Christianity

As a Christian it always concerns me that I am so weak and so seemingly under resourced. Yet Christ Jesus gave me and every other Christian the Great Commission. Go out to the nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We have the responsibility for saving the souls of the World on our shoulders and yet we are humble, meek and frail. Not to mention prone to disobedience and failure as well as being faithless and foolish.

Against, the powers of this World it seems we don't stand a chance. But how it seems is not necessarily how it is. Taken as one Christian or even the entire Church we are human, flawed. However, God is the creator of the Heavens and the Earth. Almighty and invincible.

Regardless of the ineffectiveness of man. God's plans are outlined in the bible and they are going to come to pass. You can take that as a given. True and correct as it were. Which is why you need to take them seriously.

If you're not saved it may seem that science is the answer for the modern rational man or if you follow naturalism that venerating mother nature is the way to go.

I can tell you paganism is not the way to go. The first, and Jesus told us the greatest, commandment is this "The Lord your God is one. Worship the Lord with all of your heart, all of your soul, all of your mind and all of your strength."

Christians and Christianity may seem addled to you but I can assure God is not. He has a plan and you are in it. It only remains what part will you play. Will you be a child of God in Christ Jesus or one of the children of disobedience. Separated from God for eternity.

Remember John 3:16 God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, that whosoever believes on Him will not perish but inherit eternal life. Provision is made for you but you must repent and ask Christ Jesus into your heart to access it. Time to do some thinking?

 

From the Outside Looking In

 

As a Christian I've always felt on the outside of the Christian movement. When I was younger I never held to any particular denomination. My parents and grand-parents hailed from Brethren, Baptist and Presbyterian roots. My siblings frequented Baptist and Brethren circles but I just never fitted in. Not that there was any particular doctrinal position that I disagreed with, It's just that I have always felt that the Church is one body and the bible is the inspired word of God and therefore the authoritative text of the Church. So that’s all we need. I guess that makes me fundamentally a Catholic where the word Catholic equates to Christ centered bible believing Christian. 

 

Personally, I've found it easier to go it alone than bicker with other Christians about doctrinal differences and it’s not like you can avoid those key issues. Every individual church has it’s gatekeepers who strive for their churches version of doctrinal purity. My own somewhat naïve point of view has always been there is one Church the Bride of Christ and we should just stick with that and base all doctrine on the Word of God. If we do that and seek to live our lives in the Spirit instead of in the flesh we shouldn't have any troubles.

 

It's really only in recent years that I've discovered that every denomination has doctrinal flaws that indicate the presence of something stronger than just scriptural misunderstanding. There are disputes around how a person is saved and whether that is through the sovereign will of God alone or if there is freedom of choice. How a person receives the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit works through the believer. When the second coming of Jesus Christ will take place and what subsequently will happen. The thing is that although these issues seem small they indicate greater error that has real life impacts on the Christians of the various denominations.  For instance on how they share the gospel if at all, whether people receive the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit manifests, through people speaking in tongues or being slain in the spirit. How they view the coming of Jesus Christ and if the Kingdom of God will be established resulting in error identifying false Christs and their false dominions.

 

The devil has insinuated his forces and his ideologies into every Church and has false Christians under his control misleading  the elect themselves. Gradually he has led them to respond to the world as the world responds not as Christians. They use worldly methods to demand their rights. Get haughty and proud and in many ways are being guided into faithlessness. Instead of trusting God and being obedient to Him they fight their own battles and are ignored by the enemy. This tends to be exactly what is happening to so many believers at this time.

 

I think, the most depressing example of this has been in regard to the way many Christians have reacted to the changes that have occurred in the World since 2015 when the United Nations developed Agenda 2030. 1 Secular Humanism has proceeded at pace and Christian Conservatives in the West have begun to feel excluded and fearful of the changes which are taking place. As in communist societies the state has begun to favor other secular groups ahead of Christianity. LGBTQ+, Islam, Indigenous groups, feminists, liberal progressives, atheists, feminists are all the darlings of the New World Order. Whereas, Christians and Social Conservatives are outed as being hateful and out of date in this brave new world.

 

The reaction from Christians and their response to this alienation is manifesting in Conservative Activism like the Anti-Vaxx Movement, Family First, the Sensible Sentencing Trust, Voice for Life and Right for Life. Not that these organisations aren't doing a good job. It's simply that as Christians we need to be seen to be acting as Christians should. As Christ Jesus outlined when asked about the Great Commandment in Matthew chapter 22 verses 37 - 40 He said “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” 2

 

Instead, what is tending to happen, particularly, since the Covid Pandemic arrived on the scene in 2020 is that Christians are getting angry and desperate and that anger is playing into the hands of the enemy who controls the government and the media. Christians are increasingly being made to look hateful, poorly educated and out of place in a modern scientific society. The Media has focused on violent hate speech and sound and video bits which embellish the angry, desperate and seemingly out of touch Christian behaviors of judgment, condemnation and intolerance.

 

Now, the Lord Jesus lived a sinless life but responded with righteous anger when the situation demanded it. He was angered at the misuse of the Temple as a place of business and overturned the tables and chased the vendors out of the temple. So there is a time and place for righteous indignation. The key here is that if you are going to be angry as a Christian you need to have a genuine reason that everyone can understand. Otherwise being loving and treating your fellow man as you would have him or her treat you is a better approach.

 

Christians should be bible based and their behavior should be in the Spirit not in the flesh. Their motivation should be to share the gospel and a Christian point of view. It doesn’t matter that the world attacks them for their faith. In the past Christians have been feed to the lions, burned at the stake and persecuted in many different ways. It is not when they protest that they bring change to the world around them it is when they are persecuted for the name of Jesus and simply bear that persecution with humility and grace, peacefully in the name Jesus Christ.

 

There is no doubt that God has a plan for this current time and that although many Christians can't see what that plan is. God has everything under control. The other important thing they need to realise is that they can't change the world or even their own hearts and minds without God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is important for them to realise so that they don't fall into a state of hopelessness. It may be difficult for them see how God is working in the world or even through other Christians that they know but they need to understand that God is working in the world around them and that He will be triumphant and victorious.3

 

So be aware that doctrine is important but reading and dwelling in the Word of God (Bible), is more important. Your relationship with God is even more important so time in prayer is of paramount importance. It also helps you to know what God's plan for you is on a daily basis. Seek to dwell in the Spirit and be aware of when you are thinking and acting in the flesh. Confess your sins to God and He will be faithful to forgive your sins and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. 4 Bring your troubles to the Lord and your concerns with the World. Seek him in prayer trusting God to answer your prayers. Don't anger and despair. Let not your hearts be troubled neither let them be afraid. 5 Let God keep you in His perfect peace because you trust in Him. 6

 

God Bless You All.

What's going on in this crazy world today?

 

For me, it all started in earnest in December 2016. The New Zealand Prime Minister John Key informed his colleagues that he was standing down as Prime Minister and resigning his seat in parliament. At the same time a group of politicians resigned around the World.1 It all seemed a little odd. I mean they all had perfectly valid reasons but it was unusual for such a capable group of politicians to just step down and walk away.

 

The next year was a watershed for New Zealand as we had an election. Which turned out to be "A little unusual." The National Party under the capable leadership of Bill English were the favourites to form a government with 44% of the vote but things were tight because late in the game Labour switched leaders and Jacinda Ardern took the helm of the Left-wing vote as it were. This put maverick Winston Peters in the middle as Kingmaker. Peters went with Labour and the party with the majority vote moved to the opposition. Needless to say there was a lot of voter dissatisfaction.

 

The really odd thing though was that the National Party didn't seem to try very hard to make a deal with Peters and a good number of senior politicians from the right just walked away from politics then and there. Almost as though they had been prepared for the defeat and they were heading off to do other more important things. Perhaps to prepare for the New World Order or to prepare for a rapidly changing world? Who knows I guess?

 

Bear in mind in the background Donald Trump was President in the United States of America and having a difficult time of things as the Democrats and the majority of the Media were vehemently opposed to everything that Trump and his government did. The left wing were in open rebellion and Antifa were trying to crush the right off the streets. There were daily protests and CRT became a source of civil enmity and violence. So as the left came to power in New Zealand Jacinda Ardern and her government became beacon of progressive liberalism and a symbol of the globalist movement.

 

Once Ms Ardern's government got into power in late 2017 it wasn't long until the new leftist secular humanist and globalist agenda began to unfold a pace in the land of the Long White Cloud. In 2018 they signed the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement firming ties with global trading partners. Tossed out  Charter Schools, a symbol of the right, and later in the year renamed Charter Schools as State Integrated and Charter Schools. Seemed positive about entering the Pike River Mine and delt with Nurses and Teachers strikes for more pay. Admitted defeat on Kiwi Build. Finally signing off on the UN Global Compact for Migration.

 

2019 got away to a cracking start with the establishment of the Provincial Growth Fund. Part of NZ First's deal for supporting the government into power. Phil Twyford waved the white flag on Kiwi Build stating they couldn't reach the targets that had been planned for new house builds.  The Polytechnics got centralised and then on the 15th of March the Christchurch Mosque Shootings changed the New Zealand forever. An unbelievable event in the history of the nation which resulted in gun reforms which have removed automatic weapons from the province of the law abiding citizenry.  The Climate Change Zero Carbon Amendment Bill came in along with Abortion Law Reform Bill and later in the a Euthanasia End of Life Choice Bill.

 

After the Christchurch Mosque shootings life began to take on a kind of surreal feel. As if fact was stranger than fiction. Gun owners in general felt demonised. Toward the end of the year there was a Measles Epidemic which saw the Anti-vaxxers get pilloried in New Zealand and abroad. Discussions were hot and heady but not particularly rational. The Anti-vaxxers claiming all manner of mayhem for those who took the vaccines. The Pro-vaxxers making crazy assertions about un-vaxxed people representing a danger to society and various nonsense.

 

And then 2020. So initially the government announced that climate change education would be undertaken in schools to combat climate change skepticism. Federated Farmers complained that this was going too far and the environmental lobby felt it wasn't going far enough. The minister of education Chris Hipkins announced that parents would have to give written permission for their children to attend religious instruction in state schools.

 

March was a big deal twelve months earlier and thanks to Covid, 2020 would eclipse even the Christchurch Mosque Shootings. As the general population were forced into lock-down and for the first time ever the Police were obliged to monitor the day by day comings and goings of every New Zealander. As had been the case with the Mosque Shootings Jacinda Ardern became our national heroine and the face of the Covid response along with Director of Health Ashley Bloomfield. Since then really most everything has been about Covid.

 

Finance minister Grant Robson made the Covid response his all and saw that everyone would have enough money to survive.  MIQ became something some people had heard of too something that everybody knew about. The Vaxxers and the Anti-vaxxers became polarised and the dark web and conspiracy theorists moved to the fore while the fear that they, the media and governments health advisor darlings generated nearly paralysed the general public with paranoia. No one was certain whether Covid was a dangerous virus or not? Were we all over reacting or was our response appropriate?

 

The election happened in October 2020 and let's face it none of the other parties stood a chance. Jacinda Ardern had handled the crisis communicating with the public intimately via daily television briefings and few New Zealanders had suffered at all from Covid. Labour was returned in a landslide election result. Finally, we got a travel bubble with the Cook Islands and the Prime Minister announced a Climate Change Emergency and that rounded out the year of 2020. As has become the norm truth was stranger than fiction.

 

2021 came with more of a whimper than a shout. On the whole the focus was on the pandemic with the vaccine program beginning to ramp up. The Auckland lock-down almost ended in a civil insurrection because it went on far too long. Pfizer M-tech became the new buzz word. The Anti-vaxxers shouted that the vaccine would turn those foolish enough to take it into Zombies with the help of 5G. Let's face it they may still turn out to be right on the that one. Graphene being the dark buzz word for Anti-vaxxer movement.

 

Most of the governments humanist agenda concerned things like apologising to Pacifika for the '70's - '80's dawn raids and banning Conversion Therapy, paving the way for electric vehicles and vamping the Resource Management Act. The initial phase of introducing the Three Waters Infrastructure project began toward the end of the year. Three Waters was largely seen as a government grab of civil assets and not particularly popular. Oh and they brought in new anti-terrorism laws in 2021 as well.

 

The farmers began to mobilise having had enough of being the whipping boy for the Green Party and the Green Peace political lobby. They launched a lobby group called Groundswell and began to push back against the left leaning climate change movement. Most of whom are more about progressive liberalism than actual environmental issues.

 

And then it was 2022. Tonga had its Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai eruption and subsequent tsunami and the focus was briefly on mounting rescue and aid via the Defense Force. The Conversion Practices Prohibition Act  was ushered into law and of course the Ukrainian Crisis was coming onto the radar and New Zealand fell in behind the NATO in urging Russia to deescalate tensions with Ukraine. Russia subsequently invaded the Ukraine sadly not listening to Ms Mahuta. Rapid Antigen Tests were ordered and as Omicron began to spread in earnest and were distributed nationwide to replace the PCR tests.

 

The interesting aspect of the parliamentary activities since 2017  is that it is mostly related to some crisis or another or issues that are United Nations Rights Based secular humanist agendas. Such as CRT or else Climate Change or other related issues like environmental pollution or the roll out of electric vehicles. Otherwise issues relating to the global agenda such as the Ukraine conflict or the Christchurch Mosque Crisis and Gun Control legislation. Without meaning to be too much of a skeptic it seems that from now on there will be a crisis for every occasion.

 

It would seem that the face of prime minister Jacinda Ardern is the face of the Global Agenda and the United Nations in New Zealand. The social conscience of the nation and the voice of the dominant discourse chiding, deriding and subtly condemning the conservatives at every turn. If the cry after the Christchurch Mosque Shootings was "They are us!" then the cry against the social conservatives is definitely "They are not us!"

 

Sadly, the protest on Parliament Grounds was a very valid and heart felt expression of conservative and disenfranchised New Zealander's emotions. But the dominant discourse has rapidly moved to liberal progressive values and "They are us." A slogan which very accurately applies to those who espouse secular humanism and the inner self enlightenment mantra's of the fully integrated New Age - Buddhist and Interfaith movements. As it has been very subtly sown into the hearts and minds of the average New Zealander in the 21st Century.

 

Those of us who are still holding to the Christian Social Conservative values of our parents era are said to have been left behind as the Progressive Liberals, and their ilk, are literally undergoing an evolutionary leap forward into the New Age. The Age of Aquarius. In recent years science has come forward with the idea that the conservative brain is more black and white and stayed than the more open minded liberal progressive brain. They say there is a demonstrable and scientifically provable difference.

 

Conservatives and Christians are literally the cave men of the twenty first century while the liberals are the new evolutionary jump into the future. Thus Our prime minister Jacinda Ardern can say that she will not meet with those who don't think like her. The height of arrogance and rudeness really and actually quite a backward approach in itself.  Let's face it meeting with others who hold different views to yourself is how a person or group identify the common ground on which to build a relationship going forward. It could be argued that being open to the ideas of others who don't agree with you on the basis of developing social connections is the real indicator of intelligence.

 

In any case, the defining elements of the last six years have been the switch to continual crises and rapid change which is creating a new format society very similar to an Orwellian Dystopia. Daily life is becoming a turbulent emotional roller coaster ride where uncertainty and worry are increasingly the norm for everyone. This is achieved through a cohesion or state and media. Churning through the events of each day and weaving in worrying factors like climate disaster and portraying those who don't subscribe to the liberal agenda as being somehow quite dangerous.

 

It would seem the elite have an end game in mind and they are using secular socialism to hurry it into being around the globe. The fear of pandemics and the dangers of climate change are merely a means of brain washing citizens into the idea that totalitarian rule is our best chance of surviving in the future. As though Conservative Christianity is backward thinking and has gotten us into this mess but clear minded rationalism is the only way to get through it. Electric vehicles, sustainable technology and an understanding of the scientific principals as they are laid out in the mainstream media.

 

"They are us!" is the catch call hastening everyone to pull into line. You don't want to be a left behind conservative stick in the mud with a busted brain. You want to be enlightened and be a part of the great New Age Progressive leap forward. You want to arrive in the "Brave New World." Pardon the irony in this slogan. The brave new world mantra actually turns out to be more similar to Huxley's novel than a paradise of Luciferian Enlightenment. A dystopia rather than a utopian paradise. There is little doubt that those who don't fit in and won't follow the party line are going to have a hard time. Those who won't take the Mark of the Beast won't be able to buy or sell and will be locked out of the system.

 

Thirdly, 2030 is the end of the road. We are going through a process of global transformation and that process is intended to be complete by 2030. Changes to achieve climate stability and strategies to reduce population as well as the establishment of a global world government. All to be implemented by 2030. I assume that means the Russia and China will also be dealt with by that deadline.

 

Finally, a word to other Christians and Conservatives. The most important thing for Christians to do is to focus on the basics. Don't be swayed of frightened by the pace and grab of all of this change. Sharing the gospel and leading folk to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is all that matters. What is now happening has been prophesied and will happen and then Jesus Christ will come again. Conservatives, if you're not saved then get saved. Do what you can to sensibly restrain progressive liberalism. But to make a real difference would require a well-structured movement and great blessing from God. Although I think sharing the gospel would achieve the same goals. Anyway that is where I believe New Zealand is heading. Toward a liberal progressive New World Order and a perceived Age of Aquarius which as I understand it began last year in 2021.

 

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world,ithat he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

 

From <https://biblehub.com/esv/john/3.htm>

Are we approaching the Second Coming?

Many Christians who are looking for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ have been sounding the trumpet for the last seventy two years. You see, seventy two years ago the nation of Israel was restored fulfilling a prophecy in the book of Matthew chapter twenty four verses thirty two to thirty five.

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Many Christians believe that Christ Jesus was referring to the re-establishment of the nation of Israel in the last days and that the fig tree He spoke of here is a metaphor for Israel as a nation. This passage of scripture from verse four of Matthew chapter twenty four through to verse thirty five describes a number of signs relating to the Second Coming.

In the end time, Jesus said many would come claiming to be the Christ. There will be wars and rumors of wars. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. Believers will be delivered up in the name of Jesus Christ. Many will fall away from the faith. There will be false prophets and lawlessness will increase. The love of many will grow cold. Those who endure to the end will be saved. The gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole World and then the end will come. The prophecy of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of His kingdom will be fulfilled.

However, I can see the skeptic looking at this list and saying that this is true of any time since Christ Jesus was crucified, resurrected and ascended into heaven. Anytime since the first advent and throughout the Church Age. But the most significant difference about the beginning of the time of sorrows is the restoration of Israel which is a defining moment. Even if you don’t believe the fig tree prophecy that Jesus brought us in Matthew twenty four. Israel being dispersed and then regathered in the last days is an Old Testament prophecy. It was shared by the prophet Jeremiah in chapter thirty verse three and chapter sixteen verses fourteen and fifteen, by the prophet Isaiah in chapter forty three in verses five to seven, by the prophet Ezekiel in chapter thirty nine verses twenty five to twenty nine and by the prophet Amos in chapter nine verses fourteen and fifteen. Of course there are many other scriptures reaffirming that Israel will be regathered in the last days from amongst the peoples of the World.

Even so, it is a symptom of the human condition that people only see what they wish to see and believe what they wish to believe. Many people including Christians are comfortable in their current existence and don’t want things to change. The events of a worldwide tribulation and the imminent return of Jesus Christ would be most inconvenient from that perspective. So they ignore bible prophecy as being archaic, symbolic and allegorical. In short not to be taken literally. So don’t worry be happy.

Honestly though, it is hard to ignore that the events that are happening in the World now are in alignment with Bible Prophecy. Political extremism seems to be back in vogue as we watch Russia attempting violent expansionism in the Ukraine and China’s intimidation of it’s neighbors on the South China Sea and political maneuvering in the South Pacific bodes instability. While in the West we seem to be flirting with virulent left wing socialism ourselves as we move into a seemingly more totalitarian form of government. Supposedly in the theoretical pursuit of sustainability and the reversal of climate change or is it a return to the religion of naturalism and the occult of old?

George Orwell with his visionary dystopian novel ‘1984’ and of course Aldous Huxley with his literary triumph “Brave New World’ both seem almost prophetic today when we consider the changing roll of government in our time. Increasingly citizens are being pressured to think and behave in certain predefined ways while at the same time being watched and subtly assessed with new more invasive technology. This would be fine if we could believe that those in control have our best interests at heart but it is hard not to wonder if there is some dark agenda being gradually worked into place that is not at all altruistic or even sane.

New Zealand since the inception of the current Labour government appears to have entered a new phase of democracy. One where the media and the government work together to manipulate the public perception and to contrive events which herd public thinking toward certain liberal progressive conclusions. This approach is being used on a global scale in this time to create the basis of a humanist one world system. One where there are no moral absolutes and nothing is black or white. Everything is seen in shades of grey.

This is not a new idea but rather is the outcome of a sustained effort by an elite group of Luciferian organizations which the bible describes as the Mystery of Iniquity. As their plans come to fruition in this time, they are the result of centuries of toil aimed at invading the thinking of mankind. With the goal of eventually convincing them that there is no God, and that the bible is backward thinking and untrustworthy as are those who read it.

At the same time, they have promoted atheism and the understanding that in the great scheme of time there is no true consequence for actions. Stars are born and planets coalesce and form over millions of years, There is no God and no creation so in that context the value of one or millions of human lives lost is insignificant. Such that, if an elite controls a system of government where the people are enslaved and trodden under foot. No one can say that that is evil or wrong. Fortunately for us Jehovah is real and he will hold those fools who adhere to humanism and atheism or the worship of Lucifer to account. Though all in good time.

Science has been remodeled from the beautiful study and understanding of God’s creation now called pseudo science. Into the current format which says “I will not believe in what I cannot see therefore I cannot see God so I will not believe in Him.” In many ways science has taken up the mantra “I will believe anything but God.” The scripture from Romans chapter one “Professing to be wise they became fools.” comes to mind.

So where are we now? Well, given the events of the last five years and the advance of the Left in the Western World and invasion of the Ukraine by Russia. I believe that the next major event will be WWIII. The United States or perhaps more accurately the Global Elite and the Pentagon have an agenda that involves ridding themselves of the threat to their New World Order. This threat is represented by Russia and China. In the process of dealing with these two super powers the New World Order and One World Government will be established. Though how much of the World will be left intact after WWIII is a moot point.

Infamous Freemason and American Civil War Officer, Albert Pike, is said to have laid out a simple plan involving three world wars to achieve One World Government. In a much disputed letter to Giuseppe Mazzini in 1871. Pike outlined the purposes each war would be used to achieve. WWI to create a communist state in Russia which over time would weaken the other major governments. WWII was to bring into conflict political Zionism and Fascism with the latter being destroyed. Communism would become stronger to balance Christianity until a later cataclysm. WWIII will come from a clash between Zionism and Islam. The rest of the world will be worn down from continuous war and be in a state of physical and spiritual exhaustion. In the end Christianity and Atheism will be destroyed and the time of enlightenment and Luciferian worship will be upon the world. 

This letter has been denied by the elite but even if it is not genuine it has a certain symmetry much like the Georgia Guide Stones. There is not much to be disagreed with as it were and even the comment about WWIII is relatively in tune with the reality of the situation as it stands at the moment. If this is the time proceeding the outbreak of World War Three? Coincidence or perhaps written with 20 – 20 hindsight? Quite possibly but still a very accurate and concise description of the situation as it relates to using the world wars to achieve certain milestones on the road to the New World Order and Luciferian rule.

So, even if we accept the Covid pandemic as a natural occurrence. It has markedly changed the world from what it was in 2019 in terms of global travel and more controlled domestic movement. It has also had an impact on pollution and changed the landscape in relation to climate change by ushering in law at a national level that will severely curb personal freedom at the discretion
of individual governments. With ever improving technology Big Brother is closer than ever before. This without even seriously considering the possibility of receiving chip technology via the vaccine.

As to the likelihood of continuing peace in our specific nationalities. The Ukraine conflict and the uneasy tensions in the South China Sea certainly give rise for concern. The possibility of world war is higher than it has been for some time. Things have changed from the end of the cold war as well. A new generation is moving into the political arena which has little knowledge of the global damage a nuclear war could cause even from a small conflict between non super powers. Is this the time spoken of by Christ Jesus in Matthew chapter twenty four? I personally think that it is
very likely.

However, even in Christian circles there are many who would vehemently disagree with my assertion. Largely because no one wants to see a global conflict that would come close to destroying the entire biosphere. An extinction level event as it were. So in the end I can only suggest that we “Watch and pray for Jesus is coming soon.” As the bible says “There will be troubled times and then the end will come quickly.” Then Christ Jesus will return and the eternal Kingdom of God will be established. Come Lord Jesus.

Arrogance – Keeping Your Feet on the Ground

 

Romans 1:18 – 20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”

With the current crisis in the Ukraine it is moot to talk about the use of appropriate weaponry fit for the purpose. If the intention is to take Kiev relatively undamaged then you don’t want to drop an atomic bomb on it. So it is with sharing the gospel and other truths of the bible with non believing folk.

For instance, you could share Romans 1: 18 – 20 with Gay Pride people and add several other verses from that chapter but all you will cause is anger and resentment. This scripture is for Christians to know a basic truth from the Word of God but it is not, in most cases, going produce a contrite heart in the target audience. Quite the opposite in most cases.

In fact, all that has been achieved by sharing that scripture in an unloving manner is that unrepentant proponents of socialism and humanism are viewing the Bible as hate speech and seeking to ban the bible. Yes they are wrong and if they don’t repent God will judge them but if you want to reach them you need to act in love and speak judiciously and with care in the love of God.

Galatians 5: 19 – 21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Notice the Paul in speaking about the works of the flesh to the Galatians says “I warn you as I warned you before...” So the warning is for the Galatians, the warning is for the Christians. This is not something we would share directly with unbelieving folk unless we were preaching repentance directly to them under the guidance and in the power of the Holy Spirit.

These types of scriptures are great at stirring Christians up to Spiritual Pride and Personal Arrogance but when used by people, thinking in that way, as weapons to beat the unsaved are only good for closing the gate to Salvation. If you want to reach the lost you need the Love of God, Humility and Tolerance.

Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned”

You know this passage from the apostle Paul intrigues me because Paul also says in 1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” 

Yet in Romans 12:3 he speaks of sober judgement which implies logical thinking and reasoning but later says that natural man who has only the ethics in his heart that God has placed there. Not the guidance of the Holy Spirit that the believer has. The natural man cannot accept the things of the Spirit of God.

The scripture from 1 Corinthians 2:14 is often thrown in the face of the unbelieving by Christians. Christians who are arrogantly asserting that the unbelievers cannot understand the things of God because they are Spiritual and not from the natural realm.

Romans 12:3 indicates that Christians should not laud it over others and exhorts them to use sober judgement; serious, solemn, thoughtful, earnest, dignified, steady, level headed judgement. Sharing the gospel with wisdom. So to be reasonable and to use logic and understanding to reach the unbelieving souls in the context of the faith that God has assigned believing Christians.


I conclude by asking fellow believers to be humble in the advice they give to other Christians and to be especially careful what they say to unbelieving folk. It is so easy to have a repertoire of scriptures to throw at others from a position of Spiritual Pride and Arrogance. In reality though we need to be caring in the way we share the gospel and other truths from the bible. We should not condemn others but rather we ought to walk in the Spirit sharing in the Love of God and being careful not to drive others away from the Cross of Christ Jesus.