New Kid on the block.

(This is something I wrote 6months ago but still stands today as we look towards the New Year)

I greet you all in the Name of our Lord and King, Jesus.

Although it has been many a year since I was a kid, I do now feel like the new Kid on the block as I join with SGA Australia, who have been working for God among the Slavic peoples of Eastern Europe since 1965, and who are now seeking to expand the scope of their present ministry to include a new emphasis of being more involved in an evangelist ministry into the more dominant Muslim areas of the former soviet union.

 As you know, this is a task that is beyond any one group or organisation. That is why SGA supports and works through local pastors, churches and church organisations, already on the ground and operating in these countries and areas.

 Likewise, we at SGA here cannot do this task alone either and are dependent on God’s children to assist us in this vital ministry through your prayers and other practical support.

  As the new kid on the block, I have a lot to learn and will also be dependent on God’s people for their prayers and practical help, as together, we all work as one; encouraging, challenging and building one another up as we serve God together as one.

 In One Thessalonians 5: 17, we are enjoined to pray without ceasing, so  may I also ask you keep praying without ceasing for this work of God, and also please keep seeking God’s direction leading as to how He would have you further involved in this ongoing ministry too.

 At the moment I am trying to put together a visitation program where I will be able to visit with as many of you as is possible. So If you or your Church would like a visit from SGA and to hear more about the opportunities still available to reach the 90% of the 300,000 million people in this area yet to hear of the Salvation available to them in this area, please give me a c call or an email. Thanks.

 Your fellow servant in Christ Jesus, our saviour: Walter

The Bible and Dragnet

  At Church this morning, our pastor spoke on the first Letter to the Corinthian Church in our Bibles, and he made the point that the city of Corinth then, as bad as it was, was in reality no worse than any big city in the world today, including our own city of Melbourne.

 After the service I told him that I had also preached from this book/letter about 12 months ago and made the same point about Corinth then, being no worse than Melbourne now.  I then went on to say that if the Bible was written today, the stories would be exactly the same, only the names would be different. I then used the illustration of the old TV cop show of the 50’s which always prefaced each show with: "Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to see is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent."

 To which the pastor replied along the lines, that that it was a great illustration, and one he might use one day, but not with the 6pm group tonight. Asked to explain, he reminded me that this was the youth service and that most of them wouldn’t know what Dragnet was!

 Anyway, later, thinking about the connection of the sameness of the stories in the Bible when written and the situations today everywhere, I couldn’t help wondering that if the Bible had been written in our time, where we would all fit in, particularly within a common story like that in the Book of Acts, as recorded from chapter four, verse thirty six to Chapter 5, verse eleven. Do read the passage for yourself and ask yourself, if this story was written today, whose name would your name replace in this story? Ananias/Sapphira? Or Barnabas?

 This way of reading the bible may sound strange to you, but in reality, should be the way we all read our Bibles. Not as an ancient history book, or even as a more ancient text book, but as a current living book that relates directly to the life of each and every one of us today.

 So in closing now, how are you going to read the word of God now? As it should be read? Or are you just going to continue to ignore it and its personal message to you and your life?

 The choice is yours, so please choose wisely.

What have you begun before that needs finishing now?

 Was recently reading Second Corinthians 8 when I came across these familiar verses in verses 10 to 12: “10 And in this matter I am giving my advice: it is appropriate for you who began last year not only to do something but even to desire to do something— 11 now finish doing it, so that your eagerness may be matched by completing it according to your means. 12 For if the eagerness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has—not according to what one does not have.”

 Now of course I believe we all know that Paul was talking about a voluntary Collection for the poor in Jerusalem that the Corinthians had begun to put together but had still not completed a year later, but today I was wondering if we too do not have unfinished projects of our own that we have begun, whether last year or years before, that we too need to finish now?

 Yes, sadly, many people are sarcastically referred to as “Gunners”. That is that are always saying that they are ‘gunna do this’ or they are ‘gunna do that’ and often begin well but rarely finish.

 Again enough of them, what about you and me? Are we too “gunners”? Or are we finishers too? People and God are not interested in what we have begun; but only in what we have finished with what we have as verse 12 clearly states.

 So in closing, what is it that you have begun that still needs finishing, and when will you do it? T.O.W.G.P.

Have you really come out from among them.

Was Just reading from the Second Letter of Paul’s to the Corinthians, when this familiar passage took on a new emphasis to me, so I thought I would take the liberty of sharing it with you. Now 2Corinthians 6: 17 – 7: 1, says: “17 Therefore come out from them, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty." 1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.” Looking at the text in 6 17, we see again that we were told to separate ourselves from our past sinful connections and, if we do, God will welcome us into His presence. Further, in 6:18, He promises us that he will be our Father and we His Children. Now this promise is not new to us nor to the Corinthian church I believe, but I can’t help wondering if we, like the Corinthian believers then, also even now, need to in the words of 7;1, to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and of spirit, making holiness perfect in the fear of God.” What say you? Yes like the Corinthians we have been saved and are now the Children of God, but have we, like them then, allowed ourselves to go back to our old ways again and thus need to cleanse ourselves again, from every defilement of both our bodies and our minds? So in closing I ask again: “Have we really come out from among them? Or have we allowed ourselves, perhaps even unknowingly, to slip back in to our old ways again, and thus need to come again to God in repentance for forgiveness of our backsliding? Over to you now for your reflection. And action if needed! T.O.W.G.P.

An unexpected reminder of my past.

A couple of weeks back, I was going to a memorial service in Briar Hill, for a friend of some 30 years acquaintance. As I was going from Croydon, I decided to go to Warrandyte and go across to Research and then through Eltham. (A way I know very well but hadn’t travelled for some time now.) As I was doing so, and approaching Eltham, I noticed that the main street is now a 40 KM speed zone during daylight hours and so was thinking that on the way back I would go back through Templestowe instead of returning the way I came. Then, as I was driving past a group of Shops (where I had worked in a couple, at one time or another, back in the early 70’s) I saw something that made me decide to come back through Eltham again and even stop and check things out more carefully. When I worked there, there was A BP Garage and a small group of Shops set back a little from the road on one side. Next to the Garage was a fruit shop that used to be run by Ray Ferrari and his wife until he sold the business to the (then) young son of a greengrocer, and his wife, who later sold it to the owner of the nearby Health food store. Next was a Hardware shop, Then a Butchers, a Milk Bar, a Health-food shop, and finally, a Hairdressers behind the Health-food store, but down a lane. Today, the Hairdressers is a small café, The Health-food store a Pizza Joint; The Milk Bar a Fish ‘n; chip shop, The Butchers, another Pizza joint, The Hardware store where I worked for quite a few years, is now a Thai restaurant, and The BP garage, is now the Community Centre. What was the fruit shop then, was apparently most recently a Real estate agency but now up for lease, and thus all the old signs had been removed from the front, leaving a tattered and peeling sign on the top of the Veranda that still easily reads "Parker's Fruitery”. Yes, some thirty seven years after we sold the business and it stopped being a fruit shop, our surname is once again briefly and publically on display. Just once again showing that not everything we put behind us, stays behind us and out of sight forever. Thus we should always leave a good name and reputation behind us knowing that the past can sometimes reappear suddenly and totally unexpectedly, many, many years down the track. I think that this is also a very good reminder to us as Christians too as we live in a more and more hostile world, to continue to give our best to God wherever we are and wherever we go, and not be silenced or intimidated by the world around us, knowing that we are leaving a good name for Christ, behind us both now and in the years to come should Christ continue to tarry. What say you?

Looking for cans; and Christ sharing opportunities:

In our previous place of residence we had a reasonably large yard and thus our two small-medium size dogs didn’t need as many “walkies” then, unlike now in our “teeny-weeny, itzy bitzy “excuse for a back yard. Now over here, when you take your dog or dogs, for a walk you are supposed to pick up after them or be liable for a rather HEFTY MONETARY FINE. So, these days, when I take the Dogs “walkies”, (which is just about most days,) I take two empty bags with me. One for the ‘doggy doo’; and one for? Well! For many years now, one of my (two) brothers, has been picking up empty aluminium cans, and when he has a lot, takes them to a Scrap metal dealer and then donates the proceeds to two charities that he has been supporting for some years now. Now the rest of us aren’t so conscientious, but we do support our brother by saving our own cans and any others we come across, and passing them on to him. Thus now when I take the dogs out for their “Walkies” I usually collect any empty aluminium cans that I come across on my travels. Thus I am getting quite good at spotting empty Aluminium cans at 100 paces, when I am in the zone. Which I obviously wasn’t the other day when we went out. Although I did see a couple of obvious cans halfway through my walk, I couldn’t be bothered at the thought of carrying just two cans for the rest of the walk, and so left them for another time - if they were still there. Well the next morning I decided to cover the same ground again and if the cans were still there, pick them and any others I saw, up. Which I did! Although I covered the same area as I did the day before when I only saw 2 cans, this time I spotted (& picked up) quite a few others, both before and after the only two I originally saw. And from looking at these extra cans it was quite obvious that not only were they likely there the day before too, but there for many days too. Yes they were there, but because I was not looking for them they were not seen by me. True of a lot of things in life isn’t it? We often don’t see things we should see, not because they are not there, but because we are not really looking for them then. Non-Christians can stop reading here, but I couldn’t help but think how true that this is in our own personal testimonies of Christ too. As Christians we are supposed to be salt and light to the world around us by sharing with them what Christ has done for us, but so often we say we can’t do that because we never have the opportunity to do so. Well, I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that we in fact have many more opportunities to do so, than we claim, but because we are not looking for them, we miss all but the most obvious. So my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am going to encourage you today to lift up your eyes and your mind and see all the opportunities that you have to share with others what Christ has done and is doing in you. There is no need to “Bible-Bash” anyone, simply to share with all who will listen, what Christ has done for you and how He can do it for them too, if they will allow Him. So as I close, can I again encourage you to see the opportunities you already have to share with others what Christ has done for you, and then share it? Please.

"Issumagijoujungnainermik"

"Issumagijoujungnainermik" is another word for “forgiveness.” It is in fact an Eskimo word.
Yes, Moravian Missionaries to the unreached peoples on the edge of the icy northern polar region searched for a word for forgiveness in the local Eskimo language. That's when they discovered issumagijoujungnainermik, a genuine 24-letter tongue-twister which literally means 'not being able to think about it any more.'
That is what ‘Genuine forgiveness’ is all about! It is much more than just saying 'I forgive you', it's about moving on, refusing to think any more about what happened and in time forgetting about it completely.
It's easy to forgive someone who accidentally stepped on your foot, but what about those who meant to hurt you? . Genuine forgiveness is about moving on and refusing to think any more about what happened.
Have you ever witnessed a friend who continually has an issue with someone and just thought 'they really need to get over it'? Holding onto old hurts just makes you bitter. Paul says, 'Forgive...because the Lord forgave you.' Get over it before it turns into hatred!
So today if there is someone you do need to forgive, please do so but do do it within the full meaning of Issumagijoujungnainermik and give them full forgiveness, forgetting about it fully, and moving on never to revisit that spot again.
Remember, "Issumagijoujungnainermik", may sound foolish to you, but true forgiveness doesn't mean foolishness, not in any language.

When do The Twelve Days of Christmas begin?

According to one Web site, “The Twelve Days of Christmas is probably the most misunderstood part of the church year among Christians who are not part of liturgical church traditions. Contrary to much popular belief, these are not the twelve days before Christmas, but in most of the Western Church are the twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Epiphany (January 6th; the 12 days count from December 25th until January 5th).”
Thus, “The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December). This period is also known as Christmastide. The Twelfth Day of Christmas is 5 January, with the celebrations of Christmas traditionally ending on Twelfth Night and is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January.”
Wikipedia states: “As in olden days, Twelfth Night to Epiphany morning is then the traditional time to take down the Christmas tree and decorations.”
And for those who don’t know or have forgotten, “Epiphany is a Christian festival, observed on January 6, commemorating the manifestation of Christ to the gentiles in the persons of the Magi or wise men. In the Western church, Epiphany is usually celebrated as the time the Wise Men or Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus (Matt. 2:1-12). Traditionally there were three Magi, probably from the fact of three gifts, even though the biblical narrative never says how many Magi came. In some cultures, especially Hispanic and Latin American culture, January 6th is observed as Three Kings Day, or simply the Day of the Kings (Span: la Fiesta de Reyes, el Dia de los Tres Reyes, or el Dia de los Reyes Magos; Dutch: Driekoningendag). Even though December 25th is celebrated as Christmas in these cultures, January 6th is often the day for giving gifts. In some places it is traditional to give Christmas gifts for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Since Eastern Orthodox traditions use a different religious calendar, they celebrate Christmas on January 7th and observe Epiphany or Theophany on January 19th.”
So now you know when the twelve days of Christmas are, and when to take down your Christmas decorations and why! And also why some give Gifts on Jan 6th and why others don’t Celebrate Christmas until January 7th. So with that, I will close here by wishing you and yours, a very Merry Christmas, no matter where, when or how you celebrate it.

Ichthus again.

I have talked about this Christian symbol of a fish before but thought it worth looking at again here On Christmas Day.
Although the fish symbol has been used in other cultures before the Christian Community at large adopted it, most of those cultures had had no contact with one another, and it thus these generally "homegrown" meanings, meant different things to the people of these different cultures.
For the Christians, they believe that the link between their religion and the fish symbol is seen in the Greek word for fish (ictus, spelled: Iota Chi Theta Upsilon Sigma). Thus making it an acrostic for "Jesus Christ, of God, the Son, the Savior" [Iesous (Jesus) CHristos (Christ) THeo (of God) Uiou (the Son) Soter (the Savior)].
An acrostic is an "arrangement of words in which the first letter of each line ordinarily combines with others to form a word or words or the alphabet." Put this way, it would read:
Iesous (Jesus)
CHristos (Christ)
THeou (God)
Uiou (Son)
Soter (Savior)
Adding to its common and wide acceptance, the symbol was simple to draw and was often used among Christians as a type of password during times of persecution by the Roman government. If two strangers met and were unsure whether each other was a Christian, one would draw an arc in the earth like: ). If the other were a Christian, they would complete the symbol with a reverse arc: (), forming the outline of a fish.
Thus that is how the fish symbol both came into being and its original usage as a secret sign of Belonging to Christ. However it is now no longer a secret sign and is openly displayed everywhere from letterheads, to Fridge Magnets and stickers for your car.
So now you know both what Icthus and the fish symbol means, what does it mean to you especially now at Christmas? Does it point you to Jesus Christ as God’s son and your Saviour? Or is it just another pretty symbol to you with absolutely no other significance? Just like the Christmas tree and all its baubles – pretty to look at but pretty useless too. Over to you now for true reflection on Jesus and all He’ is as Jesus the Christ and God’s own Son and Saviour.

My Acrostic poem about God.

Another beautiful day in paradise.
But only for those who truly love the Lord God of all.
Come, come and join us now.
Don’t delay.
Escape your past.
Freedom awaits.
Great is your reward in Heaven.
Hell however is horrible.
Individually you must come.
Just as you are, but through the blood of Jesus.
Kinship with God awaits you.
Leave your sin and past behind you.
Move fully into the Kingdom of God.
Now is the hour, and the time to do so if you have not already.
Oh, that you would join us even now.
Please do consider that now.
Quickly and quietly now, while there is still time for the correct decision.
Resistance to God is futile.
So stop resisting now.
Time is at hand, so run to God now
Under His protection, you will be safe forever.
Victory is only for those in the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus.
Why wait?
Xylophones make sweet sounds for the Lord, and so can you!
{Or, Xhosas praise the Lord, why not join them too?}
You must go to Him now.
Zinnias and Zebras display God’s greatness, so why not you too!

Well! I didn’t say it was a good poem! Just that it was mine!
Now it is your turn to see what you can come up with.

Let’s all be Amaranthine in at least one sense?

Don’t know why, but it seems I am attracted to words that appear to have more than one clear meaning.
Amaranthine, the Word of the Day for Tuesday, August 9, 2011, is also one of them as we see by these three meanings:
1. Unfading; everlasting.
2. Of or like the amaranth flower.
3. Of purplish-red color.
Now of course, all these meanings actually revolve around, and arose from, the one source. And that source was and is the amaranthius plant.
Which according to Wikipedia: “Amaranth is a reddish-rose color that is a representation of the color of the flower of the amaranth plant. The color normally considered amaranth, but there are other varieties of amaranth that have other colors of amaranth flowers.
The color amaranth is similar to printer's magenta (pigment magenta) (but redder). It is the color of the flower of those amaranth plants that have amaranth red colored flowers.
The first recorded use of amaranth as a color name in English was in 1690.”
Thus we see that all 3 meanings of being amaranthine is in fact connected to the one source! But today I am not asking if you are a flower. Or even if you are red? No! What I am asking is, are you amaranthine in the aspect of being everlasting and unfading in your everyday life? Or do you come across in fits and starts, and always changing from day to day?
Of course to be really amaranthine, as in unfading band everlasting for evermore, one can only truly do that though through accepting Jesus Christ as your own personal lord and saviour. If you wish to learn more about that, please just ask.
In the meantime, as much as it is possible for you now though, do try to be everlasting and unfading in your everyday life, rather than volatile and ever changing. Again, over to you for now.

Goodbye is a common religious phrase?

Yes, did you know that every time you say goodbye, you are in fact, using a once common religious phrase, and blessing?
According to a popular blog site (Hot blog), “Of the many ways to say farewell — peace, so long, later, skater, ciao — goodbye is the most common. And a form of good-bye has been spoken since the sixteenth century. It comes from godbwye, which is a contraction of “God be with ye.” The phrase was also influenced by good day and good evening, and although an abbreviation itself, it can also be abbreviated further to either, bye, or bye-bye.
Interestingly, a common Spanish term of farewell also now commonly used in English is Adiós. Which also means good bye and is also a contraction of a similar religious phrase.
Thus Adios, is contraction” of ‘A’, which means “to,” and ‘Dios’, which means “God.”
Well that’s your interesting discovery for today. What are some other common religious terms that you know off that are also so common in everyday speak that they have, for all intents and purposes, lost their original religious connections?
Well, till I hear from you that’s all from me, so “God be with you = goodbye”!

A Child of the Manse is not necessarily a Child of God!

In an earlier blog, (Why is a Manse called a Manse?) on my main blog site, I mentioned that any house occupied by a Church minister of religion, and particularly those from a Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist or United Church background, is called a manse; and even then for only as long as it is occupied by a practising Church minister.
I used Wikipedia for my source material and after explaining all about a Manse, it then added this:
“Many notable Scots are referred to as a "son (or daughter) of the manse", as a parent was a Presbyterian minister, and they were therefore brought up in a manse.
Among those to whom the epithet has been applied are:
Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development
Wendy Alexander (sister of Douglas), Labour MSP; former leader of the Labour Party group in the Scottish Parliament (2007–2008); former minister in the Scottish Executive (1999–2002)
John Logie Baird, engineer and inventor of the world's first working television system
Richard Baker MSP, Shadow Justice Minister in the Scottish Parliament
Frankie Boyle, comedian
Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
John Buchan, novelist and Unionist MP, served as Governor General of Canada
Peter Fraser, advocate; former Lord Advocate (1989–1992); former Conservative and Unionist MP
James Gray, Conservative MP
William "Captain" Kidd, pirate
Andrew Bonar Law, former Prime Minister (1922–1923)
Eric Liddell, athlete and rugby internationalist, winner of the 400 metres at the 1924 Olympic Games; missionary to China; portrayed in the film Chariots of Fire
Sheena McDonald, broadcaster
Michael Moore, Liberal Democrat MP
John Reith, founder of the BBC
William Ritchie Sorley, philosopher
David Steel, former leader of the Liberal Party and the Social and Liberal Democrats; former Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament
William Montgomery Watt, Islamic studies scholar and Orientalist
John Witherspoon, signatory of the United States Declaration of Independence”.
Now when you look at some of those names above (Such as Gordon Brown, William ‘Captain” Kidd, Michael Moore and even William Montgomery Watt, just to name a few, it is easy to see that although they were indeed sons of the Manse, they have not all necessarily followed in their father’s footsteps in regard to both belief and a personal walk of faith in Jesus Christ as their own personal Lord and saviour!
Just once again showing that just because your parents or grandparents are/were Christians, it doesn’t mean you are too! No indeed not! In fact, as another old saying says: God doesn’t have grand children! Only Children!”
So it is not enough to be a child of the manse, or of any Christian for that matter! No! Instead you and I, all, need to be a child of God too! And that is a personal thing that not only each one of us must do personally, but also something that only we can do and personally too, if we want to inherit the Kingdom of God.
If you would like more information on how to do that please just ask. Only too happy to help, if I can.

Are You Puissant For God?

The Word of the Day for Friday, September 11, 2009, was “puissant” which is a fancy and difficult to pronounce { \PWISS-uhnt; PYOO-uh-suhnt; pyoo-ISS-uhnt\,} word for “Powerful; strong; mighty; as, a puissant prince or empire.”
Now true as it may be that you and I are most unlikely to ever use, let alone pronounce puissant properly, the word did inspire in me the opening question of our title. Yes, are we mighty or powerful for God?
True, we may be a powerful or mighty source in our families, our Jobs, or even our communities, but does that powerfulness extend past ourselves and into our Christian walk with our Lord?
Again I only have the question and not the answer. That is for you to decide now, if you will!

Are you more a bibliophile or a bibelot?

This question was /is inspired by the Word of the Day for Thursday, January 21, 2010, which, surprise, surprise, was “bibelot”. Which, if you didn’t know (Like me) is “a small decorative object without practical utility; a trinket.” Yes, it doesn’t mean a lot of Bibles as some might have jokingly implied! Nor of one who has lots of Bibles! (Who is looking at me now?) The word for one who is a lover of Books in General (and not just the Bible) is Bibliophile.
Again, Bibelot has absolutely nothing what soever to do with the Bible (as I had first and mistakenly thought,) but in fact is derived from the Old French beubelot, or beubelet, "a small jewel, a trinket," from a reduplication of bel, "beautiful," from Latin bellus, "pretty, handsome." It is related to bauble.”
So once again what looks like on paper, (but pronounced “bibelot \BEE-buh-loh\,) had absolutely nothing to do with Bibles. Just once again showing the need for us always to check out what we think we know with an authoritative source, doesn’t it? For words, this will mean checking out our Dictionaries more often before we voice our opinions, won’t it?
For life in general, and particularly for Christians however, it will mean checking out our Bibles more often too! Otherwise, instead of speaking authoritatively on the subject, we will simply become small decorative objects without any practical use! Yes, just mere trinkets!
Is that what you really want to be, a mere useless trinket or bibelot? Or a useful and effective child of god and a genuine Bibliophile?

Are You Preparing For Success?

Here is some wisdom from the “Wise Words” selection that I receive daily. This one from 01/09/08 and called: “Are you preparing yourself?”
It says: “It's wise to have 'safety nets' such as savings, insurance and investments. Rainy days come unexpectedly. But - what are you doing to prepare for success? God says He can "Open the windows of Heaven and pour out blessings so great, you won't have enough room to take them in" (See Mal 3:10). If God pours out His blessings on you, will you be ready to handle them? Are you preparing yourself for greater things, or just settling for the status quo?
After fishing all night without success, Jesus told Peter, "Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets" (Luke 5:4). Explaining that the fish weren't biting, Peter says, "Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net" (Luke 5:5). Observe; Jesus said, "Let down your nets" (plural). Peter responded, "I will let down the net" (singular). Clearly, Jesus was thinking bigger than Peter! That night they caught so many fish, "their net was breaking." Next we read, "They beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees" (Luke 5:7-8). Peter needed more than one net and one boat to handle what God had in mind. Getting the idea?
If you're praying for greater success, are you taking steps to prepare yourself for it? Are you furthering your education? Are you sharpening your skills and developing new ways of doing things? Are you open to working with others? Are you willing to fall at the feet of Jesus, acknowledging Him as the source of all blessing, and sovereign Lord of your life?”
This is one of those articles where I feel there is little left for me to say than, “Are you?”
So are you preparing yourself and others for success, and if not will you? Yes, how much longer will you still hang on to your safety nets?

What is your life’s Leitmotif?

Leitmotif was the Word of the Day for Tuesday, May 31, 2011, and has two general meanings.
Firstly, in music drama, it is a marked melodic phrase or short passage which always accompanies the reappearance of a certain person, situation, abstract idea, or allusion in the course of the play. In other words it is a sort of musical label.
The second meaning is, as a dominant and recurring theme. And it is with that second meaning that my mind wandered to my own life and to what was its dominant and re-occurring themes.
Before I became a Christian I don’t know that there was any re-occurring theme in my life except perhaps my Family. Before I became a Christian at 29, I had no real direction or purpose in my Life, let alone a re-occurring theme; but after I became a Christian I had both purpose and direction.
Looking back at my post Christian life, I find that whenever I was in difficult circumstances and needed someone to confide in, no matter where I was, whether in this country or in South Africa, God brought along the right person for that time and circumstance, even if I haven’t seen that person since.
Of course he has blessed me in so many other ways too, but my Leitmotif is that God has continually blessed me with giving me the right human encouragement at the right time.
Well, that’s my Leitmotif! What’s yours?

Are you untestable or just Intestable?

The Word of the Day for Thursday, June 2, 2011 was intestable, and when I first saw it, I thought it read, “Untestable”, so my mind started to wonder if in fact any human could in fact be untestable. Maybe some things mathematically may be untestable, some may even claim that God is untestable, but I don’t know any true believer that believes that based on our own personal experience of Him and His blessings to us.
Getting back to us humans here, some might think themselves untestable but all of us are testable, even if only before God on Judgement Day! For as Second Corinthians 5: 10 says: “For all of us must appear before the judgement seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.”
So here it makes it quite clear that each and every one of us, is indeed testable and testable by God’s standards and not our own too. Again despite what many may think, none of us are untestable to and by God.
However getting back to the word of the day then, it didn’t actually read untestable but instead read, intestable, which it then explained meant, “Someone not legally qualified to make a will, such as an infant or a lunatic.”
Thus my closing thought is, that any and every one who really thinks that they are untestable is really intestable! However, if they are so only because they are infants, then they have a chance to grow out of it, but if it is because they are lunatics, then there is no hope for them. No hope outside of Christ that is! If you would like to discuss this further, please feel free to e-mail me here.

Not how many Bibles, but …

My son was around the other night and wanted some specific biblical information about a certain subject. Information that I didn’t have off the top of my head, but believed I had written down earlier and placed in one of my bibles.
So I started looking for it and upon having no success, said, it wasn’t in that Bible. Well by the time I had said that for the third time, he piped in, with, “How many Bibles do you have?”
Well!!! The actual answer to that question is a little hard to answer as one bible has 3 separate versions in the one Book. But with different bibles and versions in separate books, I have at least 9.
That then led me to this thought: “It is not a matter of how, many bibles one has, but rather a matter of how often one looks at any of them?”
Yes, you can have one or a hundred Bibles, but if you never look into them or open them, then you have, for all intents and purposes, no Bible at all. Yes, a closed Bible is no different from not having even one.
Although I do truly believe that the best book of all is the Bible, and even if that was the only book you had, you would not need any other! However true as that is, it is only true if you actually open and read it with an open mind and Heart.
Will you do that now? Yes open a Bible and reads it with an open heart and mind? Will you?

Whose Rules Do You Play By

Was recently reading an extract from an interview Michael Parkinson did with the Poet W.H. Auden. There, as part of his presentation, although actually talking about the rules of poetry, Mr Auden said: “After all, everyone knows if you play a game, you can’t play it without rules. You can make the rules you like, but your whole fun and freedom comes from working within them. Why should poetry be any different?”
This of course is very true of everything in life, and my mind went back to earlier days when we used to play backyard Cricket. Either as a kid myself or with my kids. Before every game, one had to define or at least declare, the rules, which sometimes changed depending where you played and depending on how much space you had to play in. {Generally, the basic rules were “tippity run” (hit it and you have to run); in the wood pile, 4 runs; over the fence or in the creek, 6 runs and you are out; lost ball, 6 runs and out etc.}
Again, although the rules would occasionally change because of different circumstances, once those rules were established, we usually had lots of fun. I said usually, because although we had pre-agreed rules, there were often disputes about who applied the rules during the game. Often with one player saying the other is out and the other saying no.
Funny isn’t it, how we can agree to the rules before the game, but as the game progresses, we want to modify, and even in some cases nullify the rules when it suits us, and only follow them fully when it benefits us most.
Sadly many who call themselves Christian do the same thing. They claim to live and play within God’s rules and by His rulebook the Bible, but then as their lives progress, they (Should I say we,) often want to change the rules and the word of God, at least for our own relief and benefit, even if not for others.
So today I would encourage us all to truly decide whose rules we are really going to live by now? God’s or our own? Over to you now.