Will you be living in Fear or Living in Hope?

Some people send me Fwd. Emails mostly of American origin. I usually delete these before reading them.  I have always regretted opening them, not for their often extreme political views but for their scaremongering attitudes to anything not sanitised as middle class religious right.

Why do we do Christmas again?

I have been considering the reason for Christmas again. It seems I do it every year. Of course I discover something new and wonderful every time. This year has been kind to me and I am feeling grateful for what Jesus accomplished for us. You may wonder what this has to do with the birth of Jesus.

The Smells of Christmas

I often go online to look at stuff at a huge site run by Orthodox Jews in New York. It seems that every second time I pull up their site they have a large notice saying they are closed for business today due to this or that Jewish feast day or holiday. Do those guys ever work? I’m jealous maybe. They seem to be having too much fun.

How far from the truth have we gone?

The Church in NZ is in a state of famine unprecedented in our time but maybe not unusual in history. People are starving for the love and reality only Jesus can provide though they are surrounded by Christian stuff everywhere.

By our “Christian” traditions we have walled in the truth. We have stylised our beliefs to accommodate and be relevant to our society and culture. We have made it so hard to see Jesus by interposing a distorted image. We have offered Jesus in various flavours and the menu is confusing. Unless we move these obstacles from the believers first, we will seem as though we do not know who we are talking about. Indeed it is hard to talk about Jesus when we are seen as presenting a narrow view from our own religious experience.

Are You Sitting on the Fence?

Lately I have been reading a history of China’s so-called “Great Wall,” which incidentally is not visible to the human eye from the moon; as claimed in a popular urban myth in the 1960’s.

The Great Wall really is a collection of walls built from time to time when all else failed in dealing with barbarians or wanting to display arrogance or domination over various regions. There was no singular noble purpose but rather a variety of motivations and mostly a means of brutal subjugation and military pride. 

Man's history has failed to demonstrate anything from a pure motivation apart from Jesus Christ.

Who is Interpreting Your Faith?

I have upgraded my computer so of course my 15 year old Bible software won’t work anymore. “No problem” I thought and went online to find some new, more versatile and comprehensive software. I was wrong.

Oh yes there were a variety of sites offering fantastic packages with literally thousands of books in them. Prices ranged from $200 to $6000! I could not actually find out what was in these packages and began to get the impression that there was not much Bible, just a big bunch of commentaries and other books that claimed to expound the Bible more clearly. 

Dealing with the Dark Kingdom

I John 3:8b “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.”

It seems plain in scripture that the Lord intends to utilize us in His ultimate defeat of Satan and his false Kingdom. Victory has been progressive since Jesus wilderness refuting of Satan’s devious plans. We are in a fight whether we like it or not. Read Ephesians 3:10 and Romans 16:20

Jesus has delegated his authority to us both corporately and individually: Acts 26:18: “To open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, in order that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.”

Now as they say in Texas, “let’s look at the hardware..” that is, the equipment we use to both defend against or attack the Kingdom of Darkness.

Digging for God’s Provision

A positive expectation of good is an attitude that makes faith work. I am not talking about simply being optimistic or a “glass is half full” style of person but rather one who has learned that God is more ready to bless than condemn.

Am I hearing you correctly?

I think all of us want to know why people say and do what they do. We like to have an opinion about what’s going on and don't want to merely shrug our shoulders and say, “it's a mystery to me.”  We don't want to look as dumb as we feel! We have answers for the complex issues related to our employment but can’t tell you why our kids won’t behave.

A trite Solution for our Problems

Way back when I became a believer, I would ask what I thought were deep spiritual questions of fellow believers only to be rewarded with what I thought was the most banal, boring answer: “Read your bible and pray!” Over the years I discovered they were right! Now I am apt to handle difficult concerns with the same response; though I do try to make it sound more interesting. If you distill a lot of Christian advice it comes down to the same thing; “read your bible and pray!”

A Crumbling Image of our Faith

 Some old Orthodox branches of Christianity are into Icons: They are pictures that depict Jesus or past saints. Some of these are ancient works of art and very precious to them.

 The trouble with Icons is that they are a painting of a painting of a painting etc. Like a rumour or piece of gossip they change or “morph” over time and various interpretations emerge. No-one gets the original idea.

Will the real "born again" please stand?

For many Christian believers being “Born Again” is like receiving a special “Gold-Card” that provides immunity from some rather unpleasant consequences and becomes the ticket to attend (when the mood strikes) various functions as a card-carrying member of “The Christian Church.”  At least that is how they function in the sight of those who have had a different experience.

Raw Preaching

At best, people can remember a maximum of 20% of any message preached for a maximum of 10 days; unless they find a way to integrate the message into their daily life. The Church of the Western World has adopted the methods of the Scribes of Jesus time: They taught with illustrations, quotes, ear-tickling detail and often passionate eloquence.

Jesus taught in a different way “the crowds were astonished at His teaching because He was teaching them as one who had authority and not as the Scribes..” Matthew 7:28-29. He used brief powerful stories and parables because he knew the limitations of the people; that they could not retain things unless they were expressed in the simplest everyday concepts that they could relate to. He always included a command to action.

How to have a Better Marriage Part 8

1 Peter 3:7: “Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect and with quality time as the weaker partner and as co-heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will frustrate your prayers.”

We all want others to think and act as we do. We have an unrealistic “aisle altar Hymn” thing going on when we marry. The fact is we do not behave the same and because opposites attract, we are due for a few surprises when we begin to settle into the everyday.

How to have a Better Marriage Part 7

Marriage Killers exist everywhere… There is no end to this subject since the devil who is not inventive will exploit every chink in our armor, running at us with the wind and the hill behind him. 2 Corinthians 2:11: “lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

How to have a Better Marriage Part 6

The humdrum of life, meeting obligations and fulfilling the mostly imagined expectations of others can build up a sense of lack of fulfillment in areas of our life. We seek unconsciously to fill up those areas that we feel are overlooked in our marriage. We are sailing toward hidden reefs and these unspoken hidden agendas in our life can literally explode with power given the ideal situation. Always these strangely coincidental circumstances parade themselves as some form of love and love justifies many wrongs. We find ourselves drawn into a web of deception and devastating cycle of events.

Let me tease out the scenario for you: You work and interact with someone of the opposite sex, there is no doubt that we all work through the possibilities and the dangers in our minds. We flirt with the possibilities in our minds first and that is where this idea should be put to death. If we don’t the next stage is to “test” the waters; jokes, the knowing looks the casual touch, sharing little confidences. Now the private fantasies are growing in intensity; oddly coincidental meetings and some touching – you just like to be with that person and talk a lot – it is all happening, the current is drawing you now… over Niagara falls… 

How to have a Better Marriage Part 5

Most of us struggle with cultural and social understandings of relationships that are not founded in biblical truth. As Kiwis we have developed a particular style of weddings and married life that now reflects our culture. I have performed wedding services in Australia and USA and NZ. I have observed clear differences, the most notable being Kiwi tendency to leave many things unspoken. This is typical of our independent self reliant culture that would do the late John Wayne and most Masonic lodge members proud.

Further complicating marriage is a lack of understanding or training in interpersonal skills that enable us to grasp the significance of behavioral differences and make sense of one another. All in all, being married is not a simple business that naturally occurs; we have so many agendas and social hurdles to jump in order to meet the unspoken criteria of others expectations.

How to have a Better Marriage Part 4

There is a primeval motivation in our mating/courting behavior. This exists despite all our attempts to bury it beneath a veneer of respectability. We do joke about it but it can be uncomfortably true and therefore not a good subject for joking. We need to remember that we are not animals driven by instinct. Modern pundits extol the animal aspects of sex because they love to strip away any goodness and true virtue as if they were a Victorian curse; bringing us down to the lowest common level of understanding. When the covers are ripped away from the world’s view of sex it is ugly under there. There is much straining for imagined “highs” leading to deviation, experimentation; producing demoralization jaded appetites and finally moral corruption.

True Christianity does not seek to put the covers back on! Neither does it seek to encourage falseness and pseudo-Victorianism but to bring relational quality and a dimension of fulfillment back into real marriages. Those relationship differences that lead to deviations and marital problems can be repaired by developing better communication between both partners. One of these issues is that of privacy. Nakedness and shame are associated values. Adam and Eve were naked but unashamed until they felt exposed by the truth of their sin. All flesh recoils from truth e.g. you can’t mix sex and funerals can you? All people who are trying to avoid the reality of their lives are shamelessly

Page 5

…uncovering in a desperate attempt to pretend there is no truth but they are not nude as they tell us, they are naked!

Nudity is normal in private. Nakedness is a public thing. Women do not fear nudity; they fear nakedness and their husbands motivation will determine which it is by maintaining righteousness. Old Victorian standards (the age of hypocrisy) still prevail but in fact it is either prudish behavior or religious behavior or worse, both. What women need are respect and above all a sense of security.

The so-called marble slab routine wives are sometimes accused of because of unresponsive reaction to male “overtures” are mostly because of the issues we have just discussed. The husband holds the key to this chastity belt, it is called trust. Now it is true that what was once known as the “wowser” attitude (puritanical) does invade our bedrooms with low expectations and correspondently low response; this not helped by methods or Porn Movies or introducing weird sex into the relationship. It is only helped by understanding and trust.

There has been an appalling lack of loving consideration shown toward women in the religious world. We are blessed our wives don’t wear Burka’s but in Old Catholic Church times they pretty much did. Women were and still are not culturally conditioned to enjoying sex in marriage. They have not expected much and now the pendulum is swinging the other way. Instead of elevating good relationships, the world has gone for deviation and twisted expectations driven by a sexual performance fear. People have become jaded and faded and feel they must go to extremes to find pleasure. This has led to the market driven need for pills and all sorts of paraphernalia to enhance sexual prowess. This is spawning a whole new set of false expectations for men and women and as result we are now bombarded with issues of impotence etc.

The everyday dysfunctions of our physical relationships such as premature ejaculation or difficulty in achieving orgasm are normal. With good open communication and reading some decent book, you can overcome these issues because mutual respect and trust is in place. The over emphasis of female response and male size/prowess in our over-sexualized society has created nothing but frustration and disappointment. Pulp fiction and TV writers have a lot to answer for.

It is interesting to note that these writers almost never discuss the very ordinary aspects of sex such as kids, contraception and Kleenex. These are the realities of life along with the matter of pregnancy. As Christians we have a sense of timing for conception. We want to raise godly families in due season. The same applies to contraception which ultimately should be a man’s decision. When the “madness” that strikes us to want more kids, is finally over, the husband could discuss and agree with his wife, pray, then go and have a vasectomy. This is acting responsibly towards our wife by taking the initiative.

As to the practical aspects of “making love” there are excellent books out there which you should both choose to read. In Old Testament times they had the Song of Solomon as a source of good hints. They were not into having heads full of knowledge like modern generations and knew very little of other people’s opinions, consequently they were not filled with wrong expectations. They did live in tents and were much more natural about such matters so would not have many problems. 

How to have a Better Marriage Part 3

WO-man! In Hebrew means “out of man” and so, complementary to man; not different to man but refined dust; the differences are sex based.

The first command given to man is “be fruitful!” (Genesis 1:28.) Using the theological “law of first reference,” it means “no limitations.” God introduced woman to the man with a command to multiply. This is a holy and righteous thing; no laws and no shame. Eden was a place of beauty and glory and we see that Adam “knew” his wife. This profound Hebrew word ‘Yada’ means to know completely and intimately. They were one flesh. Yes, Proverbs 5:21 “..a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.”  God approved.

The bible acknowledges the ‘pressures’ 1 Corinthians 7:9: “But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion.”  1 Corinthians 7:2-5: “But since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.”

The last 65 years have been a major test for marriages: We live longer; men don’t go off for long periods of time to war or such adventures; we live in a pressure-cooker environment; there is no “confinement” for pregnancy; contraception and abortion are major issues and so forth. All this is mostly unprecedented in history so we have had no examples as a reference point. 

How to have a Better Marriage Part 2

There is a bunch of good material written about marriage and it must generate a lot of money for some. People seem to collect books about it and I have noticed some excellent books on the shelves of people who are less than successful at the game and needing help. Always the story seems familiar: “my situation is unique” they seem to be saying. I have heard the same from people who have severe illnesses in words like, “the doctor tells me my condition is very rare” etc. We all believe we are unique and largely this is true but marriages fail for a very ordinary even ancient reason: Broken commitment.

The good news is there is such a thing as “restored commitment” but more about that later. Right now we have an urgent question to address in this age of NO commitment: Why do people marry when all around are examples of quiet failure? We have ‘partners’, common law, de facto, significant others and “the person I live with…For the sake of the kids” etc. Society is pretty good at hiding the ugly truth rather like the subject of death. All these less-than-married status titles mean that people have no anchor and are drifting on a sea of ultimate disaster.

How to have a Better Marriage Part 1

Marriage is a biblical concept and while other beliefs and cultures value similar arrangements, as Christians we have a powerful advantage in order to make our marriages happy, enduring and a testimony to the power of the Lord. Why then do Christians share the same divorce rate as the rest of the world?

Many marriages are like the South Indian medi-pandu fruit; like a delicious strawberry outwardly but full of worms inside! During the so-called Cold War period we learned that the standoff between nations was called ‘détente’. Some marriages are in this state; both partners acknowledge there is a problem but don’t find the time or opportunity to fix it. In reality they don’t know how to fix it.

Taking Ownership

Most of us have experienced bad service at a major store. Lack of service happens frequently at big stores. This is because the owner of a smaller local store cares for his customers - there is an understanding of where his money comes from. Imagine if a local cafe owner slapped the occasional customer who didn't order correctly?

Employees often seem careless and don't know their products. They make fun of customers and brag to each other when making customers pay more than they should. Some are paid by commission and their hunger is obvious. You feel they only care about the getting the sale and have little interest in you.

Such employees are too far removed from the boardroom to have a sense of ownership. They're wage slaves who do only the minimum of what is required of them. Some companies try to rectify this with pep rallies or training programs. Sadly the results often reflect more bad service and indifference; employees mostly assume their pay comes from the boss - but it really comes from the customers.

Do you have a sense of ownership about the Kingdom of God? Or are you a “wage slave”? Is your attitude "I'm a Christian so I have to (grudgingly) fulfill a few requirements to look or sound like one?”

We actually inherit the Company (Kingdom). God calls us Sons and Heirs. But it seems we are reluctant or embarrassed to share this good news with others. We get upset about new staff (people) sharing the work in church and rocking the boat. We ignore our training or make little effort to study our "product knowledge". But we love getting money out of people for our pet projects.

Imagine you own the store (because together we do) and examine how you could make the effort to make your service attractive to new customers. Remember we live to serve, but we need to take ownership to serve with excellence.

Born Again to what?

For many Christian believers being “Born Again” is like receiving a special “Gold-Card” that provides immunity from some rather unpleasant consequences and becomes the ticket to attend (when the mood strikes) various functions as a card-carrying member of “The Christian Church.”  At least that is how they function in the sight of those who have had a different experience.

When I read the Bible description of “Born Again” I notice that the experience begins with a death; a death to our own life and our own choices. Those who have truly died need to be born again. When they are born again it is to take up a whole new life that is not their own. All choices and self-determinism are gone. The old nature does still surge to the surface to seize control but only briefly because such people ultimately have no desire or even ability to follow those urges.

Actually we are born into a new family of like-minded people and our whole devotion, passion and commitment becomes centered on them. Every church has a minority of such people who are often viewed by the majority as being “over the top” and need to “get a life.” They are really “the usual suspects” who actually do all the stuff.

People either find themselves gently and gradually drawn into that family of dedicated believers for whom church and the things of God have become their life’s passion or they drift away to other things; their own things. They still have “their life”.

The close-knit family of any church exhibits a love for the things of God because they are born again into it.  Happily this addiction is available to everyone and because it comes from the Lord to open hungry hearts.

Breaking the Mold

At best, people can remember a maximum of 20% of any message preached for a maximum of 10 days; unless they find a way to integrate the message into their daily life. The Church of the Western World has adopted the methods of the Scribes of Jesus time: They taught with illustrations, quotes, ear-tickling detail and often passionate eloquence.

Jesus taught in a different way “the crowds were astonished at His teaching because He was teaching them as one who had authority and not as the Scribes..” Matthew 7:28-29. He used brief powerful stories and parables because he knew the limitations of the people; that they could not retain things unless they were expressed in the simplest everyday concepts that they could relate to. He always included a command to action.

I once heard Juan Carlos Ortiz say: “Don’t preach a new sermon till the last one has been done!” Very few have tried this approach (and survived), it was not popular. People’s expectations are for nice meetings and new teaching.  Somehow we must re-direct this expectation toward a new task or command of Jesus that we must all embrace in order to move on. This would involve a radical re-think of the way we do church.

The enemy of our souls comes to church also… to prey. He wants to snatch the word away from us in case we actually do it! In Matthew 7:21 Jesus warns us that we will fail to enter His Kingdom unless we DO the will of God. He goes on to give the illustration of the house built on sand or rock.

We resent anything that breaks into the pattern of our independence and traditions but the commands of Jesus always do. Are we building a system of church life that neatly sidesteps our responsibility to act upon those commands? Please think about this before things change. 

Can you fit in Heaven?

Revelations 21:15-16 reads as follows: "The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia [that is, about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometres] in length, and as wide and high as it is long."

This represents a space of 496,793,080,000,000,000,000 cubic feet; allocating one half of this space for the Throne and the Courts of Heaven, and one half of the balance for streets; this would leave a remainder of 124,198,270,000,000,000,000 cubic feet.

Then divide the remainder by 4,096 [the number of cubic feet in a room 16 feet square] and this will produce 30,321,843,750,000,000 rooms of the size indicated.

Conservatively calculating that the world contains, and has always contained, and always will contain 1,000,000,000 inhabitants, and that there are three generations to each 100 years. This gives the total number of inhabitants each century as 3,000,000,000.

Now, let's assume that the world will last for 1,000 centuries before the return of the Lord [or 100,000 years]. This would give a total of 3,000,000,000,000 inhabitants for this period of time.

We then must make an unlikely assumption that if 100 other worlds of the same size and duration, and containing the same number of inhabitants as Earth were to also find their way to Heaven, there would be more than 100 rooms of the size indicated for each person. Do you think it will be roomy enough for you?

A National Conscience

Restoring a National Conscience

It would appear that conscience has “gone out of style.”  Most people exhibit no signs of ever having a conscience? They sin with ease, not even aware that they have transgressed. When confronted, they are surprised! Many who are conditioned by a good upbringing and who do the same stuff, go through a Hell of remorse, their conscience beating them like a club.

Is Your Halo Too Tight?

A fellow visits his doctor with a raging headache. The Doctor asks a few questions to identify the cause: Drink? No! Smoker? Absolutely not! Watch late night television? Never, all those sleazy movies and stuff! Eat bad food? Wouldn't dream of it, my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit! The Doctor asked: is it a shooting kind of pain? Yes, that’s it exactly. The Doctor replied the cause is simple; you have your halo on too tight!