Don't be Anxious: Bring Everything to God in Prayer

Wow has the Covid Pandemic been a roller coaster ride or what? It isn’t over yet by a measure even here in Aotearoa New Zealand. I’ve had the vaccination and I am fully vaccinated as have most of our whanau. Those who haven’t had the vaccine are considering getting it.

In the case of one family member the music group 660 are coming to Rotorua in March and that is a powerful inducement to consider getting the jab. Another family member is far from convinced of the safety of the vaccine citing a friend who had it who had a terrible reaction and is now in hospital having fluid removed from her lungs by syringe. There seem to be some bad reactions to the vaccine but,so far, our whanau has not encountered them. Praise God!

I have wider whanau members who are really pounding the streets and sounding the gong about dangers of vaccines and in particular the Covid Vaccine. Now, while I support their right to protest and do what they’re doing. I wonder why they are doing it?

As Christians aren’t we people of faith. Don’t we bring everything to God in prayer as the old hymn goes? If I have to get Ivomectin and Vitamin B and, Vitamin C and, Zinc to keep me safe from the Covid virus and similar products plus Apple Pectin to cleanse my system from impurities in the Vaccine that are now in my body. What value is there in being a Christian. I might as well take up alchemy instead

However, Yahweh is a mighty God and we have no need to fear anyone or anything as Christians. The Lord will provide everything we need and no force that has been devised can stand against him or, harm his people (Isaiah 54:17).

We should be a peace not running around striving in vain to save ourselves. Jesus said “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble,” (Matthew 6:34). So, my take on this is that we can simply trust in the Lord and be at peace.

The way I interpret this scripture is that if yesterday I got the vaccinated then that was a care of yesterday. Today has its own cares and the same with tomorrow. If we trust everything to God in prayer then he will look after the cares that arise in the correct order and at the right time. I should be able to just pray and then forget the issues that are arising. They are with Yahweh now and he will take care of them.

I don’t know about you but I try to be as calm as I can. I need peace. Chaos makes me anxious and I lose my peace. I lose my calm and if I’m not careful I respond in anger. I am no longer walking in the Spirit but I find myself walking in the flesh. I become concerned about the trials and challenges of the weeks and months ahead. I start trying to control life in my own power and I begin to stumble in my walk with God.

Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 puts it like this: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.” So don’t let the enemy get a hold in your life. Don’t be fearful of Covid or the vaccine. Seek God and give him your burdens in prayer. Let him take hold of your cares and guide your every step along the way. Let Yahweh help you to become an oasis in the desert for those around you. Provide shade and water to needy travellers that stop near by. Bring everything to Him in prayer.

Preaching: Expository Preaching versus the Thematic Approach

 

Expository Preaching is a methodology used mainly in Reformed Churches and some other conservative Churches. It involves the preacher selecting a scripture to focus on which maybe as little as a verse or as much as a chapter. The idea is for the preacher to research the scripture selected and to prayerfully and in the power of the Holy Spirit to expose the context and content of that piece of scripture. This is done in such a way as to edify the congregation and to apply to them the truths of the Word of God.

Thematic Preaching is a methodology used mainly in churches other than those in the Reformed Community. It involves the preacher choosing an appropriate theme, and scriptures to support the theme, in regard to the congregation and to prayerfully and in the power of the Holy Spirit to expose the context, linkages and content of the pieces of scripture in the theme selected. This is done in such a way as to edify the congregation and to apply to them the truths of the Word of God.

So which is best? Well most preachers preach the same way. Whether they are using the expository approach or thematic approach. They are usually attempting to take the themes in the text and to apply them to issues in the life of their Church and to the needs of the congregation. It is not uncommon to see a preacher make statements about how they see a particular scripture applying to that particular fellowship of believers. This is also the case with preachers using the thematic approach as they also tend to put together a persuasive argument as to why these scriptures apply to their particular fellowship of believers.

I’ve heard great sermons of either type and I’ve seen preachers who used a hybrid of the two models. A focus on a certain text preached on in a sequential method but also bringing in a small number of other scriptures to support contentions they are making in regard to their congregation. It actually makes little difference which method is used.

If a preacher is Walking in the Spirit and is bending to the Will of God rather than consciously and even unconsciously following personal agendas. Attempting to coerce his flock in the direction of his choosing. More often than not and particularly in the current era preachers are influenced by televangelism and the prosperity gospel or some other equally questionable doctrines and are not preaching from pure motives.

So what can we say in the end about expository and thematic preaching? Well both are fine if the preacher is sufficiently well informed on the themes within the scriptures that have been chosen. The biggest failings in any preaching come from the relationship the preacher has with Christ Jesus. 

 

A preacher could give a three word sermon if they were sufficiently close to the Saviour, and walking in the Spirit, and see the congregation fall to their knees in repentance. Bowed under the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. 

 

So I guess that what I believe is it’s not the quality of the sermon or the delivery that matters. It’s the relationship of the preacher to Jesus Christ that really matters.

Christianity from the Outside In...

I’m sitting here and feeling quite sad. The Internet and Smartphones have had a huge impact on our world. It took me some years to realise that the Internet is not a reliable source of information. It’s not that you can’t trust the accuracy of that information. It’s the fact that it’s like Pandora’s Box. It contains everything that can tempt the heart of a man, or woman, and I can see the effect it is having on our youth, our whanau and even wider society in general.

A decade ago there was still what I would call a strong centrist perspective in society. It was visible on social media. Twitter for example had a strong middle ground but with the advent of smartphones and games like Fortnight. The middle ground has mostly evaporated. People are thinking on the extremes, right versus left, red versus green. It’s breaking society into sects and every group is competing with others for the power and the limelight.

I think the thing that is breaking my heart is that the Church is being impacted by the Pandora's Box that is the Internet. You know Christ Jesus said in Matthew chapter 24 verse 12 ”And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” I see the love of Christians growing cold and it’s because of the lawlessness that’s in society but there is a greater cause even than that. The Internet is drowning them in information and it’s impacting their relationships with Christ Jesus. They are becoming lost in the confusion of ideas, concepts and are getting caught in the torrent of distraction that comes with living on the Internet.

Of course all of this is bad news for all concerned but it is terrible news for the Church in our time because it is destroying the credibility of the Church and individual Christians in the eyes of the World. Jesus pointed to the issue with this type of situation in Matthew chapter 5 verse 13. “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.

Most Christians who are involved in what they see as a ministry to warn the World of the dangers of the coming New World Order or the Covid Vaccine will not agree with what I’m saying here. But my point is that the Internet has done a very good job of radicalising them. They have become very extreme without even realising it. So, if you have reached the point of no longer being credible in the eyes of other people. Have you not lost your saltiness?

I have been blown away by the Kiwi’s who think we are part of the United States of America. They are often treating the NZ Bill of Rights as though it were the American Constitution. This is almost laughable in Aotearoa because when the Bill of Rights was adopted, with little fanfare at the time I might add. The vast majority of Christians thought it was an instrument of the United Nations foisted on us by a secular administration. Which it was! There wasn’t great trust for it at the time from other New Zealander’s either.

The number of Christian’s bleating about their rights being trampled under foot with the Covid debacle is equally humorous. Combined with their lament over apparent infringements of their right to bear arms after the ChristiChurch Terror Incident. I mean you can no longer protect yourself with an automatic weapon. Did any Kiwi ever protect themselves with a gun of any kind? We have always, for the most part, been a peaceful Christian nation. 

 

Christians in times of peace carry the gospel not guns. We share the Word of God and our Christian values and when times are good even those who don’t follow Christ Jesus adhere to a form of righteousness. Guns don’t promote peace and safety and you only have to look toward the United States to see that as being the case.

As to the freedom mantra. Who really has freedom when the Prince of Darkness is the Ruler of this World. We are born into slavery to sin. We are educated to become useful hard working citizens and we spend most of our life doing exactly that. Life isn’t fair either, a privileged few are born into indecent amounts of wealth and live an elite life of power and indifference to their fellow man, or woman. They never have to lift a finger to work if they don’t want to. Those without wealth just have to accept that this is how it is? In the West under Capitalism we are deceived into feeling that we are free whereas, in China under Socialism there is little doubt that the authorities control your life. In neither system is there true freedom. 

 

Most Christians would agree that knowing and understanding the gospel will set you free. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” This is the truth and the truth will set you free. John 8:31-32 “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

What it finally comes down to is that for Christians to be effective they need to focus on the Word of God, spend time in Communion with God in prayer and seek to Walk in the Spirit. Spending time on the Internet generates a lot of fear and draws you away from spending time in Word and in Communion with the Lord in prayer. Actually after thinking this out I’m feeling a lot better now. You know what you need to do and so do I.

It’s All About the Base

 

Life is complex and confusing. The world can be a harsh place. It often isn’t fair and it will chew you up and spit you out if you don’t keep your wits about you. Sometimes things happen which are so big that you get caught up in them and can get thrown about like a rag doll.

Imagine being in Nazi Germany before the Second World War. The German State was so dominant under Hitler you were judged on your appearance, your philosophy and even your racial background. It could and did impact on your ability to provide for yourself and in certain cases meant you would be rounded up and imprisoned.

Because we are born at a certain time and place in history we tend to think all of these things that comprise our life are new. That they have never happened before. This isn’t true. The bible says that there is nothing new under the Sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9) It has all happened before.

In the days of Ancient Babylon information was stored on clay tablets. These tablets were created using a language style called cuneiform. One was discovered which told of the job description of a clerk in the government’s employ. Even then the rulers were trying to instill into the people what they had to do to be a good citizen. That was approximately three thousand years ago and yet today it has become almost an art form.

In China the state has been using CCTV footage and artificial intelligence to monitor their citizens. They are using that information to reward good citizens and to punish bad citizens for their behaviors. For instance if you associate with organisations the state doesn’t countenance. Churches for instance. You could be restricted to stay in your home suburb and not be allowed to travel anywhere else. They say the focus is on making more effective citizens.

Everything in this World is actually ‘All About the Base.’ When God created Adam and Eve they were intimately connected to God. So much so that I believe they were covered in the Shekinah Glory of God (clothed in light). They understood everything that God was doing for them. For the Earth and for the Universe. They were based on the knowledge of God.

When Satan possessed the Serpent and spoke to Adam and Eve. He used what we call today Spin. He took the facts and changed them into an error to get Eve to consider things from a different point of view. A different Base. This led her to believe the Serpent. He’s very believable. Next she took the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and ate from it. Then she gave it to her husband Adam who also ate from the fruit. Thus they disobeyed God’s instruction not to eat of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge.

They had listened to the devil’s spin. They disobeyed God which broke their connection to Him and they found themselves naked because they had also lost the Shekinah Glory (clothing light of God’s holiness). In short they fell from Grace. Another way of putting it was that they substituted the base of God’s knowledge for the base of Satan’s spin. Believe me the human race has been paying in shed blood every day since that happened.

Satan uses the strategy of ‘Divide and Conquer.’ In this way he has divided humanity into groups that he could control throughout history. He initially caused a split between Adam and Eve’s righteous offspring known as the Sons of God and the unrighteous Sons of Man. The latter group followed the devil. He has spent most of his time confuting the knowledge of God with his own brand of lies and falsehood. The result has been war and violence down through the ages.

By the time of Noah with very few people on the side of God and the vast majority on the side of the devil. God became disenchanted and disheartened at the state of the hearts of men of whom he said “The wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was continually only evil.” At the time of the flood it has been put forward by knowledgeable scholars that the population of the Earth was some billions of souls. So when Christ Jesus said that the last days will be as it was in the ‘Days of Noah.’ Then the time we live in has some similarities to Naoh’s days in terms of the great evil and the large population.

Throughout the Church Age Christians have looked forward to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Our Lord himself said that he would come back quickly. He obviously wasn’t thinking in corporeal terms when he said that. As the apostle Peter said “A thousand years is but a day in the sight of the Lord.” However, if we were to look for signs of His coming. This time is a target rich environment.

Evil is in the intentions of men's hearts continually. Abortion is the slaughter of the innocents. Euthanasia could well be the slaughter of the wise. Much of mankind lives in poverty and disease. The rich get richer and the elite care not for the poor. Christianity is under siege over much of the Earth and many are martyred for the name of Jesus Christ. The World is founded on the ‘Base of Unrighteousness.’ The majority, whether they know it or not, follow Satan. Many don’t realise that, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” NKJV

Finally, one way or another humanity will have to change bases. Jehovah will not allow mankind to continue in their folly. The lost likely have two choices. Either they hear the gospel now and repent in the name of Jesus Christ or, they face the coming judgement and repent when they see the consequences of their sins. Staying on the ‘Base of Unrighteousness’ will result in facing the second death and the Lake of Fire. Believe me friends, ‘It’s All About the Base.’

Scaring the Flock

Christ Jesus often referred to ministering to the congregation in shepherding terms. The people were the sheep and the minister was the shepherd. I guess it is human nature when people won't listen to us we try to bully them or scare them in the direction we want them to go by sharing the consequences of their folly. I am guilty of this myself.

When I was younger I used to talk a lot about the coming World Tribulation, the potential for WWlll to happen and how if that time were not shortened no flesh would survive. I looked at current events through that lens and tried to make people fearful so that they would turn toward Christ Jesus. I still do use this technique from time to time though I have come to see its short comings in recent years.

The problem with pedaling fear is that it can make the minister just as fearful as the people. You not only scare the sheep but you scare the shepherd as well. I liken it to working on a sheep farm in New Zealand. When Kiwi shepherds go out to bring the sheep into the yards they send out the Heading dogs to sweep up the sheep and to herd them toward the gate. Dogs are a natural enemy of sheep so the sheep are afraid and run away from them.

Once you have them on the trail or in the lane-way the Hunt-Aways start to bark loudly and drive the sheep toward home. Again the fear of the dogs and their barking causes the sheep to hurry towards the yards. These are two variants of the same fear used to drive the sheep in the right direction. But as a farmer I can tell you that the shepherd does not fear the Heading dogs.

The Heading dogs are usually bred off Border-Collie bloodlines and are very gentle and quiet. The Hunt-Aways though, are a mixture of breeds. Something like a Blood Hound crossed with Border -Collie and Labrador. Their bark can be so loud and penetrating the if a sheep turns to challenge the Hunt-Away and it barks suddenly beside you it can give you the fright of your life. So at times the shepherds can share the same fear as the sheep.

Another issue that can make the flock fearful is question of what they are being brought into the yards for? Are they coming in for drenching against parasites or to be crutched (partially shorn), and then sent back out to the paddock to a fresh break of grass. This would give them some hope of a future. 

However, if the farmer is bringing them into the yards to draft off the aged ewes and the infirm to send of to the works then there is no hope. This is similar to the minister of the gospel. If the minister speaks only of impending doom. In the current Covid epidemic it would be to speak of the dangers of the vaccine and the dark agenda of the global elite. Then it is a message of fear to their audience. To a lesser extent the message can also be fearful to themselves. This changes their attitude over time and they can become fearful and very negative.

If the minister preaches a warning and also preaches hope by preaching about the Savior. Then it is a much more hopeful message that you bring to your flock. In this way you can explain how Christ Jesus bore our sins on the Cross at Calvary and His desire for the lost to be saved. You can speak of faith and life in the Spirit. You can explain the fruit of the Spirit and the peace that Christ brings to our lives. That there is no longer a need to be fearful. 

The cup is half full and you can be more hopeful of a future. Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope."

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

SkyNet

 

Remember SkyNet of Terminator fame. Well I've been thinking again and I came up with an idea. I know, I know. Here we go again. Well I don't know if you noticed the change but the Twitter back in the day used to be fairly Centrist in it's perspective.

This began to change about the time of the American Republican Tea Party movement. At the same time Apple invented the iPhone. Over the last decade or so the political center has evaporated and people are now much more polarized and the extremities are much larger. It is almost paralleling the shrinking middle class.

 

As a Christian I feel the leading of the Holy Spirit and from time to time He highlights a word, or words in the media. For some time I've felt that Artificial Intelligence and Algorithms are oddly important pieces of the puzzle that is life in 2021.

 

I'm starting to think that the Internet and the algorithms of entities like Twitter and Facebook are creating the Internet into something more than a benign program based on miscellaneous segments of code.

 

What if the Net identifies your political and intellectual preferences and in a very complex and yet incredibly subtle way. Supplies you with information to manipulate your thought processes. What if it evaluates your personality and actively seeks to build you into the person it has decided it wants you to be? 

 

What if it is seeking to divided humanity and create war in much the same way that SkyNet did in Terminator.

Imagine if the Anti-Vaxers are being feed a specific diet of information to make them more and more obsessed and radical. What if the Pro-Vaxxers are being given the same type of information to develop equally strong and aggressive counter opinions.

 

What if SkyNet is real and humanity is under the digital control of the elite. My suggestion? Don't allow Internet sources to influence personal value judgements. Big Brother may be watching you but SkyNet definitely is... ???

Covid Conspiracy or Not ???

 

OK, all you conspiracy theorists... I've been thinking and I've decided none of your theories about Covid make much sense. I'll tell you why. 

 

First up, If I was going to kill everyone off to reduce the global population. I wouldn't use Corona virus. I would use a GE version of Ebola or Viral Tuberculosis and let it go via replacement automatic fly spray canisters and put them up in all of the high pedestrian traffic areas. Now that's an epidemic. Better still release several of the nastier virus types and set off several plagues.

 

I wouldn't use a relatively tame virus and waste a whole bunch of time getting people to take a vaccine which is apparently going to turn them into zombies with or without of the help of 5G. Which initially was supposed to make them into zombies by itself but now works on the vaccine to activate it or something like that. Question: Zombies are supposed to be nasty aren't they... So why would you want 7 billion un-dead zombies to deal with. Bearing in mind that there would only be a billion or less humans left by then? 

 

I wouldn't waste my time giving a gene therapy vaccine to folks which is going to destroy their immune systems because it is a slow and inefficient way of killing everyone. It will take years and probably won't work any better than the AIDS virus. Also given time someone would work out a retro virus to reinstall our immune systems.

 

I guess the vaccine could be a two stage affair where it reduces immunity and then the bad guys introduce another virus to finish the job of reducing the population. The thing is they could achieve the same goal with a more virulent virus in the first place. So it still doesn't make a whole lot of sense.

I don't even get them using the virus as a means of getting people to progressively acclimate to losing their freedoms. Why not just start an aggressive socialist youth organisation and intimidate the population into signing up to reduced freedoms and having to have travel papers etc.. A leftist version of the Hitler youth.

 

It's all so ridiculous that the only explanation that makes any sense is that the corona virus is causing a minor pandemic and the nanny state are trying to keep us all safe. Who'd a thought?

 

Epilogue

 

As a Christian I think personally that even if the elite are out to reduce the world population that God will restrict what they can do in this regard. In the bible Isaiah 54:17 says something to the effect of that no weapon brought against God or His servants will prosper. Which gives hope to the Church if no one else. May be it's time all you folks who aren't Christian to dust off that bible and read John 3:16.

John 3:16

John 3:16 is a sacred verse and is my favorite memory verse. To me it quantifies the gospel. God loved the World so much that he gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, that If I believe on Him. I will not die but will inherit eternal life. 

 

Imagine my consternation when I first heard that many Christians don't believe that this verse says what I have just told you. They say is basically just means if I do item a then I won't get item b and will get item c. So there is nothing about the mode of Salvation in this verse. 

 

It kills me inside to even hear of such a thing much less to learn that many Christians believe such a thing. John 3:16 is the gospel in its most refined form.

 

Their argument functions around the idea that Christ died only for the elect and not for everyone. Therefore the verse is not speaking of the mode of Salvation in their opinion. In reality the mode of Salvation is through belief which what John 3:16 says.

The mode then is that you first believe and God gives you faith and credits the faith as righteousness. Which leads to Salvation.

 

Romans 3:22 "..even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference..." The important thing to realise here is that God gives faith to all who believe and that faith is not a work of man. 

 

So to restate the verse God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever Believes on Him, shall not perish but will inherit eternal life...