Author: newlifenarrabri

Reflection on Jeremiah 33:14-18

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branch-stump

Scripture
“In those days and at that time, I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line.”

Observation
The Lord promises to restore to His people all that has been taken from them. At the right time there will be a Branch from the line of David- a righteous branch who will do what is right.

The Lord will also ensure that there will always be a descendant of David on the throne of Israel and a priest to continually offer sacrifices.

Application
The righteous Branch would come from David’s line at the right time- the kairos time, the appointed time.

The Branch, of course, is Jesus, whose birth we celebrate in a few weeks time.

God had promised that there would always be someone from David’s line on the throne in Israel. Jesus is that person. He reigns not just over Israel but the whole world.

King Jesus, the righteous Branch rules in righteousness. All earthly kings carry the stain of sin, but Jesus is not only sinless, He has defeated sin.

The righteous Branch from David’s line is bringing justice and holiness to the world even today.

Prayer
Lord you are that righteous Branch from the line of David. You are the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah! Amen.

Tim Blair: The Chaser Boys Complain About “Safe” Institutions.

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Tim Blair writes about the “Cutting Edge” Chaser Boys:

 
Those crazy Chaser kids 11 years ago, doing then what they want to do again
Those crazy Chaser kids 11 years ago, doing then what they want to do again
Tim Blair Blog Posts

CHASERS CHASED AWAY BY THEIR TAX-FUNDING FRIENDS

Tim Blair, The Daily Telegraph

 

The Chaser boys*, Australia’s official state comedy troupe since 1999, have been denied funding for yet another election year slab of mortgage-covering satirical sedatives.

And the boys aren’t happy about it:

“First time since 2001 that the ABC has declined to fund it. Perhaps Sky News provides enough satire nowadays?” the group’s tweet read.

It’s bad enough that we’ll be missing another Chaser series, but must they rub it in with this scorching reminder of their effortless comic mastery?

For [member and founder Charles] Firth, the ABC’s decision – “They just said they didn’t have the money,” he says was the ABC’s reason behind the rejection ­– is further proof the public broadcaster is conceding to government influence.

“The ABC is an institution in crisis, and it’s a very deliberate thing that’s happened,” he says.

“This decision, along with lots of other decisions” – the recent axings of controversial comedy shows The Checkout and Tonightly, for example – “should leave everyone in no doubt that the Liberals have done their work on the ABC and it’s not the institution it once was.”

When you’re celebrating the virtue of “institutions”, it’s probably time to hand in your edgy outsider badge. But there’s a problem with Firth’s version of events. According to the ABC, the Chaser middle-aged adults forgot to actually propose their new show:

A spokesperson for ABC has denied that the group made a pitch to the broadcaster to make a new election special and says that the group had already begun negotiating with commercial rivals.

Oh, well. Let’s hear more from Firth about institutional greatness:

“The moment you start being safe is the moment you start losing audiences, and you enter a downward spiral where you become irrelevant.

“It hasn’t happened yet, but that’s the problem – they’re in a death spiral where they’re getting safer and safer and they’re going to lose more and more of their audience.

“There are very few decisions in the ABC at the moment where you go, ‘Wow that’s interesting, that’s innovative, that’s really going to push the boundaries,’ which is exactly what you need from a public broadcaster.”

Yet he also wants the ABC to run the same material by the same crew who’ve been doing the same thing during every election for the past 17 years.

Signing the Chaser cis males for 2019 would have been, as Firth puts it, “safe”.

*Youngest original member: 41

The North Sentinel Islands Retain Their Deadly Reputation

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North Sentinel Island lies between Thailand and India. It has the reputation of being the most isolated territory on the planet by reason of the inhabitants killing anyone who lands on the island.

From Christianity Today:

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US Missionary Killed by ‘World’s Most Isolated’ Tribe.

A 27-year-old American missionary was killed on a remote island off the coast of India, where he attempted to share the gospel with the most isolated tribe in the world.

All Nations, a Christian missions agency based in the US, confirmed that John Allen Chau travelled to North Sentinel Island after years of study and training to evangelise its small indigenous population, who remain almost entirely untouched by modern civilisation.

According to news reports based on Chau’s journal entries, the Oral Roberts University graduate shouted, “My name is John, and I love you and Jesus loves you,” to Sentinelese tribesmen armed with bows and arrows. He fled to a fishing boat when they shot at him during his initial visit, with one arrow piercing his Bible.

The young missionary did not survive a follow-up trip on November 17.

“You guys might think I’m crazy in all this but I think it’s worth it to declare Jesus to these people,” the native of Washington state wrote the day before in a letter to his parents obtained by the Daily Mail. “Please do not be angry at them or at God if I get killed.”

Indian police have not retrieved the young missionary’s body and, since contact with the indigenous tribes in the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago is prohibited, cannot prosecute his murderers.

The Sentinelese were known to refuse outside contact and attack anyone who stepped on their island.

Some have declared Chau a martyr and compared him to Jim Elliot, who was famously killed at age 28 while attempting to evangelise an isolated indigenous group in Ecuador.

“John was a gracious and sensitive ambassador of Jesus Christ who wanted others to know of God’s great love for them,” said Mary Ho, international executive leader of All Nations, which says it trains and supports 150 missionaries in 31 countries, including India.

“As we grieve for our friend, and pray for all those who mourn his death, we also know that he would want us to pray for those who may have been responsible for his death.”

This was Chau’s third visit to the Andaman and Nicobar island chain. Its police chief called his recent trip “misplaced adventure,” but his family and friends insist that he knowingly violated protocol to enter the dangerous territory for the sake of sharing the gospel.

According to All Nations, Chau joined their organisation last year, after serving on mission in Iraq, Kurdistan, and South Africa. The agency described him as “a seasoned traveller who was well-versed in cross-cultural issues.”

His family posted a tribute on Instagram, saying they forgive those responsible for killing Chau and requesting that charges be dropped against the fishermen accused of endangering his life by helping transport him to North Sentinel Island.

The Joshua Project, a ministry dedicated to tracking unreached ethnic groups, reports that little is known about the Sentinelese due to their isolation and hostility, but asks supporters to “Pray that the Indian Government will allow Christians to earn the trust of the Sentinelese people, and that they will be permitted to live among them.”

Reflection on John 18:33-37

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Scripture

Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

Observation

Jesus is before Pilate on trial for His life.

Pilate summons Jesus and says, “Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus replies asking, “Is this your own idea?”

Pilate then asks, “What is it that you have done?” Jesus answers that His kingdom is not of this world, it is from another place.

Jesus goes on to say that He is in fact a king who has come into the world to testify to truth. Pilate cynically asks, “What is truth?”

Application

Jesus’ kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, is not of this world. All human kingdoms, no matter how benevolent, carry the taint of sin. Every king who was ever born was a sinner and therefore not perfect.

The values of Jesus’ kingdom are different to the values of human kingdoms.

The kingdom of Jesus does not expand by violent invasion. Rather it is like salt or yeast which seems to be insignificant but actually transforms what it is mixed with.

The kingdom advances by the salvation of individuals. Hearts and minds are changed from the kingdom of this world to allegiance to the king of heaven.

Unlike Islam, which advances by conquest and domination, the kingdom of Jesus advances quietly and by freedom.

As Jesus says, if His kingdom were of this world, His servants would physically fight for Him. This has been tried in the past with disastrous results.

God’s kingdom is the kingdom of agape, sacrificial love. That is our weapon.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, you laid down your life for me. Help me to lay down my life for the sake of you and your kingdom. Help me to give myself away in loving my neighbours for your sake. Amen.

Reflection on Revelation 1:1-8

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Scripture
“I am the Alpha and the Omega- the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come- the Almighty One.”

Observation
John describes his letter as a revelation from God of events soon to come. God blesses the person who reads the prophecy and those who obey it.

Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the ruler of the kings of the world. He is coming, and everyone will see Him.

God is the first and the last, the one who is, who always was and is yet to come.

Application
God is the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He is outside of time, and there was not a time when He did not exist.

When we look at the powerful forces at work in the world whether military, political or corporate- we can be overwhelmed by them. Who can stand against them?

God is stronger than all these things. He is bigger than any created thing. He was there before them and will be there long after they have turned to dust. He is the first and the last, the Almighty God.

When it comes to our personal sufferings, our problems, relationships that are difficult, sins that we struggle with- God knows the end from the beginning. He is already at the place where these things are worked through.

God sees our heart, not just the situations we live through.

God is unchanging. He is always the same. Mountains may fall but God will not. Countries and cultures, families and neighbourhoods change, but God does not.

He is the rock. He is the one we can depend on always.

Prayer
Thank you Lord for the certainty that you will always be here. You will always be who you are now. There is no shadow of turning in you. Amen.

How To Hear God

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Many christians struggle with the issue of hearing the voice of God. Some have been wrongly taught that God doesn’t speak to us. Others believe that He does speak to us but still seem unable to hear.Whole books have been written on the topic whether it is framed in terms of “Hearing God” or “Guidance” (The latter term is often used by christians who don’t believe that God speaks to His people but still want to know how to discern the will of God.)

In the 1980’s I came across this little book and it revolutionised my spiritual walk. Mark Virkler simplifies the whole business of hearing God’s voice to a few easy steps and an important concept. 

The concept is this: God speaks to us in the flow of our thoughts more often than through an audible voice.

The steps to hearing God are simple

  1. Still your mind. When our brains are racing away with our own thoughts it is very hard to hear what God might want to say to us. Some people like to use the “Jesus Prayer” to help this process.Settle your breathing into a regular rhythm. As you breathe in say slowly “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God” and as you breathe out say “Have mercy on me, a sinner.”
  2. Ask God a question. “What do you want to say to me?””What should I do about …?”
  3. Listen to the thoughts that go through your mind in response to the question. Write them down in a notebook or journal- this process of writing your thoughts is vital, because often we start to analyse what is being revealed, but that breaks the flow.
  4. When you finish, look back over what you have written and check if it agrees with Scripture, with the things happening in your life, with other things the Lord has shown you, and so on.

This is a wonderful method to help us hear God’s voice. Like many things in life, it may seem difficult at first but with practice the process of discerning God’s voice becomes more fluent.

Reflection on Mark 13:1-8

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Scripture
“When you hear of wars and rumours of was, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.”

Observation
Jesus and His disciples leave the Temple building, and one of them exclaims, “Look at these magnificent buildings!”

Jesus replies that the Temple will be so obliterated that not one stone will remain on another. He goes on to tell them that many will come claiming to be Jesus and to speak in His name, and they will deceive many people. There will be wars and rumours of wars, but the disciples are not to be alarmed.

Application
Although people often look at this passage as being about the end times, it primarily refers to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, when the Temple, which seemed so magnificent and indestructible, was totally destroyed.

There are two warnings in this passage that apply to us.

  1. Do not be deceived by false messiahs claiming to come in the name of the Lord. The people of God must exercise discernment. Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice.” When celebrity preachers or political leaders offer a different gospel or a different salvation, we must recognise that they are a false messiah, a false teacher, a false leader- even if they claim to be born again.
  2. We must not be alarmed by the tumult of the nations. Wars have always been a part of human existence. In fact, we live in an era of unprecedented peace, yet people are more fearful than ever. Our focus must always be on Jesus rather than the affairs of the nations.

When people offer “peace in our time” without Jesus then we can be certain that they are a false messiah. Only Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Peace without Him is a false peace, brittle and short-lived.

Prayer
Help me, Holy Spirit, to discern what is true, edifying and from you. Let me see the truth in every situation and trust my fears and anxieties to you. Amen