Modern democracies are so messy. Ancient kingdoms were simple and wonderful so long as the king was a good king. Most kings in Bible times had absolute power over all and everyone, in their kingdom. The king decided how and where the people lived and when they went to war. But he also was responsible for his subjects -he was the minister of defence, health, education, social welfare and justice.

 God was the King of Israel, so when He led them out of Egypt, He fed them, watered them, protected them and healed them.  He was a good and responsible King, but the people still complained.

When Jesus came as King, the Jewish people like Israel previously, loved the King’s provision of health, education, deliverance and freedom, but they did not like His provisos. Everyone wanted to receive from the King but very few wanted to be subject to the King. They wanted Jesus to be sovereign over their needs but not their will - to be King over their problems but not king over their hearts.  Jesus said “Good news! You can be part of my kingdom. Turn around and you can get in line with the King and His kingdom”

Friend, It still takes two to make a kingdom. The King and subjects. who enjoy and accept His will. If we choose to be His subjects, He will be King over us and take responsibility for us. After all the King's manifesto is, "Seek first the Kingdom and all these things (material and welfare needs) shall be added unto you." In the natural, we don’t live in a kingdom but in a democracy. How do we participate? What should guide us to vote? Is it looking for the one who says they can add to our life, all the things we need? They can’t. Only God has what our nation and families need, so look for the ones who are seeking the kingdom of God first.

Abraham looked for an unseen city in the heavens, yet each day he picked up his tent and cooking pots and walked on.  He kept looking for the eternal and the invisible but what he saw every day was the temporal and the visible.  We live our lives a lot like that too. The fight of faith is to believe in that which is promised but not yet seen. Yet God has a purpose in the world. In the book of Job, God said we can know who He is, from the things he has made.   “But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; And the birds of the air, and they will tell you; Or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; And the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know That the hand of the LORD has done this” (Job 12:7-9)

 Solomon the wise, said in Ecclesiastes “I have seen” many times as he sought to explain how he arrived at his philosophy of life.  There are spiritual things and natural things going on in our lives and God expects us to deal with both and learn from both. Much of Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastics are natural wisdom because some problems need practical answers.  If your toaster is broken, fasting isn’t going to fix it.  If your wife hasn’t seen you all week, more praying in tongues won’t fix it. Neither can we fight spiritual enemies with carnal weapons. If you are oppressed, watching another comedy on TV, won’t deliver you. Coffee at the mall can’t fix what only time with the King can.

Friend, we don’t ask God to do what He has given to us us to do and by seeking Him that is above, we can still receive heavenly solutions to our natural problems.

 50 years at Manukau New Life Church!! Well actually for me and Anneke only 44 years but what a great journey. Tonight we have our celebration dinner, and the McCrackens are coming. It will be fabulous to see so many people who have been part of our lives. I'm incredulous when I hear a Christian say they don't need a local church. We can become a Christian alone but you can’t live as a Christian without being a part of a local church. That is like saying I can be a rugby player without a team.

I love the local church! It is the genius of God and the dwelling place of God. To believe you can worship the Trinity and reject relationships in a local church, is to misunderstand the nature and the heart of God. He dwells within the corporate gathering of His people. The Church is the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Our brothers and sisters carry the “Transcendent One” within. Apostle John said that we love God as much as we love His people.

Jesus invited me to “His banqueting table” when I encountered Christ all alone in a pup tent at Orere Point beach but from that moment it was God’s people who prayed for me, helped me, encouraged me and visited me. His church discipled me, befriended me, fellowshipped with me, taught me and led me.  They then believed in me, trained me, prophesied over me and released me into ministry.  Eventually, they listened to me, honoured me followed me, supported me and my family and enabled me to my destiny. Yet all they were doing was being Christ’s mouth, heart and hands.

Friend, I love Jesus and I love the Church. I’m so glad He invited me to sit at His table and to “feast” on Him but do I want Church with that?  Yes, please!

In an old comic strip Charlie Brown and Linus are disagreeing about their beliefs in Santa Claus and the Pumpkin man. Linus walks off saying: “It doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you are sincere.”  Linus’ line which was comic absurdity forty years ago has become reality in the modern age, that if people are sincere, their ideas and values must be valid and therefore should be tolerated. 

But while tolerance is always good, ideas are not. Jesus was tolerant of all. He never shouted anyone down but when they were deceived or misguided, He let them know. That is just the right thing to do.

In the old days tolerance simply meant “To allow without prohibiting or to permit”?  For most of civilised history people allowed others to think and say whatever they believed to be true.  Of course, people could still disagree.  Tolerant people in days gone by were free to inform or even seek to persuade the other person to their viewpoint.

 Then it changed.  Tolerance came to mean that people had no right to try to persuade another to their belief, because that suggested that they deemed their belief to be superior.  The “postmodern” believes that there is no truth, only opinions, and because no opinion can be better than another, we must all “tolerate” each other without disagreement. But let’s face it, some beliefs are superior. “I believe the tooth fairy will come for all”, verses “I believe that death will come for all” are not equally true or equally important.

 But the world has moved on even further since then. In the last few years, the word tolerance has been redefined by those who seemingly have been educated beyond common sense.  Today when the vocal mob demand tolerance, they are not asking us to tolerate their point of view but are asking people to compromise, change or deny our own beliefs. They are not just asking us to concede that their beliefs are as true as ours, but that their view is “truer” than ours and that we must not hold any view contrary to theirs!   They are not asking people to tolerate the views of the “disordered Alphabet”, but to change our beliefs to agree with theirs.

 Rather than being tolerant, they are in effect demanding that all people convert to their own position. This is something that Muslims, Christians and most thinking Kiwis will never do, nor ever agree with. And should be free to say so.

It seems lost on the protesters that if Posie Parker can't stand up and state her opinion that it is good to be a woman, they have no right to promote their opinion either. If she can’t say what is true for her, then nothing they say can be true either. When they say that Christians are "intolerant" for accepting divinely revealed Truth, they show profound intolerance as they demand acceptance of their mental and moral fabrications.  Human arrogance can lead people to the conclusion that we can decide for ourselves what is truth and that no one can ever be wrong about what they believe.

But Linus was wrong.  Some people may think that they can fly, or that politicians always act in the best interest of the people, or that they were born in the wrong body. They all may be sincere in their belief but are all sincerely wrong.  I am not saying that they don't feel pain in their lives or that they don't really feel as they do, but to demand or expect that everybody else uncritically accept their belief, ideology, and sex and gender theories as true, would have only been asked in a comic strip a few years ago.

The people emerged from their tents all across the camp and stretched themselves in the early morning sun. The kids ran around, and mothers were poking the fire to life as the men returned from their early morning walk. To collect manna, they had to go outside, away from the hustle and bustle of the camp. The manna that fell in the wilderness was fresh every morning. It never lasted overnight so every day they had to go out to collect it. We have all found that yesterday’s “bread” is never sufficient for today. Every day has its own troubles and God has daily bread that is sufficient for the day, but we do have to collect it!

Daily Bread is the spiritual food we get from abiding for a while with Jesus. Just being with Him strengthens our souls and fills us with life. If we eat His Word and are not strengthened, it is just information. We are to eat until we are satisfied. “Now Boaz said to her (Ruth) at mealtime, "Come here, and eat of the bread, and dip your piece of bread in the vinegar. So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed parched grain to her; and she ate and was satisfied” (Ruth 2:14).  Ruth was satisfied. Many people don’t stay and eat long enough to receive what they need. Unfortunately, when we are not satisfied by His bread, we look for satisfaction in other things.  Whenever we get weak, we have not collected enough manna. When we are tempted by things we are not usually tempted by, or when we get angry and lose our temper,  we’re running on empty.

Friend, our problem is not the size of our enemies or the length of our journey, but the smallness of our time at the table. But it is still not too late today to get out of your “tent” and go and collect some manna!

We stood in the darkness in the middle of a village in Punjab waiting for the meeting to begin. There was some scurrying and voices and suddenly the lamps in the village and our sound system bust into life and light. A small girl had climbed up on the highest roof and connected a wire to the mains power line passing over the town!

Many centuries earlier, an angel entered a room with a burst of light causing Joseph to lean back with surprise and a touch of fright. As Joseph thought over what to do about his pregnant fiancée, the angel assured him, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins." So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: Mat 1:23  "BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD, AND BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME EMMANUEL," which is translated, "God with us"  (Mat 1:21 -23).

What, wait! Did the angel just say call him Jesus when the prophet Isaiah said He should be called Emmanuel (God with us)? Even the two meanings - he will save His people and God is with us, are different, or are they?

No! These are effectively the same thing, for God truly saves us by being with us and within us. Gods’ salvation is not just an accounting write-off of our sins but an impartation of His own divine life. Since human history began, man’s efforts to live up to his creator’s standard has flickered as a candle and failed. Jesus came to live with us and within us as our righteousness, our Life, our Light and our mighty Helper.  Emmanuel saves us by sharing His power with us. The evidence of His presence and power is not falling or shouting or jumping, but being able to live in righteousness, peace and joy. To live in righteousness rather than compromise; to live in peace in the midst of trouble and to maintain joy among difficult people. The fact that He is with us, doesn’t mean there will be no enemies; it means that we are empowered to defeat them.  It doesn’t mean there will be no troubles, but it does mean that we can overcome them and live for a purpose and a mission more important and longer lasting than our troubles.

Friend, Christmas is the celebration of the great day when our Saviour made a new way of living possible for us all. The day He connected us to the “Mains” Enjoy!

A while ago in Auckland a restaurant opened where people could eat their food in a pitch-black room. I think it would probably be a bad experience, but it is a good analogy.  A couple of years ago, the people of New Zealand influenced by promises of life saving “food”, went to a “dark restaurant” somewhere near them, to receive something which no other generation in world history had ever had. As we settled in for the meal the strains of the song “Safe in your arms” played softy. We sat in cubicles so we couldn't tell what effect the “food” was having on anybody else. If someone did get ill, it could be blamed on global warming or stress, and covered over by the restaurant media team.  Eighteen months have now passed, and it seems that there has been little review of the restaurants advertising: Safe, effective, necessary, and free.   Here’s my reflections.

Was it safe?  To be honest, I have heard of numbers who were injured by the meal and when I asked others, they knew of other people who were harmed too. True stories from just my small circle of acquaintances: My neighbour had his first course and had to visit his GP because of heart pain, and thought he was going to die.  The pop song “Safe in your arms” was now a worm in his head, so he allowed himself to go for the second course, followed by another trip the doctor who admitted it was Myocarditis.  Another friend thought the dark restaurant was a good thing and even sung the song. He had a severe heart attack after each course.  He doesn't believe the song anymore and distrusts medical and political songwriters. My wife's hairdresser’s mother-in-law quickly developed blood clots throughout her body and died with three days. One man known to me, now has epilepsy which he only got after eating.  A relative of mine knows two women, whose spouses ate and had heart attacks. Another relative’s friend ate, and his leg swelled up and now has cellulitis. A lady in another church partook of the "safe delight" and was hospitalized with paralysis and a family member has a friend’s whose daughter went blind for few days straight after. There were others I could report. Thankfully most people got through without bad side effects, but it does not appear to be safe for all. One injured friend was more adamant. “No, the Government and the doctors, have lied to us all”

Was it effective?  Having the benefit of hindsight, it is safe to say that it was not effective either. It hasn’t stopped Kiwis from getting C19 in their hundreds of thousands. In fact, every country with the highest "eating" rate like NZ, Israel, Ireland and Portugal, had rampant rates of infection regardless of people having had two, three or even four courses. It seems to have not made one blind bit of difference.

Was it necessary? When the Ruby Princess sailed into Sydney with one elderly person dead out of 4000 passengers and crew, it was clear what the worst-case scenario would be about 0.01 % fatality.  At the start when we didn’t know how severe it might be, we accepted that we should protect the elderly and sick. Now we know that almost 100% recover and whether we had our “dinner in the dark” or not, it only took a few days to recover, even for those of us over 60. The data was also clear that the younger you are, the less C19 affects you.

Was it free? The government had to bribe and manipulate people with BBQs and “big macs” to get some to eat for free, but the true cost to people’s health particularly young people’s cardiac health and fertility, has yet to be seen. Over 15000 scientists and doctors are now saying that the meals were not safe at all and that each course damages our natural immune system, making it less effective against flues and other diseases and may even be the cause of dormant diseases, re-activating in people bodies.[1] Part of the true cost is seen on the official U.S. registers of deaths , VAERS, which shows 30000 people died after eating and millions were injured.[2] Even the CDC, the FDA and the Government quietly admits it has caused myocarditis, pericarditis, and blood clotting! Now sadly, SADS is an everyday event terminating thousands of people lives, even athletes.

I admit it has been hard to know who to believe, but instinctively we all knew that TV One news, Google or the PM, cannot be the single source of truth.  A lot of Kiwis were using Duckduckgo, Odysee and Bitchute, to hear what some of the world’s top doctors were saying, like cardiologist Dr P. McCulloch, the brilliant Dr Richard Fleming,[3] Dr Malone and Dr Geert van den Bossche. These men are hard to find on Google and YouTube perhaps because they disagree with UN and “Fizzer”. Dr Robert Malone inventor of mRNA begs parents not to inject their children.[4] Dr Peter McCullough the most published cardiologist in history, says, “Under no circumstance should anyone younger than 30 take the shots.[5] It has been shown that the spike protein (produced by the millions in our bodies after “eating the food”), rather than being the answer, become toxins that damage our bodies. Geert Van den Bossche, who is one of the world's foremost vaccinologist and epidemiologists says, injecting people during pandemic is a mistake and that “Children’s immune systems must be allowed to be educated by exposure to the virus.”[6]

Most adults were free to choose as it should be with experimental drugs, but I am annoyed that some people were forced to eat against their will, when its long-term safety was not known. For the same reason, I don’t think anyone should risk their children. To me it is just common sense; if it didn’t stop adults getting C19, it won't help children. If it injures some adults, it will injure some children. There are zero benefits for children and there are unacceptable risks. I don’t know why this was not talked about openly in the nations press, to enable people to give a true informed consent. I can only guess it has been muzzled in some way.

I still drive past the “restaurants.” and it seems there is a new song playing “Killing me softly”, and the people still hum along.  However there seems to be fewer people going inside, probably because they have figured out that it is not working and also that they also risk food poisoning. Or maybe it’s because the elephant in the room and a few monkeys are taking up all the space.

Friends, many of you will agree with me but some may not and are thinking that I should stay in my “Bible” lane.  I feel a responsibility to say something and believe that “Loving my neighbour" is still my lane. If I can stir up some neighbours or parents to do their own thinking and reading beyond the “restaurants” own write-up, I’ll be happy.

Here is some Bible by the way; “The simple believes every word, But the prudent considers well his steps” Proverbs 14:15.

 [1] New Zealand Doctors speak out  https://odysee.com/@FreeNZ:d/alanna-ratna:5

[2] https://vaersanalysis.info/2022/08/05/vaers-summary-for-covid-19-vaccines-through-7-29-2022/

[3] Here are hundreds of peer reviewed articles on Dr Flemings website.  https://www.flemingmethod.com/documentation

[4] Dr Robert Malone inventor of mRNA begs parents not to inject their children.   https://rumble.com/vqq7gc-dr.-robert-malone-before-you-inject-your-child.html

[5] Dr Peter McCullough (The most published doctor in his field in the world.)"IT'S UNEQUIVOCAL, THE VACCINES ARE CAUSING LARGE NUMBERS OF DEATHS." - Dr Peter McCullough (odysee.com)

[6] Here Geert Van den Boss talks about the effects of the "restaurant". (Around 22min mark for children)  https://www.voiceforscienceandsolidarity.org/videos-and-interviews/these-are-extremely-dangerous-for-children

Sometimes we think of the Pharisee and the bad guys, but they were the good guys in Jewish society. They were like us: they were the committed ones. They weren’t fulltime ministers, they had jobs, but they were devoted to God. All day they tried to please God in order to enjoy Gods blessing. So, they prayed often, they fasted often, and brought a tenth of the parsley plant to the priest. They studied and memorised the Law and they tried to do it. Hower tey found it difficult to receive Jesus because the Pharisees didn’t think God would be like Jesus. The truth they had in the law, never fully revealed what God was like. The law was a divine list of instructions and as for them and their house, they were going to follow the List!

Sometimes when parents go away for a week, they leave a list of things for their teenage children to do and not do:

You shall not have you wild mates around. You shall not make noise that will annoy the neighbours

You shall not leave home without locking the house. You shalt eat properly and don’t be late for work, and you shall put out the rubbish.

 It not the parent, it is just a list.  It tells people a little about the parent: they value tidiness, they think of their neighbours etc. The list reflects in part the nature of the parents, but it is not the parent.

Perhaps just before the parents come home, the children make sure the list is done. They put out the rubbish and vacuum the house. They might have lived badly all week, but the list is done, and the boxes are all ticked.  They hope the parents who are not all knowing, will be happy.  Regardless, when the parents come back home, they screw up the list because now the person who wrote the list has come.

The Pharisees problem was, when the Author of the law came, they still preferred the list. When Jesus came to earth, the Pharisees found it easier to manage a list than a new concept of God. Their forefathers were the same. They told Moses to go up the mountain and get the list; meeting the requirements of an unchanging list had to be easier than living with an awesome and dynamic God.

Friend, the law was a revelation of a portion of truth, but the fulness of Grace and Truth is fully present and revealed in the person of Christ. God did not give us the law or even the whole Bible to reveal the Bible to us, but to reveal Jesus to us!   How do we see God...? Because Jesus was different to what they thought.

In the castle at Jerusalem, there hung an atmosphere of suspense and uncertainty. King David was growing old and weaker by the day, and he had not made it clear who was to succeed him. This lack of clarity exposed the secret designs within the hearts of his servants and his sons. 

God sometimes allows people to get into a position of weakness, to expose the hearts of those around them.  David was now old with family troubles and while the king was at low ebb in his life, his son Absalom arose in rebellion. (2 Sam 15). In contrast, when Saul was weak and vulnerable, David had stopped himself and others rising up against Saul, saying “not to touch the Lords anointed”.

Centuries before, when Moses made decisions that were unacceptable to some, Korah’s corrupt heart was exposed.

When Paul was shipwrecked, his men collected sticks for a fire. As they began to warm themselves by the fire, a snake came out from inside the pile of sticks on fire. It took the fire to reveal the snake amongst the sticks. Pressure and crisis don’t make character flaws, they just reveal them. Friction, heat and differences in opinion between people, never cause character weaknesses either, they just reveal them.

The circumstances of our world and nation, haven’t made people hateful, cruel or intolerant of people with views differing from their own.  The troubles have only exposed the shallowness of our love and the limits of our acceptance.

We support every persons right to their own opinion and defend their right to hold it. We are not those that can only tolerate people that agree with us. Society and civilization can only improve when there is fair and open exchange of ideas.

Friend, our relationships are as good as the test to which it they have been put. Troubles show whether our fruit is real, fire reveals the snakes, and it is the severe scouring of the pot that shows whether the vessel is truly gold or only gilded.