Liquorice Allsorts Living...

I love Liquorice Allsorts – especially the ones with triple layers of liquorice! They get chosen first, above all others! The rest are … ok. Are they good for me or part of the essential food group? No – but I love them anyway!

Many people have this consumer attitude to life in what they choose or don’t choose to do. They choose to do just the things they like – not what is essential for their health or continued existence. This is very evident when it comes to believing in God or rejecting God. He’s just one of the “choices” out there, right? Wrong! God is the “essential food group” you need, to come out of this life intact. In Jesus is “Life” – life that will last past the time you cease to breathe on this earth. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die…” (John 11:25-26)

There is a choice to be made – and that choice has consequences, like any other decision in life. Choosing just the ‘triple-layer-liquorice’ activities now, may mean missing out on the whole packet later!

Jesus promises life – even after death. Why would you settle for anything less? Choose “Life” – and live.

Less is More...

“God blesses those who realize their need for Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is given to them…” (Matthew 5:3)

A wooden chopping board, an open fire, a concave roasting pan, two large knives, a kettle, a wooden mortar and a pestle (short axle from a Land Rover) for preparing coffee beans. That’s it! A fully equipped kitchen in a village in Ethiopia, Africa…

My host seemed very happy with her life. She even took in orphan girls and taught them how to fend for themselves and then to serve the community around them, in their turn. She introduced me to successful ‘graduates’ from her home who were now emulating her example. What an inspiration! From political activist and outright rebel to a living foundation of her community… and all because of Jesus Christ. Through a travelling evangelist, she realized how far away she was from God and yet Jesus had paid the ultimate price for her guilty life. She had found true happiness and a purpose for her life!

What a pity so many of us get caught up in the clutter of ‘get this…, buy that…, drive this…, be seen with…’ - trying to fill that vacuum inside of us – a ‘God-sized hole’ that only God can fill. Maybe we need to unclutter our daily existence and get back to what is crucial to our future contentedness… - a right relationship with the God of this universe. Simple, but so fundamental. Get that right and you will gain so much more!

Flashlight Apps...

Jesus - “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life” (John 8:12)

The ‘flashlight app’ on my cell phone came in very handy recently while on a prolonged stay in a small Ethiopian village called Waka. It seemed like everyone in the village had a cell phone with a light – which became evident at night, when we all stumbled around along the unlit, rocky main ‘road’ - small beams of light dancing everywhere…

One night, my phone battery died on me – along with its light. What a difference it made to my walk – long steps, short steps, ghost steps, stumbling over rocks – ankle twisting territory! How I missed my light…

Life is like that road – rocky in places, smooth in others – but we have to walk along it. Without Jesus Christ, we choose to stumble through the rocky bits as best we can … and it affects our walk. We trip over continually and sometimes even fall – hurting ourselves in the process. Yet, Jesus has promised to be our Light – to help us to get through those same rocky places – but with a much more controlled walk as His light takes away the darkness. Now there is hope as He assists us and guides us over the rough patches, and strengthens us while on the smooth patches. What’s more, He gifts us permanent built-in light as He comes to stay inside us.

Walk your life … in Light … in Jesus.

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!

STAND for the Gospel Conference: 22-24 July 2011 (Howick, Auckland)

Keynote Speaker - Geoff Thomas (Alfred Place Baptist Church, Aberystwyth, Wales)
Theme: The Person and Work of Jesus Christ
Venue: Howick Baptist Church, c/o Picton & Wellington Street, Howick, Auckland
Cost: FREE entry if registered by 1 July (Freewill Offering will be taken up)

For more info, visit STAND Conference