0800HEAVEN...

“In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And… I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2-3)

After being stonewalled by one bureaucratic department after another while trying to help a needy couple with small children find a home, my mind was vividly taken to Jesus’ words of comfort to all who believe in Him – “In my Father’s house are many rooms…” – and all prepared by Jesus Himself. They will perfectly meet our needs and we will be perfectly content! To be cared for in this way will not take listening to endless electronic music on 0800 numbers or speaking to people who do not really seem to care or want to understand.

However, it will demand everything of us – surrendering ourselves (heart, mind, strength, resources, aspirations, etc.) to Jesus Christ. Complete surrender means asking forgiveness from God for trying to live without Him and stubbornly going our own sinful way. It means being given a new nature by God – a nature which wants to please Him, instead of rebel.

It is only to these individuals that Jesus promises, “I am coming again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also.” Where will that be? In heaven – with Jesus Christ! Perfect contentment and perfect rest!

Where will your home be, for the rest of eternity?

Marriage - A Three-Way Affair...

‘Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”… And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man… Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’ (Genesis 2:18,22,24)

Marriage is not about two people only – it’s about two people and God. More precisely - one man, one woman, One God. Vows are made before God and God then marries the man and woman – not the preacher or the celebrant. We are mere witnesses of a much bigger event. ‘Marriage’, therefore, can only be true marriage, if it fulfils God’s definition of ‘marriage’ (man, woman, God). Any other ‘marriage’ is not marriage at all but rather two people making promises to each other – and thus a very cheap imitation of the real thing.

Marriage is on “God’s turf” and by His terms, and therefore the current bill to legalise same sex marriage in New Zealand is an outright infringement of politicians and gay activists into God’s territory. It’s not Christians or Christian tradition they are taking on but God Himself… If it’s the legal status they’re after – they’ve missed the point. Marriage is not theirs to ‘take’ – it is a ‘state before God’ – something way out of their reach which does not need celebrants or legal status or politicians’ approval. Without God and His approval – they have ‘nothing’.

The Return...

Not only am I returning to my blogspot - after being slack for such a long time - but I am also returning with a renewed passion to challenge, to inform, to ask questions and reflect on some of life's most important questions ... and, Yes, some of the lighter observations too...

Having just returned from helping to run the STAND 2012 Conference in Howick, Auckland (www.standforthegospel.org) - I have the main plenary speaker, Conrad Mbewe's words, still ringing in my ears. He spoke from Romans 10:10-17 and pointed to God's message that 1) Jesus Christ has already prepared the only way back to God, ie, through His death and resurrection - and that all mankind can do is to cry out to Him to save them - No more and no less! 2) That we, as Christians and the church are to proclaim the Gospel message FIRST, that Jesus forgives and saves, as the only message to unbelievers - over and above any social action or aid that we may also approach them with (as opposed to the present popular idea that our actions of love and aid can suffice without us having to voice the very specific challenge of God's stated way back to Himself). 3) That we are to actively and deliberately evangelize the lost in our communities - not just as some half-hearted add-on or afterthought but in a well-planned and deliberate effort at obedience to God. 4) That we as Christian churches are to deliberately plant new churches in areas in our communities where no effective evangelical churches exist - so that there may be a broad and growing network of light in the darkness. This, in contrast to just being busy with our own religious activities and programmes or growing bigger and bigger churches - while the community around us remains in spiritual darkness. This may result in additional social outreaches (as in a Zambian example of converting a tip site into an area of sport and recreation with weekly gospel challenges to the participating community).
The challenge? Many churches, in Zambia - but also here in New Zealand, have stepped away from these core mandate missions of the church and have embraced social programmes and "religious practices" which do not have the Gospel at their core or God's-work-done-in-His-way as their foundation.
The result? Weak and enfeebled Christians; an ineffective influence in a local community; the church becoming "voiceless" - not just in the community - but in national concerns which have moral consequences; dying churches - and more coffee shops in their buildings...

No - the task ahead is not easy! We have to approach it with a realism which is biblical (with the example of the opposition to the OT prophets and NT Apostles spelt out)  but also in the knowledge that we have as our strength and at our head, One who is Almighty and who knows the end result for His Church triumphant - Christ Jesus!