Vlog 7 - Christchurch Earthquake: Thank God Nobody was Killed...?

Why do Christians say "Thank God nobody was killed in the earthquake"? What do they mean... or do they even know what they mean? This video is a quick look at the deeper side to the 4/9/10 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. This video is a follow-up to my last vlog entitled Christchurch Earthquake 4 Sept. 2010 in which I discussed my day in Christchurch on the day of the second biggest earthquake of our country.

Previous vlogs here.

Bloody Christmas

From the moment Jesus was born people hated Him and wanted to kill Him. The Romans had put in place a puppet king, King Herod of Judea who was jealous of his position and saw the birth of this baby as a threat. Later on, one of Jesus' followers named Matthew wrote down the events which we now have in the Bible, Matthew 2:13-16;

"An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt."

Herod was unaware that Joseph, Mary and Jesus had escaped into Egypt and so initiated a campaign of infanticide against the baby boys in the region in the hope of killing Jesus.

"He sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under."

Jesus escaped this first attempt on His life, but the very reason He had come into the World was to be killed. His own people, the Jews despised Him, and as another one of Jesus' followers said, "He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." At the age of 33 He was condemned to death by crucifixion, arguably the most painful, slow and humiliating punishment in the Roman Empire... 2000 years later we just have a picture of the nativity scene in our minds and revved up Christmas carols down at the shopping mall. Christmas is about getting together with the family, giving each other presents and eating too much. If this is all Christmas really is, then it was just a bloody abysmal failure. If Jesus was just a well-intentioned and good man who died on a cross, then Christianity is a false religion and Christmas is a non-event. As another of Jesus' followers - Paul said, "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile". We can only say "Merry Christmas" if the angel was correct when he said to the shepherds out on the hillside,

"Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord."

What are these good tidings which made the shepherds joyful, and what does it mean that Christ was Saviour and Lord? The angel was speaking on behalf of God and was making reference to the prophecies hundreds of years ago, documented in the Old Testament of the Bible which looked ahead to God sending a Saviour who would save His people from their sins. The prophet Isaiah wrote approximately 700 years before Jesus' birth,

"For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of His government and peace
There will beno end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this."

This little baby Jesus was God's solution to our problem of sin. When God made the World, it was perfect, but when Adam and Eve sinned, the World was no longer perfect and people were separated from God by their sin. Because God is absolutely perfect and just, He cannot abide sin - therefore all those who sin must be punished. And the only fair punishment for sinning against an infinitely powerful and holy God is an infinite period of punishment - the Bible calls this Hell and tells us that it lasts forever.

However this is where Amazing Grace kicks in, because God is not only just, He is amazingly gracious and has provided a solution to our problem. We established above, a fair punishment for sinning against God, and now the question is, what is a fair price to pay for us to escape this punishment? Every other religion and faith in the World says that good works can make us right with God, however the Bible teaches that our good works are as filthy rags to God. Sure, it pleases Him when we do good things for the right reason, but good deeds don't serve to pay the price for the sins we've committed. The Bible teaches that God is one God, but in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The Father sent the Son to Earth, miraculously causing Him to be conceived in the womb of a girl called Mary, who had never slept with a man. Since Jesus was the God-man who was immaculately conceived, and never sinned throughout His life, He was acceptable to God as the perfect sacrifice which had the potential to pay for the sins of all the people who ever lived - because again, being God he was infinitely perfect and therefore perfectly suited to be a substitute for us. This isn't all though. In order to truly defeat death, Jesus would need to not only be killed and receive the punishment we deserved, but He must also overcome death and rise from the dead. Jesus did this on a Sunday about 2000 years ago, and we remember it as the Resurrection. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, I would have just as much faith in Christianity as I do in George Lucas's "The Force".

I think the most common misconception about Christianity is that you have to be a good person to be a Christian, however this couldn't be further from the truth. P.O.D. got it right when they sang, "I'm not perfect, just forgiven, And I might just push back the next time you shove..." Being a Christian isn't about being a good person, instead it's about trusting in Jesus' death as payment for your sins to make you right with God, and then being thankful to God for that, and the outworking is our good works.

Here's what I wrote on the first day of 2009, kind of on a similar subject but in particular focusing on the pointlessness of a life in denial of God. Brendan and Scrubone have also written Christmas posts worth reading.

The Foolishness of the Christian Gospel

In the first Century AD the Apostle Paul whose former occupation had been hunting and killing members of an annoying new belief-system called Christianity, went out on a limb, stating that the "Good News" was foolishness - here's the context in the book of Corinthians.

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.

- 1 Corinthians 1:20-25

Because I believe that the Bible is God's infalible word to all people, and that within it I find the most reasonable path to peace with God, I visited a rest-home today with two friends and we shared the Gospel with the fifteen or so people gathered in the lounge there. I'm no Spurgeon (he started preaching at the age of 18), and I'm not perfect just forgiven - in fact, I might just push back the next time you shove. Paul states later on in Corinthians that people who share the gospel are like jars of clay containing treasure. What he means is that it's not necessarily through persuasive words and a quality presentation that God saves people, but rather through the inherent value of the message itself. Further, the Christian gospel being the most reasonable path to peace with God is important as it is subsequently the only way to gain peace with God. Anyway, above is my reasoning for sharing the gospel with the residents at the rest-home - below is a summary of my message based on a section of the Apostle John's version of the gospel...

Jesus was talking to His followers, teaching them about how to be good disciples. He was essentially giving them the instructions they needed to understand how to be like Jesus, how to be Christians.

John 3:15 Whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life.

What does it mean to believe in Jesus? First, we are all sinful – we are kind and good a lot of the time, but we are also often sinful. Since God is absolutely holy, He cannot abide sin and must punish it. But God, very graciously provided a solution to our problem. God sent His only Son Jesus to the World as a sacrifice to pay for our sins. If we believe that Jesus did this for us, and we ask God to forgive us for our sins, God will not punish us.

Then Jesus said, “you will have eternal life if you believe in Me”. What is Eternal life? Jesus says that if we believe in Him, we will have eternal life, which means that when we die, we will go to Heaven to be with Him there – forever*. It’s hard to imagine…

Now, here is what Jesus said about God’s plan to save His people from their sins… Listen to Jesus’ words,

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

As I was saying before, God sent His Son to the World to provide a way for us to escape punishment and go to Heaven to be with Him. God is extremely loving and gracious to provide us with this way out. Because by nature, we all deserve the punishment for our sins – however God amazingly has given us this way out.

Can we please God with the good things that we do? The Bible says that we cannot be good enough for God. This is because God is so perfect, He is absolutely perfect and so – as the Apostle Paul said, even the very best things we do are as filthy rags in God’s eyes.

This puts us in a bad position because by ourselves, without Jesus’ help, we have to face God’s righteous wrath. But as Jesus said, God loved us so much that He sent His Son – Jesus to pay the price for our sin. Instead of us having to try to please God with good works – which is impossible, God promises us that if we put our trust in His Son, Jesus, then we need do nothing but have faith in Jesus’ death.

But how can God accept Jesus’ sacrifice? Can Jesus’ death really pay for our sins? Yes He can because Jesus was God and man. Because Jesus was God, when He died on behalf of us, that was sufficient payment to cover the sins of all people in the World. And because Jesus was also man, He was able to be tempted as we are tempted and to suffer as we suffered – but it is important to remember that through all of His earthly life, Jesus never ever sinned – He was absolutely perfect. Of course it spins back round here - Jesus was only able to be perfect because He was God. God is therefore able to accept Jesus’ death as a perfect sacrifice, payment for our sins.

By itself, this was not enough. Jesus also rose again – this meant that He had the power over death, and we are then able – after we die, to also be resurrected and go to Heaven forever – if we first put our faith in Jesus.

John 3:17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation, that,

the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

Jesus is here talking about how people so often do the things that are wrong. Often men and women hate to do the things God has said we must do. For instance, Jesus says to us in the Bible that we must love the Lord with all our hearts. Now, often this is true, and we do love God, but there are times when we do not love Him with all of our hearts.

But not only this, they also delight in doing the things God has said we must not do. For instance The Ten Commandments is a list of rules that God has given us. The 5th commandment says “you shall not murder”. Now we all know it is wrong to murder! And we think “well I haven’t ever killed anyone, so perhaps God will be happy with me…” But Jesus said to his followers, “If any of you hates your brother, it is the same as murdering him”. This is a high standard, Jesus said that hating someone and murdering them were the same. I don’t know about you, but from time to time I have hated people.

John 3:20 For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed.

Jesus continues talking about human-nature. He says, people who are sinful do not want to come to the light – because if they did, people would see that they were sinful.

John 3:21 But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

This means that if we are followers of Jesus, and we try to do what God has commanded us to do, then we won’t want to be in the dark, but instead we will want to be with God’s people – in the light. This is essentially a reference to the need for Christians to do good works. For without good works we cannot see Heaven - yet at the same time we're not saved through our good works - rather, they're an outworking of faith.

* I do not believe in the concept of eternity. I hold that everything that is not of this World operates outside time - a natural conclusion from my understanding that God created time itself. The terms "forever" and "eternity", then are an simplified expression of the reality, as many struggle with the concept of an existence outside of the dimension of time.

Why Did They Hate Him So Much?

Lydia has written an interesting piece on the treatment of Jesus by the Roman soldiers, shortly before his crucifixion. Whether you believe Jesus is God and the saviour of men - or not, it's still a good glimpse at such a pivotal event in history.

James Caviezel in The Passion of the Christ

Suddenly, there is a hushed silence, heads turn around to look behind them, the crowd parts hesitatingly. A man strides through their midst. The muscles on his golden arms ripple as he swings them, his crisp, bleached hair lies in waves on his fine head. He is undisputedly their leader - everything about his confident air and flung back shoulders proclaims it. His eyes flash, almond shaped, brown - he moves down the aisle of perspiring men with a careless grace. He carries on one arm a large piece of egyptian linen, died a deep purple, like the curved insides of seashells, the colour reserved for kings and emperors only. In the other hand he is holding, very carefully, a wreath of thorns. A scratch runs down the back of one perfect hand, wet with crimson.

Men push against each other, damp tunics to damp tunics, sandals shuffling in the dusty sand, to make way for their leader, and to see what will happen. As they move we see a figure standing alone in this arena of men. He stands a little to one side, his head bowed, his arms hanging by his side. Despite his despondent attitude, there is an aura of peace about him that singles him out from the tense, watching crowd. The crowd catches a glimpse of the man's mutilated back and shoulders - cruel Roman whips have turned his back into ribbons of flesh, skin and blood. Silence grows, throbs like a living organism in its breathless persistency. The leader stands in the ring now, the chiseled head held high, arms crossed, feet apart, a magnificent specimen of manhood, taunting, defiant.

Check out Matthew's account of this event in Matthew 27:27-31.

"They Meant it for Evil but God used it for Good"

Alerted to Pastor Walter Hoye's imprisonment at JillStanek.com, I wrote a letter to him while he was incarcerated in Santa Rita jail, California. Hoye is a huge encouragement, and a shining example of what it means to be a man of conviction. Below is the first bit of the article at WorldMag.com. Be sure to continue reading...

For 19 days in March and April, Walter Hoye was locked in a cell with 29 other prisoners at the Santa Rita jail near Oakland, Calif. There were times when he wished he could have stayed longer.

When the metal door first clanged shut behind him on March 20, Hoye, 52, decided the space was really more of a cage than a cell. A metal grid penning in prisoners. Fifteen bunks lining two walls. Two toilets and a urinal for all 30 men, and a shower that inmates had gradually transformed into a pornographic shrine.

As Hoye made his way to an empty bunk, a few prisoners, mostly black and Latino, dogged his path. "You smuggle in any drugs, man?" one of them asked.

"No," Hoye said quietly.

Then the veteran inmates left him alone, he told me, except for "one of the brothers who was kind enough to help me make up my bed."

A few minutes later, another man walked over to Hoye's bunk and jabbed his finger at a newspaper he was holding. "This you?" he said, eyeing Hoye skeptically.

Hoye peered at the Oakland Tribune headline: "Anti-abortion pastor chooses jail."

"Yeah, that's me," he said.

In the next moment, the inmate was striding up and down the length of the cell, announcing, "Hey, he don't have to be here! He turned down probation! He doing straight time for what he believed in!"

Click here to continue reading...

German Govt. Looking Back to Totalitarian Past

Concerned at any form of teaching which contradicts the ideology of "The State" of Germany, the German Government has banned home-education as well as enforcing a number of other anti-family, ultimately anti-freedom restrictions on its citizens. This is a prime case of a government being scared of its people and acting preemptively to silence objectors. LifeSiteNews reports,

Alliance Defense Fund attorneys are representing two German parents in an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights filed Tuesday. The two parents were convicted under German law when they chose to educate their child at home on the subject of sexuality rather than allow her to participate in a four-day "sexual education" course and related stage production at her school, both of which taught views of sexuality in conflict with the family's Christian faith.

"Parents, not the government, are the ones ultimately responsible for making educational choices for their children," said ADF Legal Counsel Roger Kiska. - LifeSiteNews 22/4/09

I completely concur with the sentiments of Roger Kiska, and with the actions of the girl's parents. The parents have the inalienable duty and inherent right to make choices for their own children. They did not remove their daughter from any other school programs or classes.

(Obviously there are cases where parents are abusive and in these situations the children should be passed over to the care of relatives or the local community.)

It is bad enough that Germany has compulsory school education for all children, but to include such extra-academic subjects as sex-education, and force children to sit through it - whatever their convictions - or the beliefs of their parents, is patently unjust.

Easter

Easter is literally central to the Western World. The flag of England is a red cross on a white background. The cross is also present in the flags of many other Western countries, including New Zealand. Time is measured from when Jesus (the central figure of Easter) was born. B.C. means Before Christ, while A.D. stands for Anno Domini, which means "In the year of our Lord". Easter is an important time of year for supermarkets, bakeries and chocolate factories. I've worked at a supermarket and observed the frenzied purchase of pallet loads of Easter-eggs and bunnies and other boxes of chocolates. I've worked at a bakery, baking thousands of hot cross buns. My sister is in the kitchen, icing yet another tray of hot-cross buns before she puts then in the oven. Harvey Norman is advertising Easter Deals on a range of electrical equipment. Someone on Facebook had the witty status message, "Dave hopes you are having a good Friday".

But what is Easter?

About 2009 years ago, a Jewish woman named Mary found she was pregnant - even though she hadn't yet had sex with her fiance, Joseph. God sent an angel to tell Mary that her baby was the long-awaited Messiah. Messiah is the Jewish word for Christ, and means "Saviour". Jesus was a member of the Trinity: one of the three persons of God. God the Father sent God the Son to the Earth, to be born as a man. Jesus was all God and all man at the same time. You will notice in the Bible that He is refered to sometimes as the Son of God, and other times as the Son of Man.

God is absolutely holy, and cannot stand sin. However we humans are sinful (click here to confirm), and therefore, God must punish us for this by sending us to hell. Because we are sinful, even though we may often do good things, we can never be perfect - which means that we can never satisfy God.

Because Jesus was God, he never sinned while he was on Earth. And because Jesus was man, he experienced the things that all of us experience. Jesus was crucified on a cross (a common method of Roman execution) on a Friday afternoon - but his physical suffering was just one aspect. God also poured out all his anger and judgement on Jesus at that time, to pay for the sins of Christians. Jesus did not stay dead though. God resurrected Him back to life on the following Sunday morning. Jesus had defeated death and paid the penalty for the sins of all those who put their trust in Him.

Christianity is the only religion which says that good works cannot make a person right with God. Christians are not "good people"; they are not holy. They are just like all other people in the World. The only difference is, that instead of ignoring God, or trying to please God by doing good things, they actually put their trust in Jesus' death on the cross.

On the last day of the World, the Bible tells us that God will judge everyone. Christians will be confident, because they know that when God looks at their heart, instead of seeing their sinfulness, He will only see Jesus' perfect righteousness in its place.

Only Christians will be saved, and allowed to enter Heaven. Everyone will live forever, however Christians will be the only ones who live happily forever. People who have refused to acknowledge God, and to honour and obey Him will be given what all people in the World actually deserve: the punishment of spending eternity in Hell.

Easter is a celebration of Jesus' sacrifice which has opened the way for people to be made right with God.

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This account may sound far-fetched to you. But don't try and tell me that the theory of evolution - or any other religion is any more believable.

To become a Christian, you need to pray to God, repenting of your sin and asking for forgiveness. You also need to turn your back on your old way of life. As the Apostle Paul said, "we have been saved, but this doesn't mean that we can just go on living as we used to". It is also important to read the Bible regularly (daily is best), to remember to pray to God with requests and thanks, and also to find a church nearby which teaches from the Bible.

Other Christian bloggers' Easter posts:
There they Crucified Him - Scrubone

Ray Comfort in New Zealand

World renowned evangelist Ray Comfort visited his home country of New Zealand last week. The man who began his ministry by preaching daily in Cathedral Square, and debating with the Wizard now heads up one of the largest evangelical movements in the World. I admire Ray for his devotion to the Great Commission which Jesus gave his followers moments before he ascended back into Heaven. Ray's model for witnessing is also of great value, and I have used it myself many times. You can view a web-presentation of this model by taking the good test. Living Waters, Ray's ministry has also been responsible for publishing many well thought-out and professionally presented tracts. In particular, I have been* a fan of the Smart Card, the Million Dollar Bill, and the Christmas tracts. More recently however, Living Waters has been publishing tracts (like this Obama Million Dollar Bill for instance), which cause me to roll my eyes and wonder what on earth they are hoping to achieve.

I attended three events in Christchurch where Ray was speaking, and found them to be increasingly dissapointing and frustrating.

On Tuesday17 March, Ray "debated" with an atheist at the Ngaio Marsh theatre, University of Canterbury. I can't remember the fulla's name, but he was a post-graduate philosophy student. I say "debated", because that's precisely what it wasn't. The atheist opened the forum by presenting his views, outlining his understanding that it was absolutely impossible for a god to exist, and then proceeding to pre-empt arguments that he suspected Ray would make, and then proceeded to answer them himself. A bit below the belt I thought, but nonetheless; he aired some weighty arguments for his case. Ray spoke next - and instead of addressing the atheist's arguments, he lightly touched on one or two of his comments, but then proceeded to give a short version of his life story, a collection of apologetic arguments, as well as a presentation of the Gospel. During question and answer time at the end, Ray ignored two fair and well thought-out questions, by simply responding, "yes... next question?" One of these was, "If humans are sinful and unable to please God, how are they able to ask God to save them; to repent?" Ray could have addressed this doctrinal issue, but instead left the question hanging. I spoke to a student (A Bahai follower I think) later in the day, and he told me that he had been surprised to hear Ray mocking people who disagreed with him.

The following Thursday I dropped in on Student Life's weekly meeting, where they had invited Ray as a guest speaker. This talk wasn't quite so bad, considering that it was in a different context. However I was reminded of Ray's neglect to consider other approaches to presenting the gospel. The whole of the Living Waters ministry is really stuck in the rut of their single Gospel model.

Sunday evening, I attended the evening service at South City Church where Ray was speaking. To kick off the evening, Ray told us a joke which immediately marginalised anyone in the audience who was dyslexic, or who knew someone who was. "I've just figured out what the acronym D.N.A. stands for," said Ray. "The National Dyslexic Assocaition." What the heck. That's relevant isn't it.

To his credit, Ryan the atheist had made it along to each of these three events. So I cringed as Ray proceeded to crack yet another of his thoughtless jokes. He told us of the time that an atheist organisation had flown him to another city in the United States where he was scheduled to speak at their conference; and had put him up at a hotel for the night. "When I got into the room," he said, "there was a big plate full of fresh fruit. I had someone else taste it first to see if they had poisoned it." What would Ryan - or any other atheist in the room think when they heard that... am I supposed to take these Christians seriously?

As with the last two speaking arrangements, Ray spent a large section of the time sharing his life story with us. In a manner that I can only say is foreign to Kiwis, but much more common with Americans, he excitedly told us of how many million tracts he had sold, how many atheist conferences he had spoken at, how his book had shot to number one in the Atheist section on Amazon.com, etc. I am delighted to hear of Ray's success in his ministry, however it comes across wrong, having him tell us this from the stage.

Ray gave us a good number of ideas for what Christians can say when sharing the Gospel. However as a friend of mine said, "Ray seems to think that if you follow his pattern of logic, you will become a Christian. He seems to skip over God's salvation of people, and simply thinks that we should laugh at people who are atheists or otherwise."

Thankfully, there are many more positive aspects to Ray and his ministry than negative ones. I agreed with, and appreciated much of the content of Ray's talks. He has a good knowledge of apologetics, the Bible, atheism and evolutionism. This post has not been an attempt at running him down, but rather summarising the opinions of myself and others - of Ray's talks while he was here in New Zealand.

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*I have been a fan of the Living Waters tracts. I have a 100 pack of Smart Cards sitting here on my desk; they've been there for a few years now. I don't know what to do with them. The Gospel message on the back is sound, apart from the explanation of what Jesus' death on the cross means to us. Here is the relevant excerpt:

"Jesus Christ suffered and died on the Cross, so you could go free. That's how much God loves you. We broke God's Law, but Jesus paid our fine."

If this summary is correct, then in fact every person in history is going to Heaven. In actual fact, Jesus died on the cross, paying for the sins of only those who would put their trust in Him. I agree that God loves everyone in the World; but not in a saving way as the tract implies. We've all broken God's law, however Jesus only paid the fine for those who would put their trust in Him. If Jesus in fact died for people who would never put their trust in Him, then God's plan is thwarted, and he is therefore not sovereign: that is impossible. I can't give out tracts that tell people that they're going to Heaven no matter what they do.

Gamaliel's Advice

I'm currently reading through the book of Acts in the Bible, and came across this intriguing passage,

Peter and the other apostles said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.

When [the Sadducees] heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them. Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. And he said to them: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it — lest you even be found to fight against God.”

And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
- Acts 5:29-42

Gamaliel was onto something here. Note especially the comment in bold. Gamaliel suggests that this "newfangled" Christianity be given the ultimate test: the test of time, to see if it has any credibility or worth.  Almost 2,000 years later and we're still holding to the same gospel as famously summarised by Peter and the apostles in the first paragraph above...

Kutless

I bought a Kutless CD Hearts of the Innocent a few months back, as I had a gift-voucher I was given over a year ago on my 21st. I didn't have high expectations for the band, but from pretty much the first play, I've been captivated by the great lyrics and the music's good too. Here's the music video of one of their best songs from the album, Shut Me Out...

And two other favourites, Smile and Hearts of the Innocent. Here's the lyrics for Hearts of the Innocent which I really love...

I’m looking down into the eyes of hopelessness
They’re crying out to me
I see the pain
It’s so much more than youth should know
It tears me apart
What can I do to change what I see
This vicious cycle must come to an end

Can’t you see
We’re crushing the hearts of the innocent
We’re teaching them to fail
And how it breaks me to see how we’re living
And punishing the ones that need us to care
To see them hurting
Feels like knuckles to the back of my head

Where have the days gone
That a promise was forever
Families stuck together
We wonder why their generation struggles to get by
There’s no one to help
What can I do to change what I see
This vicious cycle must come to an end

Rush Here, Rush There, Get No Place

Today is the first day of 2009, and we are all one year older than we were on the first of January 2008. We are all one year closer to the day of our death.  We see ageing men putting on their sandals, board-shorts and screen-printed t-shirts from Hallensteins.  We see ageing women disfigured by layers of make-up, desperately trying to retain their youth.  It is now offensive to mention someone's age, as it only serves as a reminder of how much longer that person has left on this planet Earth.  In every direction we look, we see people running very busy lives.  There's so much to do: work, sport, celebrities, parties, charity, family, holidays.  In the words of Cliff Richard's song, "Funny thing the human race, Rush here, rush there, get no place."

King Solomon also saw the hopelessness of so many of the people around him.  In Ecclesiastes 1:1-4 , he writes,

"Vanity of vanities", says the Preacher; "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." What profit has a man from all his labour, in which he toils under the sun? One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever"

Solomon uses the word vanity in the same way that we would use the word meaningless.  He is looking at life from through the eyes of someone who does not trust in God.  He mentions specifically the seeming futility of work - the same thing Jesus addresses when he tells the parable of the Rich Fool.  And indeed, without God, without absolute truth, everything is meaningless.  Taxi driver Jose Martinez had it sorted out in an interview with LIFE Magazine where he said,

"We're here to die, just live and die. I live driving a cab. I do some fishing, take my girl out, pay  taxes, do a little reading, then get ready to drop dead. You've got to be strong about it. Life is a big fake..."

The thing is, people are so desperate to block out the truth that they fill their lives with ultimately pointless things.  Whether it's the Cricket score from the weekend, or donating towards eye-operations for blind children in third-world countries, they will find something to keep them busy.  Robert Altman, director of the Oscar-winning film Gosford Park summed this up when he said,

"None of it - gambling, money, winning or losing - has any real value. It is simply a way of killing time, like crossword puzzles... I am sitting here today in this bleak atmosphere in the middle of winter, making a silly movie, and to me it is an adventure. I have no idea what it will be like. But even if it works it will be for nothing. If I had never lived, if the sperm that hit the egg had missed, it would have made no difference to anything."

The Preacher saying "everything is meaningless", God telling the Rich fool that his life would be required of him that very night, the taxi-driver speaking of "getting ready to drop dead", and Robert Altman talking about his life being inconsequential - they are all correct - but only in their frame of reference.  Because in Psalm 2, it talks about God sitting up in Heaven, laughing at the folly of the people down on His planet Earth who would stand against him.  Yes, without God, everything is meaningless and I'll just crawl into a corner and cut my wrists thank-you very much.  And without God, there is also no absolute right or wrong - and so you can't tell me that what I'm saying is correct, or a load of rubbish.

But God does exist.  Though we rebel against Him, He has mercifully opened the door for us to escape His wrath - by sending His Son to the world as a little baby, on Christmas day 2008 years ago.  Jesus was all God and all man, and throughout his entire life, he never sinned.  When he died on the cross (Easter), He was paying the price for all the sins of the people who would put their trust in Him as their Lord and Saviour.  That's all there is to it - there's no need to try and please God through good works - because compared with God's perfection, our good deeds are just filthy rags.  Of course, on the other hand that doesn't mean we don't do good works - just that our salvation is not based on our ability to please God.  What a relief!

The Example of Guido de Brès

I was reading about Guido de Brès - Author of the Belgic Confession earlier this evening.  This is one of the confessions that the Reformed Church of New Zealand holds to. When I picked up my JohnMac Bible later on, looking for some good verses to put in a Birthday card, I thought I would read Romans 8.  The second half of Romans 8 is an absolute goldmine of encouragement for Christians.  Here's a few excerpts...

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Guido de Brès understood these truths, and he lived by them.  He persevered with preaching from the Bible in secret, and in great danger.  Below is a description of his persecution and ultimate martyrdom by the Roman Catholic authorities. (You can read the entire brief biography at this page )

de Brès spent the first part of his captivity in a prison in Doornik, where he could receive visitors. Many of his visitors, however, were enemies who came to taunt him. But just as was the case with the apostle Paul (Philippians 1:12-14), Guido's imprisonment became an occasion for him to witness to the truth. When a princess, along with many young court ladies, came to mock, and the princess said in horror at Guido's heavy chains, "My God, Mr. de Brès, I don't see how you can eat, drink, or sleep that way. I think I would die of fear, if I were in your place," Guido responded: "My lady, the good cause for which I suffer and the good conscience God has given me make my bread sweeter and my sleep sounder than those of my persecutors." And, then, still responding to the princess, "It is guilt that makes a chain heavy. Innocence makes my chains light. I glory in them as my badges of honor."

Soon Guido was transferred to Valenciennes and thrown into a dark, cold, damp, rat-infested dungeon known as The Black Hole. In spite of the cold, the hunger, the horror of this hole, Guido wrote a tract on the Lord's Supper and letters to his friends, his aged mother, and his wife. A letter to his wife is an especially moving testimony of his faith.

My dear and well-beloved wife in our Lord Jesus.
Your grief and anguish are the cause of my writing you this letter. I most earnestly pray you not to be grieved beyond measure . . . . We knew when we married that we might not have many years together, and the Lord has graciously given us seven. If the Lord had wished us to live together longer, he could easily have caused it to be so. But such was not his pleasure. Let his good will be done . . . . Moreover, consider that I have not fallen into the hands of my enemies by chance, but by the providence of God . . . . All these considerations have made my heart glad and peaceful, and I pray you, my dear and faithful companion, to be glad with me, and to thank the good God for what he is doing, for he does nothing but what is altogether good and right . . . . I pray you then to be comforted in the Lord, to commit yourself and your affairs to him, he is the husband of the widow and the father of the fatherless, and he will never leave nor forsake you . . . .
Good-bye, Catherine, my well-beloved! I pray my God to comfort you, and give you resignation to his holy will. Your faithful husband, Guido de Brès.

Guido was publicly hanged on May 31, 1567 at the age of 47. He was pushed off the ladder while comforting the crowd which had gathered and urging them to faithfulness to the Scriptures. His body was left hanging the rest of the day and buried in a shallow grave where dogs and wild animals dug it up and consumed it.

- from www.prca.org

Romans 8:35-39 reads...
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter." Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That pretty much covers everything... Nothing can separate us (Christians) from God's love - whatever befalls us; even if we should die, it is God's will - and for good, so we have nothing to worry about.

A Tradition of Infant Genocide

As we sit around our warm living-rooms this Christmas opening presents, reading letters from distant friends and relatives, and filling ourselves with all kinds of extravagant delicacies, let us be sure not to forget just how privileged we are.  In a society now more than ever conditioned to embracing the culture of death, we must count ourselves fortunate to have survived.

When Pharaoh, king of Egypt realised that the enslaved nation of Israel was growing bigger and stronger, he employed two methods - one after the other, in an attempt to cut down on the Israelites' population growth.  Pharaoh said the the Hebrew midwives, When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live."  The midwives trusted God however, and disobeyed Pharaoh, claiming that by the time they got to the women, their babies were already born.  Pharaoh stepped up his assault on the people of God, with an evil command... “Every son who is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.” - Exodus 1:15-22
As we know, Moses escaped the fate of so many other baby boys at that time; he was adopted by the Princess of Egypt and later came to lead the people of God out of the land of bondage, and into the Promised Land.

Approximately 1,500 years later when Herod, king of Israel heard of the birth of Jesus Christ, he immediately ordered all boys aged two and under to be put to be killed. He hoped this way to be able to have Jesus killed and thereby destroy Christianity.

[King Herod] sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:
“A voice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”
- Matthew 2:16-18

Again, God ruled over this situation and baby Jesus was rushed off to Egypt until news came of the evil King Herod's death, at which time Joseph, Mary and young Jesus moved back to Galilee.

And today in the country that our National Anthem declares is Our Free Land, more that fifty babies are being systematically murdered everyday.  Worldwide, 120,000 unborn babies have their lives brutally cut short by the machine that is abortion.  It will come as a surprise to most people, to hear that the abortion rate in Russia , for instance, is 60 abortions per 100 pregnancies.  As in the past, so to in our time, it is widely acknowledged that abortion is wrong, that it does indeed take the life of an innocent child.  However, this truth is forcibly ignored for the sake of convenience, and an end which is seen to justify the means - however awful or immoral.

Whether a baby is killed before it is born (abortion), during birth (partial-birth-abortion), or after birth (infanticide), it is unquestionably wrong. I struggle to even put these poor words together; how can my mind even begin to grasp the unbelievable horror of abortion?  You can disagree with abortion, but to leave it at that is unthinkable.  2009 is just around the corner.  I encourage you to make a New Years' resolution to stand up for the helpless innocents , to do whatever is in your power to bring an end to this greatest injustice in the history of the world.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein

Christian Vote 2008

It's been almost a month with no blogging. I seem to be coping. I'm just quickly posting a link to an article I have written, discussing the options for Christian voters in New Zealand's 2008 election of it's 49th Parliament.

I'm looking forward to returning to blogging again after my last exam on 4 November.

To the days.

Just What NZ Didn't Need

...Yet another Christian/family values party. In February 2007, Taito Phillip Fields was expelled from the Labour Party after allegations of fraud. He re-entered Parliament as an independent MP. And now, tonight, in Auckland and with 37 criminal charges to his name, he has launched his long-promised party "The Pacific Party".

I'm sorry, but Taito is a fool. I have heard from a friend of Tatio's that he is squeeky clean, and that the charges are groundless. I'm not so sure. Leaving aside the possibility that Mr. Phillip Field is a criminal, he is acting in a way which many would view as immature. Another Christian/Family values party, The Family Party, has been campaigning very hard in the Mangare electorate. It is one thing for two Christian/Family values parties to essentially compete against each other in a general election. However, it is another thing entirely for them to compete for the same electorate!

We already have The Kiwi Party, formed seemingly on the spur of the moment, on the back of the Anti-Smacking bill, and with an MP leaving another political party, turning independent, and then being declared co-leader of this new party. This party claims to hold to Judeo/Christian values, however one of it's core policies is raising the minimum wage to $15. They reckon that they can take Tauranga, but this is highly unlikely, and I will write about this soon. Three Christian/Family values parties, all campaigning for what is essentially the same vote. Tragic.

Taito, we don't want your party. Get on a boat and go back to Samoa.

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Related reading: TVNZ, Field Launching 'Pacific Party'

Chinese Govt. Bans Churches for Three Months

To the left is a copy of the letter delivered to Beijing Churches by the Chinese Government. Click here for a translation of the letter into English. The letter essentially demands that all churches in China be shut down for three months (July 15 - October 15). The letter further goes on to state that Chinese churches are prohibited from accepting help from visiting Christians such as donations or preaching. The China Aid Association has reported on this traversty of freedom in this article, and below is an excerpt,

"Beijing- CAA has discovered that a number of Chinese House Church Pastors were forced to sign a written agreement that they would not participate in religious services while the Olympic Games are taking place in China. The document, drafted by Chinese Govnerment Officials, specifies that the House Churches in China

“…refrain from organizing and joining illegal gatherings and refrain from receiving donations, sermons and preaching from overseas religious organizations and groups that have a purpose.”

The document also prohibits the churches from gathering in their communities for more than 3 months while the Olympics are taking place. Should church members violate these rules they will be subject to the disciplinary actions of the Chinese Government."
Click here for full article

Hah! So much for the "Chinese Dream" which we were presented with at the Opening Ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, broadcast to 1 billion (15% of the World's population) on TV a week ago. This is the true China.

Hat tip: Doug's blog

My New Friend

I only learned of Alexander Solzhenitsyn yesterday, when his death was announced. I have learned that he was a man who stood up against evil, and sacrificed much in the cause of righteousness and freedom. Now I need to get a copy of his book, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and find out more about this great man. I never met him, but I am sure I will be able to catch up with him one day.

Doug Philips of Vision Forum writes at his blog,

“Today, Vision Forum Ministries and freedom-loving Christians all over the world mourn the death of the man most responsible for revealing the evil of the anti-Christian regime of Joseph Stalin and waging war against a machine of Marxist oppression that caused the death of tens of millions.

“Tortured and persecuted within Stalin’s death camps, Solzhenitsyn nonetheless endured, secretly authoring his greatest work, The Gulag Archipelago, on scrounged toilet paper. In the years that followed, Solzhenitsyn emerged as the single most important anti-communist voice of freedom in the world. But for Solzhenitsyn’s relentless campaign to bring the truth of Marxist tyranny to the public forefront, untold millions more might have died. During the Cold War, his message was pivotal in strengthening the resolve of the West to stand firm against Soviet oppression. In all, he would publish twenty-five books, not including plays and numerous speeches.

“Though Solzhenitsyn was a devoted Russian nationalist, he was also a grateful resident of the United States during his years in exile from his homeland. That gratitude took the form of the message of a prophet committed to helping Americans stay the course by remembering their own Christian foundations and rejecting the destructive trends of humanism and secularism. There were times at the height of the Cold War in which Solzhenitsyn — a Russian — appeared the most outspoken conscience of the West, ever reminding us of our Christian foundations and warning us of the consequences of moral weakness and lack of resolve when engaging international Marxism. For this he was often despised by the press, by pundits, and politicians.

Click here to read the rest of Doug's post, which includes an amazing quote from Solzhenitsyn's Harvard speech.

Did Leonardo da Vinci Really Paint the Mona Lisa?

Did Leonardo da Vinci really paint the Mona Lisa? Of course he painted it you’ll say. But how can you be sure that it was Leonardo who painted this most famous of all masterpiece artworks? I have another idea of how the Mona Lisa came into being…

At the time when Leonardo a young apprentice in Florence, in an abandoned attic just above the apprentices dormitory, an almost used up roll of canvas that was leaning on the wall toppled over. This was probably due to a scuffle between the boys in the room below which shook the old building a little. Amazingly, the roll of canvas fell onto a canvas stretching frame, which had been left there.

Several weeks later, during another rowdy pillow-fight between the apprentices, the roll of canvas rolled off the wooden frame and onto the floor, leaving just enough canvas covering the frame. Some days after this, An earthquake shook Florence and a wooden box of staples fell onto one side of the canvas covered frame, causing the frame to turn over onto its front, with the canvas underneath. When the box of staples hit the floor, thousands of staples flew up into the air as the box smashed. Inconceivably, just the right number of staples fell around the sides of the frame – a gust of wind from under the door had folded the canvas up around the sides of the frame, and the staples all fell into just the right places and stuck themselves into the frame, pinning the canvas down – just the way the maestro of the guild would have if he had been doing it.

Several years passed, and Leonardo grew up, increasing in his skills, and beginning to get the attention of the maestro due to the talent he displayed.

One day, back up in the attic, as some builders were setting up scaffolds next door, several small bottles of powdered colouring fell to the floor, from the shelf above the now prepared canvas. As they fell, they knocked over an old board that was leaning against the wall, and this in turn, as it fell, smashed an urn of painter’s oil, making it run all over the floor, and underneath the painting.

As the builders next door continued their work, the vibration caused the oil and the colour powders to combine. As the new paint, of all different colours seeped underneath the framed canvas, it merged with other colours.

Two weeks later, as the scaffolding was being taken down, one of the builders was careless, and half of the scaffolding collapsed to the ground, creating a terrific noise, and shaking the buildings around it. This was enough for the heavy paperweight up on the shelf in the attic to come falling down, and again, striking the painting on one side, and causing it to flip up and lean against the wall.

It was a good year after this that, when Leonardo was one day sent up to the attic to give it a clean out, by his master, that he found the painting. It was beautiful! Realising that the maestro didn’t even know it existed, after he had tidied up the attic, Leonardo hid the masterpiece between two sheets of faded paper, and hid it at the back of the cupboard he and his fellow apprentices shared.

For many years, Leonardo kept his painting hidden, until, three years after starting up his own painting business, he took it carefully from on top of the book-case in his study, and hung it on his wall…

By now, you’ll be convinced that I am absolutely mad. How could so many coincidental and seemingly impossible things all happen in the right order, at the right time, and to the right thing, ending in the most valuable, famous, and arguably the best masterpiece in the world?

And you would be right.

Because, by asking you to believe this preposterous story, I am insulting your intellect and supposing that you have no intelligence.

You may have seen the Mona Lisa in the Louvre in Paris. Or perhaps you’ve seen it in a book. There is a copy of the painting on the front of this booklet. Looking at it, how do you know that there was a painter? How do you know that it didn’t happen accidentally, but that someone – Leonardo da Vinci did in-fact paint it?

Its simple isn’t it? When you look at a painting – any painting, you know it didn’t just “happen”, but that there must have been a painter. In the same way, when you see a building, how do you know that there was a builder? The building itself is proof.

Have you ever had a good look around you – at the World? Have you looked closely at a leaf, or a flower? What about a simple daisy? The little daisies that grow on your lawn, white petals and a yellow center. Did you know that each “petal” is actually a separate flower? The detail and perfection is staggering. The design is flawless and outstanding. How could you look at it and tell yourself that its existence is accidental and coincidental.

Or the human eye? A sparrow, whose tiny heart is strong enough to power its wings to fly? Daffodils which lie dormant all winter, hibernating, and then in the Spring, pushing shoots through the ground, followed by a detailed, delicate bunch of golden petals?

You cannot look around at the creatures and creation, without wondering at least, how it came into being, or how it is able to continue – how the geese in Canada know where to fly before the Winter comes.

We all know that the World must have been created. In the same way that we have no doubt that the Mona Lisa was painted by a painter, we know that the world was created by a creator. For me or you to suggest that the World did come about by accident, with no design – evolution, is obviously ludicrous.

OBJECT        CAUSE
painting            painter
building            builder
creation            creator

So the question we have to ask now is: Who was the creator?

In the very first sentence in the Bible, in Genesis chapter one, verse one, we read that “In the beginning God created the heavens (sky) and the earth”. Here we see that it was God who created the World. God existed before the World was created – he designed and maintains His creation. He even designed you. When God made the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, they were perfect and sinless. It was only after they broke God’s law that sin entered the World (we call this the Fall). Since then, everyone who has been born is sinful by nature.

Shortly after Adam and Eve sinned, God gave his law, the Ten Commandments to humans. These ten rules are the guidelines that God gives us to live by. We are all required to keep these commandments. Unfortunately, due to our sinful hearts, resulting from the Fall, none of us, neither you, nor me, nor any of us can completely keep God’s law perfectly.

God, being just and perfect, cannot stand sin and so requires that we be punished for breaking his ten commandments. Is this fair you may ask? Yes, it is fair, because, since God created us, He decides what happens to us.

“But I’m not a bad person, I’ve never killed anyone – I’m actually not that bad – God wouldn’t send me to Hell”. Let’s do a quick test and look at a few of the Ten Commandments.

The third commandment says “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain”. Have you ever used God’s or Jesus’s name as a swear-word?

And the sixth commandment says “You shall not murder”. The Bible says that whoever hates his brother has committed the equivalent of murder in God’s eyes.

The seventh commandment reads: “You shall not commit adultery”. Jesus said that whoever looks at a woman to lust after her, has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Have you ever looked with lust?

The eighth commandment says: “You shall not steal”. Have you ever stolen anything? Anything at all, regardless of value.

None of us can say that we have kept God's law.  The Bible says: “There is none who does good, - no not one”. This means, that though we may do good deeds, for instance, you may work hard, give to charity and try to be a good person, but we are all still sinners. All of us have broken God’s law, and so we are all deserving God’s punishment which is to send us to Hell for eternity – for ever and ever.

“Oh, but I don’t believe in Heaven and Hell”, you say. What if I was going to walk off the top of a six story building? What could possibly happen to me? I can’t see gravity, therefore what could go wrong? Just because you can’t see Heaven or Hell, or God, doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

There is a way out. Just over 2000 years ago, God sent His son, Jesus into the world as a baby. He grew into a man, never sinning, and lived a perfect life. He was then crucified at the age of thirty-three – but not because of anything He had done wrong.

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

It is as simple as that. Believe in Jesus Christ, and that His death on the cross paid for your sins, and you will be saved! This is excellent news - that when God looks at you on judgement day, he won’t see a sinful person who has broken his Ten Commandments. Rather He will see the perfect life of Christ - and allow you into Heaven.

You may still be skeptical.

Hell is a reality and all of us have to be prepared for the Day of Judgment, when God will judge everyone in the World according to His Ten Commandments. Just think - what if you are wrong - you may not accept that God does exist - maybe you think Christianity is all based on an outdated book. Or perhaps you simply say you “don’t care”. But what if you are wrong? What are you going to have to say to God when He judges you? You’ll have nothing to say in your defense, and so will have to suffer the eternal punishment that will rightfully be yours. It is up to all of us in this life to get right with God, and turn our lives round, to serve Him.

Get hold of a Bible and read it daily. The book of John in the New Testament would be good to start with. And the New King James version of the Bible would be preferable.

Pray. It is important to pray to God. Initially, you must ask the Lord Jesus to come into your heart, repent whole-heartedly of your sins and trust in Him for your salvation. Then you have to actually live like a Christian, fighting the temptations that are around.  Here's how Jesus suggested that we should pray, it's just a model that we can base our own prayers around.

Above all, be thankful to Jesus for His death on the cross for you, and everyone who does trust in Him and then you too, will want to tell others of that salvation that can be theirs.

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I wrote this as an idea for a Gospel tract back in 2005. Made a couple of small changes and have re-published it here.  Check out www.livingwaters.com for lots more information and help. Thanks to Ray Comfort for the inspiration for this booklet.

Update (3/8/08): Rick Responds, "Andy's Creation Myth"

These Are Not Words

The title of this post is a simple form of a self-refuting statement, also commonly refered to as an oxymoron.  Madeline over at mandmandmandm.blogspot.com has made a list of five philosophical refutations that employ self-reference.  It is really worthwhile to get these under your belt, for when someone tries one of these frequently used statements on you.

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1. There is no such thing as truth.

Example (1.) asserts a truth, so if it is true that there is no such thing as truth then (1.) is false. Conversely, if it is false that there is no such thing as truth then (1.) is false.

The negation of (1.) that there is such thing as truth is not just true but is necessarily true. Example (1.) is self-refuting and its negation is self-verifying.

Conclusion: There is such thing as truth. Anyone who says there is not is wrong.

2. It is wrong to judge.

Example (2.) asserts a judgment; as such, it refers to itself, so if it is true that it is wrong to judge then (2.) is false, the asserter purports to make a correct moral judgement. Conversely, if it is false that it is wrong to judge then (2.) is false.

The negation of (2.) that it is right to judge is not just true but is necessarily true. Example (2.) is self-refuting and its negation is self-verifying.

Conclusion: It is right to judge. Anyone who says it is not is judging you.

Now we have the basics, let’s try something trickier.

3. All religions are true.

Christianity is a religion. If (3.) is true, then Christianity is true. Christianity teaches that it is the only true religion, therefore, all religions except Christianity are false. According to (3.),Christianity is the only true religion.

Turning now to some slightly more useful examples

4. Nothing is true unless science proves it.

Really, including example (4.) itself?

5. Nothing can be known.

Example (5.) itself cannot be known, as such it is not known whether anything is knowable or not.

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Click here for Madeline's original post.

Related posts: Truth, Deterioration of Soceity Accelerating

Regular Bible Reading Essential for Christians

My mate Andrew got interviewed by The Press yesterday, for an article they were writing about a study just out that indicates that shows 46 per cent of Kiwis identify as Christian, but just 5% of people read the Bible daily and only 6% weekly.

"Andrew Sinclair, 24, of Christchurch, reads the Bible "almost daily". Sinclair, who is a ministry trainee at St John's Anglican Church in Latimer Square, said it was essential for Christians to read the Bible regularly.
"This is God's word and this is how he speaks to us. We ought to be reading it to know more about him," he said." 

Andrew's right, you can't grow as a Christian if you're not regularly reading the Bible.

Bible Society representative, Stephen Opie said "Christian churches tended to focus more on entertainment and motivating their parishioners rather than preaching from the Bible, he said.", and he is horribly correct, this is a huge problem with churches all around the world today.

Click here to read the article at www.stuff.co.nz.

Update, 8:55pm: picture added.