with dark glasses and an ear piece or a SAS Commando or perhaps a Jedi Knight

God Bless,

Dave

The dictionary tells us to honour someone is to show great respect, regard, or esteem in an outward way towards them. It also talks about giving credit to them for something they have done.

Likewise, the Greek word used here in this verse is τιμή. It is pronounced tee-may’. This means to highly value or highly esteem something or someone. It is to put a great price on them.

This got me thinking about the people in my life. Do I highly value or esteem them? Do I go out of my way to honour or show great respect outwardly towards them?

I really hope I do. Just in case, in the next few days I am intentionally going to go out of my way to show the people in my life how much I do honour and respect them.

How about you? Is there anyone in your life you could “take delight in honoring” today?

God Bless,
Dave

I found them today and noticed I never shared them on my blog, so I thought I would share them today. I hope they bless you.

Key 1 – God’s will and no more

Do the things God wants you to do and no more. If you can’t get it done, maybe you are doing too much! Getting too busy dilutes our effort in the important things.

Key 2 – More time in eternity than on earth

“You will spend far more time on the other side of death – in eternity…Your time on earth is …but a small parenthesis is eternity”.

Key 3 – True Surrender

True surrender means daily offering ourselves to God. We can crawl back off the altar anytime so it needs to be daily.

Key 4 – Practicing God’s presence

Brother Lawrence’s book Practicing God’s presence talks about experiencing God’s presence moment by moment. Even taking breaks during the day to focus on God.

Key 5 – Developing your friendship with God

To be God’s friend you need to be honest with God, obey God in faith even when we don’t know the outcome or reason why, need to value what God values and must value our friendship.

Key 6 – Love God and people

Four of the 10 Commandments deal with our relationship with God, the other 6 deal with our relationship with people. After learning to love God, the second purpose is to learn to love others.

Key 7 – Church a place to belong

We all need to have a place to feel where we belong. Church is a place where you can serve and be in relationship with others.

Key 8 – Cultivating a church community

There are 9 things that will help cultivate a healthy church community. We should share our true feelings, support each other, offer forgiveness, speak the truth in love, admit our weaknesses, be courteous, respect our differences, not gossip and attend regularly.

I have added a new free mp3 message today to my main website. It is titled, “Be strong and very courageous” and looks at Joshua 1:6-8.

You can find it here http://www.passionaustralia.org/audio/Courageous.MP3

God Bless,

Dave

Here is the text…

6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the laws my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Here are the four points for reflection…

1. Courageous – God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous three times in these verses. The task God was giving Joshua was not going to be easy. He was to lead the armies of Israel to take the Promised Land. Joshua needed to be strong and courageous and know God would always be with him (v9).

2. Remember – God tells Joshua to remember all that Moses had told him. He said it was very important to obey all of the instructions Moses had given him (v7). God spoke face to face with Moses and he would have passed a lot of this on to Joshua. Joshua needed to remember Moses’ leadership lessons and God’s instructions to Moses.

3. Read – God tells Joshua to constantly read and meditate on God’s Word – “The Book of Instruction”. God tells Joshua to do this and to be careful to obey everything in it. He promised that if he does, Joshua will prosper and be successful in all he does. Reading God’s Word keeps us in tune with God.

4. Promises – In this passage we also see that God uses people to fulfill the promises He has made to others. In verse 6 God says, “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.” God used Joshua to bring His vow to pass. Today God uses you and I to bring His promises to pass.

So today we need to learn from God’s encouragement to Joshua if we are taking on something very big. We need to remember to be courageous and God is with us, remember what our leaders have taught us, read and meditate on God’s Word and remember God uses ordinary people to being about His plans.

God Bless,

Dave

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I am so glad that nothing in this life, no power or ruler, both now and in the future can separate us from God’s love. It is great to know we are held firmly in His hands. Jesus Himself said this in John 10:28-29. It says…

“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.”

I love the whole plan of God’s salvation for us. It begins and ends with Him. All we need to do is accept it

God Bless,
Dave

Anzac Day marks the anniversary of the first campaign that led to major casualties for Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. The acronym ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, whose soldiers were known as Anzacs.

Anzac Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand, a rare instance of two sovereign countries not only sharing the same remembrance day, but making reference to both countries in its name.

Today Anzac Day is a national day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand that broadly commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders “who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations” and “the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.”

For me Anzac Day makes me both proud and thankful. Proud to be Australian with our heritage of coming to others aid and fighting for what is right; and thankful to God and those who fought to keep Australia free.

This photo (click on it to get a better look) is of the Kings Park War Memorial in Perth. We took a visit when we were down in Perth recently. My wife Larissa had a photo next to the name of one of her relatives who was in the 10th Light Horse Regiment.

I have always liked the inscription on the flame of remembrance where it says, “Let silent contemplation be your offering”.

God Bless,

Dave

I have been reading Our Daily Bread on and off for about 20 years. Mostly in the paper form, but more recently on the website and via the iPad app.

I have really enjoyed having the app as all of the daily devotions come to you and when you open it, it goes straight to the current day.

I have found reading Our Daily Bread is a great part of my morning devotions. It helps to tune my thoughts in to God each day.

If you are interested in the iPad or iPhone version you can find it here. If you prefer the Android app you can find it here.

God Bless,
Dave

I am back on deck blogging again! I took a month or so off to have a break. I felt I needed to have a break after blogging fairly consistently since 2006.

So what has been going on during this time? Well the biggest change is my wife and I have swapped roles. I left my part time job at our local hospital and my wife has found a part time job. This means I am a homeschool Dad!

At this stage we are looking at me taking our girls through the high school years. We made the change about two weeks ago and things are going well. We are surprised how quickly we have made the transition!

I am really looking forward to being able to help the kids with their school and I am looking forward to spending a lot more time with them through their teenage years.

During this time I will keep on blogging and recording messages for this website. I am still hoping to record some video messages too so stay tuned.

Don’t forget I am on Facebook if you want to be connected.

God Bless,

Dave

I have found that when I 100% put Jesus first in life and marriage everything else falls into place. I also find that when my amazing wife puts Him first too, I know things will continue to be great.

When Jesus is first I have a more loving and caring attitude, I want to serve my wife more and I see our marriage through the lens of the eternal. Not just the here and now.

All of us get off track in our faith at times. We all start looking around and before you know it Jesus is just a part of your life. Your faith becomes a compartment or section. In reality it needs to be all encompassing. He needs to be your all in all.

If you feel like this is happening, all you need to do is come back to Jesus and start afresh. Ask Him to help you put Him first. Ask Him to help you seek first His Kingdom and receive His promise that all things will be added (Matthew 6:33).

Maybe you like to pray something like this…

Dear Lord Jesus, I have gotten off track with You and I am sorry Lord. I pray and ask today that You will help me to get back on track. Help me to put you first in my life and in my marriage. Help me to see my life and my marriage through Your eternal eyes. Help me not to get caught up in the here and now, but to look to You first in all I do. I pray that as I do this that you will come afresh into our lives. Please take Your rightful place again. Please help me to live each and everyday 100% for You and Your Kingdom. As I do please help me to love and serve my wife/husband and see them through your eternal eyes. I ask this in Jesus name, Amen.

God Bless,

Dave