Taking a stand in these times...

We live in remarkable times. From the relative comfort of your living room or workplace you can use modern technology to make your deepest feelings known abroad. No generation that I know of has had this ability or responsibility.

As a Christian I feel a burden to make my light burn brightly and to spread the word of God. To preach the gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ our Lord and sow the seeds of a rich harvest. To bring warning of the last days of this age and to sound the alarm of the coming New World Order.

In doing this though it is difficult not to get caught up in the many side issues that abound in the news of each new day. The proponents of the coming New World Order are hitting their straps as they see victory coming within grasp. Trade and Legal treaties like the Trans Pacific Partnership and Trans Atlantic Partnership bring the hope of more jobs and trade opportunities but contain the threat of diminished civil rights and unfair competition from global Corporates.

Although these developments are clear evidence of Bible Prophecy, for instance, the rise of Babylon the Great Harlot in the book Revelation. The translation of which is a great religious and trade entity that arises in the last days of the Age of Grace before the Return of Jesus Christ. The problem I have personally is not becoming mired in this kind of discourse which can be very repetitive and negative.

Another concern is that with current scrutiny of the Internet by Government entities like New Zealand's GCSB there is a need to be careful in what you post. I would be mortified to come to the attention of the authorities for posting articles that were about issues that were moderately important from a Christian standpoint but subversive from a security standpoint. If I am going to be persecuted for anything let it be for making a stand for Jesus Christ.

I guess that what I am finally alluding to is the need to focus on the good things of God but to be aware of what's going on in the world around us. To accept that world powers are working toward the formation of a new world order but that the Almighty has over all control and a purpose in all that is done to bring a wonderful and triumphant end to Sin and establish His Millennium Kingdom.

JAMES 1:22 - BE A DOER OF THE WORD  http://biblehub.com/james/1-22.htm

The Fear of God

I watched a DVD last night called 'The Four Feathers' (2002) staring Heath Ledger, Kate Hudson and Djimon Hounsou as Abou Fatma. Adapted from the book by A.E.W. Mason written 1902 the movie immerses the watcher in the more morally principled lifestyle of the Victorian era and contrasts that with life in the Islamic culture of the Sudan in 1884.

Both cultures are considerably different to the liberal western lifestyle we are familiar with in the early twenty first century. The greatest contrast though for me is between Heath Ledger's character Harry Feversham and Djimon Hounsou's Abou Fatma.

Harry Feversham is a young principled Christian man who has withdrawn from the British army in circumstances which portray him to his friends as a coward leaving the military to avoid serving his country. They send Harry a package containing four white feathers and this causes him to decide to travel to the Sudan with the aim of rejoining the army or at least protecting his friends.

As a result of his exploits and attempts to stay close to his regiment Faversham finds himself travelling across the desert and then being abandoned as a band of new slaves kill their captors and leave him for dead. Harry then attempts to continue on the camel the slaves had left for him because he had stopped one of them from getting a beating.

Dying of heat exhaustion and dehydration he collapses near Abou Fatma as his camel escaped into the wilderness. Fatma takes this as a sign from Allah that he is to protect Harry and so begins a brief but fast friendship of adventure as the two seek to save and protect Harry's friends from the armies of Mardi.


"So what" you say "Has this all to do the fear of God?" Well I have been very impressed by Djimon Hounsou's portrayal of characters with genuinely profound and immensely deep faith. He played Juba in Ridley Scott's 'The Gladiator' and then Abou Fatma in 'The Four Feathers.'

What strikes me about Hounsou is the way he portrays a character of unflinching conviction and unyielding faith in God. He demonstrates the serenity and certainty that comes from absolute conviction that he is about Gods business. He shows the appropriate respect or fear of God. When he is in Gods presence in prayer he is on his knees, head bowed and giving one hundred percent of his attention.

The Four Feathers shows the difference between Islam and the Christianity of the Victorian era and the way in which the Islam of that time incorporated fervent and fearful worship of God into the daily lifestyle. Meanwhile even in Victorian times Christianity was much more informal and people more discreet about their prayer and worship.

Today we Christians treat God as an adjunct to our lives. We relate to him as though he were our best friend always ready to grant our next wish. We seldom go to the house of the Lord to kneel before God. We are rarely contrite in confessing our sins. We rush around in our busy lives and include God in the most informal manner.

I am not suggesting that we convert to Islam. Nor am I suggesting that we revert to the law and Judaism. But I do believe that well founded Christians develop in their lives a healthy fear of  God. We need to understand that God is the Lord and there is no other; There is no God before Him. That He is the Alpha and the Omega; The beginning and the End. That we are at His disposal not He at ours and we are the creation not the Creator.

I believe a big part of having serenity of existence and certainty of purpose comes from having the correct relationship with God. A relationship based on humility and contriteness of spirit before the Almighty God. A relationship that founded on the conviction that 'God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, that who soever believes on Him will inherit eternal life.'

The Impact of Declining Christianity

A couple of weeks ago I went to the funeral of a young woman who took her own life leaving two young children behind for her distraught family to bring up. Today I heard of the death of a man who sent a text message to his friends "Where is everybody when I want to say good bye?" Then during the course of the day yet another young woman sent out a distressed text message which friends responded to in time to prevent her from ending it all.

I would have to ask the question "What in the world is the matter with our society when so many seem to have no hope at all?" Where is the support network that our generation grew up with? Where is the Church in all of this?

The scriptures speak of the need to continue meeting together. Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."

Strong, active churches provide strong support networks to encourage and protect the young people of our communities. Churches that are 'on message' share the gospel, teach sound moral principles, and make the scriptures known to their members, old and young alike.

God uses churches to care for his children from cradle to grave. To save them, baptise them, marry them and to bury them. To develop strong Christian foundations in the hearts of believers. To provide encouragement, support, Christian friendship and fellowship. To wrap a cloak around their hearts and minds protecting them from the attacks of the enemy.

Today if you have suicidal thoughts and are intercepted by friends before you succeed. Your friends call the police who don't want you to harm yourself on their watch. They follow protocol, watch you for a while then call the psychologist. He or she talks to you and also watches and assesses you usually looking to treat you and discharge you as fast as possible. Even if you are incarcerated for a period of time the chances are you will soon be back by yourself faced with depression and loneliness and suicidal thoughts.

The police and psychologist don't even know you. You're just a client and they have only to fulfil the obligations placed on them through professional regulation. They are provided by the state in place of the real and loving church community of yesteryear. Is it any wonder so many seek to take their own lives in hopeless despair.

The time is at hand for Christians to get back to church. The price of not belonging to sound bible believing church can be measured in the shattered lives of our children and their young friends. The cost is simply incalculable for they are our pearls of great price. Priceless and irreplaceable.