Grace and why it applies to you.

Many non Christians for whatever reason aren’t interested in hearing the gospel. They aren’t interested in religion or they don’t believe there is a God. They’ve had a bad experience with Christianity or Christians have been hypocrites. This applies to a lot of Christians as well. There certainly is nothing like encountering someone who is all preachy, or who doesn’t practice what they preach, to put a crimp in your attitude toward Christianity.

Non Christians use hypocrisy to justify not wanting to hear the gospel and Christians use it to justify not fellowshipping with other Christians. The other reasons like not being interested in hearing the gospel, or don’t believe there is a God, or aren’t interested in religion. Well they’re just excuses. Excuses from folks who don’t know whats at stake.

One of the biggest lies that unsaved folk believe is “When you’re dead you’re dead.” You know the drama. There is no God, Atheism. There is no creation, Evolution. There’s just me and the universe and when this life is over, I’m dead. That’s all she wrote. There’s only one problem with this scenario. What if you’re wrong?

What if there is a God. What if there is a creation and it’s not the universe. What if it’s God that created the universe and you. You see, prior to your involvement in the situation there was a problem with one of God’s primes. An angel called Lucifer, went off the reservation and led one third of the angels in a war against God. He lost and was thrown out of heaven but got some revenge by interfering in a project that God was initiating in the spiral arm of this galaxy on a little planet called Earth. Lucifer, also called Satan, misled our first parents, Adam and Eve, causing them to disobey God and to fall into sin.

God began to work on a plan to restore man and the creation back into a sinless and righteous relationship with himself. He proposed to send a savior from the Godly line of man to rescue mankind from eternal separation from God. He made covenants with Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David.

Then in an amazing turn of events, around twenty centuries ago, the Holy Spirit overshadowed a virgin and a child was born and named Jesus. Jesus led a perfect sinless life, preached a gospel of repentance for three years during His ministry. Was tried and crucified by the Jewish authorities, bleed and died. Was buried and raised on the third day. That all who believe on Jesus the Son of God might not perish but inherit eternal life.This is the gospel and is a part of God’s grace toward sinners who seek to be saved from sin in Christ Jesus.

So, if you’re in denial and you have yourself convinced that it’s one life and then you’re eternally dead or perhaps you think you’re on an eternal go round and have many lives. Well, you need to factor in Yahweh. The Creator God of this World and this Universe. You need to consider what the bible says about us. Romans 3:10 “There is none righteous, not even one.” Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” NASB 1995

Finally, the book of Proverbs has some amazing advice for all of mankind but there is one statement that is made there that has relevance to this teaching. Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death.” We’re talking about eternal death here. For the bible says that it is give for all men once to die but we are talking here about rejecting the truth that is in Christ Jesus and paying the ultimate penalty which is the second death. Eternal and irreversible separation from God and eternal life. Think it over and don’t be foolish about it.

 

Kiwi Spirituality

Twenty-three years ago, I trained to be a teacher. I chose to enroll in a secular course with Christchurch College of Education. It was a regional initiative based in Rotorua at the then Waiariki Institute of Technology. There was a strong Māori component in the course which was reinforced by marae stays at the Tangatarua Marae on campus and the assistant lecturer being a Māori tōhunga.

During the course I remember two spiritual experiences that stand out. On one occasion there was a spirit that entered the classroom through the door, and which walked around the classroom looking at the students work. It eventually stopped beside a Wicca lady that was also on the course. She later asked me if I had someone in the family pass on recently as she had noticed the apparition standing beside her and she thought that it looked like me. Just the devil being clever?

The second occasion was at a Wānanga at Tangatarua in the Ihenga Whare Nui where the lecturer was walking around during a group activity with a Hawk sitting on his shoulder. This, it turned out was not pet bird but was a spirit guide. The lecturer noted that some of the students had noticed his spirit guide sitting on his shoulder. When I noticed the spirit, I felt an oppressive force that made it hard for me to think straight and unable to marshal my thoughts to pray against it for a short time. I did pray against it and my mind became clear but that did not seem to cause the spirit to leave in any rush.

So, you could say that the spiritual side of Māori culture was evident in the teacher training course from the beginning. However, I got to know Māori and to appreciate their proclivity toward spiritual things. I came to understand that as a people if they accepted the gospel that they could very well have gotten their country back. Sadly, they have failed to repent and accept the gospel and instead are now seeking through co-governance to integrate their spirituality into New Zealand society. In a fortunate happenstance most Kiwi’s are happy to accept that situation.

In 2023, karakia to Rangi and Papa are now common place in educational settings and at sports events while performing haka to acknowledge the passing of individuals and to incite spiritual forces to assist competitors at all types of culturally significant occasion are now quite normal. Such is the popularity of Maori Spirituality that it seems likely that it will ultimately displace Christianity as the major religious contributor in New Zealand in the near future.

So, does this matter. As a Christian I would say that it does indeed matter. New Zealand has known times of refreshing which have come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19). After both of the World Wars and the Great Depression of the 1930’s New Zealand bounced back refreshed into era’s of blessing and prosperity which lasted for many years. Life was not perfect especially for Māori and that has to be acknowledged and accounted for but it was certainly much better for all concerned than the gradual decline into poverty under Rogernomics and Neo-liberal policies of the 1980’s. Which have transferred the wealth of a nation into the hands of a few and seen a substantial portion of our population impoverished without any means of improvement. All the while the politicians have pretended to be doing their best for everyone while actually only feathering the nests of the elite.

Finally, I would like to make my point. If we allow ourselves to pay homage to other Gods rather then giving our worship to Jehovah, then we will receive the same consequences that ancient Israel did. We need to understand clearly the intent of 1 Chronicles 7 verses 13-14 “If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” So to clarify, if we stop playing the harlot with pagan deities and repent then God will hear our voice, forgive our sin and heal Aotearoa New Zealand.

Internet, Twitter, Social Media or Artificial Intelligence

I do not know if you have experienced Twitter. It is like a bird colony. Just a whole lot of people shouting and yelling into the breeze. The birds, at least, have a purpose in their calls. Most of the people on Twitter just seem to be very unhappy and want to share their disharmony with all the world or anyone who will listen. Sadly, it is a state of affairs that effects most of the social media apps and pervades the Internet today.

I fear that the world has generally gone that way. People choosing to share with the world whatever comes into their minds as soon as it comes into their minds. Instant gratification, where there is an answer to every question but not necessarily the right one. Just so much noise. I am aware that I am guilty of doing exactly the same thing even with this article.

I wonder if it’s because I am accustomed to conversing with my family and people that share the same perspective on the world as I do that I find the confused rambling on the net so hard to tolerate? Could the problem be that the diversity of thinking that underpins daily life is so broad based that it is impossible to sort out fact from fiction.

As a Christian, I am feeling more and more isolated. Even other Christians do not see the issues in a way that agrees with my perspective. It is like putting a jigsaw together using the pieces from several different sets. Everything looks as though it should fit together but there are slight differences of shape that make it impossible to fit the individual pieces together. So, on the Internet the thoughts are so piecemeal that often you can not make the connections that are necessary to distinguish logical reasoning from insanity.

As a teacher this is evident in the thinking of the students. Children always have difficulty discerning their moral path at the best of times but with social media and smart phones many children spend a lot more time in virtuality than can surely be good for their state of mind.

The result is evident in falling grades, developmental delay, a lack of wisdom, the absence of maturity or, the ability to manage self and exhibit any form of self discipline. Yes it is that bad! If something is not done to remediate this situation I despair for the future of our youth and the country as a whole. I am not joking when I say that their will be revolution and civil war if we cannot fix this.

Commentators are expressing worry about artificial intelligence and I would advise all to take notice of the warnings that they are giving. However, I would also advise all to note the horrific state of our children’s education. Far too many are illiterate and innumerate to the extent that they will be easy to manipulate if AI does become a problem.

Educated people stand a better chance of discerning truth from propaganda, especially once they realise that there is a danger of being manipulated by the system. People who do not know much are more easily deceived. They can be convinced to do what the system wants and deceived about the objectives of those in authority.

So Internet, Twitter, Social Media or Artificial Intelligence. We need to understand that the one who controls the digital devices or digital media controls our children and the future of our society. As a Christian I believe that time is short and Jesus is coming soon. Before he comes a time of disorder and destruction will unfold on the world such has never been known (Matthew 24). I believe that Social Media and smart phones will play a significant part in bringing this time of judgement to pass. My advice is to limit your children’s exposure to digital devices and the Internet as a matter of utmost importance. The sanity of our young people is at stake.

The Tiny Earth Defence

You will often hear a defense given by the unwilling unbeliever. It goes something like this. The universe is such a huge place with countless solar systems and untold numbers of galaxies. Why would God concern Himself with the people of such an average star who live on such a tiny planet as Earth?

The bible tells us that God created the Earth in six planetary days and that He found everything that He created to be good. Which by our standards means that it was perfect and without defect. It does not mention that the Earth was small, or the Sun was average in size. The creation narrative only gives Jehovah's comment about creation being good by His own standards.

After he finished creating on Earth, God took a day off which he called the Sabbath and he gave instruction that man was to take the seventh day of every week and to cease from his work and to rest in honor of God’s Day of rest after the six days of creation.

The bible doesn’t find any reason to question why God is at work on Earth. However a possible reason for this is that although Earth is small in a seemingly average solar system in an ordinary galaxy. God is a universal God meaning he is everywhere, omniscient, or all knowing. Whether he is at work in the largest galaxy or the smallest. He is everywhere and there is nothing beyond his notice. Nothing is insignificant or irrelevant and everything is of great importance to him that is in his creation.

There is also a greater reason for God’s involvement on Earth. At some time in the past a war took place in Heaven. It was led by the fallen archangel Lucifer who was corrupted when he began to despise God and sought to elevate himself to be the ruler above God and over all of creation. As a consequence of his personal corruption he rebelled, leading one third of the angels of heaven against God in a cosmic battle. He was defeated and cast out of heaven.

God then created the Earth and populated it with plants and animals of all kinds and micro organisms and things of every kind. This included man and woman who were created to oversee all of the creation and to be in charge of all that God had created on the Earth.

Satan then became involved and misled man causing them to eat of the fruit of the tree on knowledge and to disobey God who had instructed them not to eat of the fruit of that tree. This resulted in the fall of man and the introduction of sin into the creation on Earth. Before the fall Adam and Eve were innocent in the highest sense of the word and were not aware that they were naked. God then clothed man them in skins and instructed them about the consequences of their fall.

There then developed two lines of descent among men. The sons of God and the sons of man. The sons of God obeyed God and made sacrifice for their sins by presenting slain lambs on the alter before God and sprinkling blood on the alter. The sons of man followed their own hearts and did as they pleased guided by the Satan the prince of darkness. Sadly the trend was for all men to become more and more evil and in the end for God to make a decision that he regretted ever making man and that he would destroy them.

Noah was the only righteous man left and God instructed him to build an ark which took a century to complete. Once it was finished God placed Noah and his family and two animals of every kind into the Ark and then he flooded the world destroying the rest of mankind and most of creation.

After the flood God raised up men by which to manifest His glory and to provide a savior for mankind and the creation on Earth which was displaying the impact of sin and groaning under the weight of it. God made a covenant with Abraham to establish him as a nation through which all men would be blessed.

Through the family of Isaac, the son of Abraham, and his son Jacob (Israel). God began to build a holy nation consecrated to himself to take the Law of God to the nations. He raised Moses to lead the nation of Israel to the promised land and to bring his law to the people. He gave them righteous judges to lead the nation in times of trouble and eventually raised the righteous King, David, with whom to establish a covenant that would lead directly to the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Through His death, burial and resurrection, Christ Jesus ushered in the covenant of Jeremiah thirty one. A new eternal covenant that would see the Holy Spirit write the Law of God on the hearts of the believers and put it into their minds. Which enables true repentance and the consecration of Christians to the holiness of God because the helper (Holy Spirit), indwells them.

To conclude, it is obvious that God is incredibly invested in the creation on Earth and has enacted a plan that will remove sin and rectify the damage it has done forever. All of creation will groan no longer and will be completely restored to its former glory and to the eternal glory of Jehovah. So, tiny Earth and average size Sun or not. It matters not to God. He is eternal and omniscient and not a speck of sin is permissible in His Universe. It will all be dealt with and removed and the Universe will be cleansed and holy once more.

Reality Check

I have been back in school for a full week. The first week in a while. I really enjoyed being back in the classroom and getting the opportunity to teach the children again. It was a chance to observe the students and assess the changes in the system. The youngsters are great, and they are resilient, but society has changed.

Over the years as teachers, we are uniquely placed to note the changes that happen within the school community. The learning deficit post Covid. The increase in substance abuse, the rise of the gang culture as it makes itself known in schools once again. The effect on the lives of the children is self-evident in the classroom.

I think it would be hard to overstate the damage that smart phones have done to our youth over the last ten years. Instant communication and access to social media combined with some highly addictive online games and the rise of the influencer, not to mention TikTok. All of these have contributed to the confusion that exists in the minds of our students and their whanau. Sanity is a scarce commodity in 2023.

To an extent it makes no difference what sector of society you hail from. You can be Non-Christian or Christian, LGBTQ+ or Feminist, from a Racial group, or be an Environmentalist. There is just so much information available that many people are overloaded and approaching digital burnout. Whatever the reasons it is hard to define the absolutes that resolve factual truth. The idiom “There are no grey areas,” has ceased to convey meaning in this socialist society where there is now no black and white. There are no longer moral absolutes and grey is the new black and white.

The result of this bombardment of the mind through social media is social engineering at a pace, and scale, never witnessed before in the history of mankind. The push on television, and in the news media, to create stereotypes of how citizens should look, talk and act is phenomenal. I mean it is literally a phenomenon that has never been witnessed as far as I am aware. It is also visible across society and not least within schools. Our youth have been transformed in the way they dress, the way they talk and the way they act.

So, what have I noticed? Well as a relief teacher I notice that from year 9 to year 11. Not a few classes have a couple of students that are prepared to act out. By this I mean talking loudly and incessantly and ignoring staff requests to focus on their work. It might manifest as two or three students lying on the floor with their feet up on their chairs, laughing hysterically. The classes that a few years ago acted out and were tricky to manage, are want to go the deep end. Throwing desks and kicking chairs, swearing and cursing and abusing each other. Laughing hysterically and ignoring the staff that are present. Now, don’t get me wrong, I may be exaggerating, and this certainly is not the norm, but it isn’t a rarity either. It is far too common, and the extreme behavior appears to be being encouraged by the outrageous role modeling that is constantly being streamed to and from social media. We could call it the Tic Tok revolution.

The movie “The Day After Tomorrow” described the impact of Climate Change and a resulting ice age based on the cessation of the ocean currents in the Atlantic Ocean. The changes that have taken place with the advent of the smart phone, social media and the Covid epidemic have effected a similar change to the psyche of our youth. Overnight they are a different organism. Prior to this change there was declining educational achievement and increasingly rebellious behaviors amongst the lower socio-economic students and the lower middle-class students. After Covid there is a narrow band of high achieving upper socio-economic students, and the rest are uniformly unfocused on educational objectives and prone to behavior that can only be described as lawlessness.

What can be said about this development. Well, it seems that society has exchanged truth for a lie (Romans 1: 24-26). They have rejected the wisdom of God and with it they have embraced wickedness and depravity and rejected righteousness. The concern here is that the bible talks about this in the strongest terms in the scripture verses referenced above and the secular society in which we live is trying to have the bible banned and labelled as hate speech because of those exact verses. Yet if you look at the impact of exchanging the truth for a lie on our people, they are paying a horrendous price for this folly as God prepares to judge the world.

They are becoming ignorant as educational standards fall. They have no peace in their lives and can trust no one. Senseless violence is becoming common place as innocent people are attacked and beaten waiting at bus stops for no other reason than for miscreants to stream the attacks on the Internet. Even so God loves them and would have them confess their sins that he might show them forgiveness and mercy. If only the people would understand and repent that Yahweh might hear their voice and heal the land. It is so hard to watch the people reject the Word of God and adhere to the secular lies that abound on digital devices and social media. It is my suggestion that bible believing Christians pray and fast for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to reverse this terrible situation.