Amazing! Australian Bush Optimised For Fire

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

This morning I woke to the astounding news that biologists have discovered that the populations of frogs in areas “devastated” by last summer’s bushfires have rebounded, including some “threatened” species.

This follows earlier reports that koalas, snakes and other animals are doing OK despite “literally billions” of deaths last year. Also platypuses in the Peel River aren’t doing too badly now that the drought is over.

Amazingly, glow worms in the Blue Mountains that were thought to have been wiped out are doing well, having sheltered in a disused railway tunnel – ironic that, given that in modern times the greenies would not allow that tunnel to be built because it would be a threat to the environment, and probably the exact same glow worm population.

My favourite example is the giant pink slug which lives in the Mount Kaputar National Park, near Narrabri. It was only discovered 20 years ago, but the usual climate worriers panicked that the slug had been destroyed by fires. Surprisingly, the slug which has weathered droughts, bushfires, torrential rain, earthquakes, plagues of locusts and other natural disasters despite our total ignorance of its existence, managed to survive this event.

So this morning, after my usual outburst of “What is wrong with these people?”, I worked it out.

The pseudo-scientific discipline called ecology is founded on two fundamental doctrines:

  1. The natural ecosystem is very complex, with many interacting species, and so it is potentially fragile as the disappearance of one species may cause the system to collapse.
  2. People are always bad for the environment.

In actual fact, natural ecosystems are very resilient because they are complex. They can self-correct as different parts of the system adapt to change.

That is why bush environments regenerate after fires and droughts. They have been doing it for thousands of years without the assistance of humans.

The other factor that is generally ignored is that everything was created by an infinitely wise creator. He designed Australia with a warm, dry climate and the slugs, frogs, koalas to suit that climate.

Strangely, God is better at being God than people are.

Reflection on 1 John 3:11-24

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture

Dear children, let us not merely say we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.

Observation

The message we heard from the beginning is we should love one another. Love for our christian brothers and sisters shows we have God’s life. Anyone who hates another person is a murderer at heart and does not have God’s life in him.

Jesus showed us real love by giving up His life for us. So we should give up our lives for others. If we have enough money to live well, we should share with a brother or sister in need.

We must believe in the name of Jesus, and love one another as He has commanded us.

Application

One of the unexpected features of the internet age has been the rise of tribalism on social media. It seems that the more we are connected, the more we feel the need to identify with a particular group.

Some groups are happy to welcome and endorse people as long as they toe the party line. When someone expresses an opinion contrary to the correct position, the mob descends with virtual pitch forks and harries them until they recant.

Christians are not to be like this. We are to love one another with genuine love. We must not love one another in words alone, or merely in theory. Love must be practical.

So we must continue to love people when it is not convenient or when they say things or do things a little outside our comfort zone.

John gives the example of someone who has enough money to be comfortable. They must have genuine compassion on those who are struggling financially.

Our love for one another must be like God’s love to us. It must be unconditional, unfailing, giving, costly.

We are the people who embrace the unlovely and the different ones. We are the people who hang in there with people through their struggles and challenges. We are the people who love because God first loved us,

Prayer

Father, your love for us is ever lasting. Help me to love the people around me and to be as consistent in that as you are. Amen.

Charles Moore, ‘Mrs Thatcher’s Vicar on Earth’ takes over the BBC.

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

From The Salisbury Review, some good news for the UK.

Charles Moore, ‘Mrs Thatcher’s Vicar on Earth’ takes over the BBC.

27th September 2020 Myles Harris Blog 8

The proposed appointment of Charles Moore, ‘Mrs Thatcher’s Vicar on Earth’ to head the BBC along with Paul Dacre, the left’s idea of what Lucifer might be like, as head of Ofcom, shows Boris has not lost his touch. These appointments, along with Brexit, will have consequences that will be with us long after Covid 19 is a footnote in history.

With the coincidental arrival of Laurence Fox’s anti cancel movement the two appointments should spell the demise of wokery, its works and its pomps. The success of a revolution depends on the electorate feeling they now have ‘permission’ to think thoughts which yesterday were considered utterly wicked.

Fox is that rather rare species, a film star who is not a political empty head, and the ‘halo effect,’ (people find it hard to resist believing that good looking people are not good) will ensure his success. He has already raised £5 million in donations. Let’s hope he makes wise use of it.

These events also spell the end of the ‘Boris has lost it’ myth. Emanating from Whitehall, this rumour is designed to have Boris ejected from office by the end of November latest, in order that a Remainer Tory can take his place and agree to the Brexit talks being extended by 12 months.

By the end of that period nothing will remain of the original agreement, and we will be a full colony of the EU.

Ephesians 3:12

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:12. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 3:12

“In [Christ] and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.”

In Christ we can approach God with freedom.

It is our relationship with Christ that opens up access to the Father. Our sin created a chasm that separates us from God. The cross, the sacrifice of Christ, crosses that divide .

We who were once”far off” from from God are now in His presence – not because of our own goodness or our own deeds, but because we are in Christ.

To be in Christ means that I have become one with Him. I have asked Him into my heart and in so doing I have come into His heart, so to speak.

To be in Christ is to be united with Him, knowing that our sins are forgiven and we are now children of the Living God.

It is through faith in Christ that we gain access to the Father .

To have faith means that we believe that His death is sufficient and effective. His death is sufficient because there is nothing else that we can add to it. We are saved through faith not by works. Therefore, we must trust that Christ’s death on the cross is an adequate sacrifice. We cannot keep going back to the temple to add to this sacrifice. We must not believe that any good work that we may do can in any way add to or replace this one sacrifice.

We must also believe that Christ’s death is effective for us. I need to understand that there is no limit to the number of people or the number of sins that can be covered by the blood of Christ. I must know that my sins are forgiven, the specific things that I confess each day.

When we believe in our hearts that Christ’s death means life for us, then we can put our trust in God. This combination of belief and trust is what the Bible calls faith. In the final analysis, our trust is in God’s faithfulness that he will do what he has said. Faith is always in a person not in a doctrine.

Now we can approach God in freedom and confidence.

We can approach God in Freedom because the sins that separated us from Him are gone. The burden of sin the kept us paralysed in fear of God has all been washed away.

The Book of Genesis tells of a “flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:24) Sin effectively barred the way to God’s life, but now that we are forgiven we have freedom to come into the presence of God – the flashing sword has been taken away.

A person might come into a king’s presence in freedom but be consumed by fear or anxiety. We can approach God with both freedom and confidence.

From being aliens in a strange country, we have been adopted into God’s family, through faith in Christ. So we can approach God with confidence because he is our Father and we are sons and daughters.

Because of the sacrifice of Christ, I not only know that my sins are forgiven, I know that God loves me and will never reject me or condemn me.

When Ruth approached her husband’s throne, she did so knowing that he could have her killed on the spot for her temerity. But we approach the throne of God with confidence because his love is eternal and unconditional.

Because I have been adopted by God I can call him “Abba Father”. That means I can speak to him in intimate and familiar terms. He is not impressed by formal language or flowery prayers. He sees my heart and He loves me.

Key points in this verse:

  • Our relationship with Christ opens up access to the Father
  • To be in Christ means to be one with Him
  • To have faith in Christ means to believe his death is sufficient and effective
  • We can approach God with freedom and confidence
  • We are sons and daughters of God

Reflection on 1 John 3:1-10

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture

Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them.

Observation

God’s love for us is amazing. He calls us His children. We don’t yet know what we will be when Christ returns, but we will be like Him.

Sin is breaking God’s law. Jesus came to take away our sin, so if we continue to sin, it shows we are not following the ways of Jesus.

When people keep sinning they show that they belong to the devil. People who have been born into God’s family do not continue to sin. They cannot keep sinning because God’s life is in them.

Application

If you are genuinely born again, you will turn away from sin. That is what it means to be born again.

This does not mean we become instantly perfect. There is a process, a life- time of becoming more like Jesus.

As christians we are not allowed to keep our pet sins- whether it is anger or drugs, coveting or pornography.

A christian who keeps his or her sins is like a husband who keeps a lover or two on the side. This is a contradiction.

Of course, we all struggle with sin. We all have our weaknesses, those temptations that seem to particularly entice us. We need to be like the alcoholic who knows he is only ever one drink away from falling.

While christians should not engage in repeated sin, we all fall. For that there is the remedy of 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

If you think this is a loophole that lets us get away with stuff, then you are not thinking straight. It is not about what we can and can’t get away with. We are not motivated by a counting of right and wrong. God has lavished His love upon us and it should be our overwhelming desire to walk in friendship with Him.

Prayer

Father, I admit my sinful ways to you. Please change my heart so deeply that I am no longer attracted to the things that break my relationship with you. Amen.

The Fruit Of The Spirit- Gentleness

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)

Gentleness is often confused with weakness. In fact, it is the opposite. Gentleness may be thought of as strength controlled for the sake of another person.

An illustration of gentleness is a father wrestling with a little child. There is no doubt that the father could injure the child if wrestling with serious strength. But he chooses to marshal that strength, to control it for the sake of the child’s safety and to encourage the child to grow in his/ her own physical strength.

The Greek word, as does its English counterpart, carries its meaning into other areas also. Other words might be used include meekness, forgiveness and patience.

In relationships, when somebody disappoints us or hurts us we can choose to react harshly and condemn the person, perhaps even break off the relationship. Alternatively we may choose to forgive, to make allowances for them and to maintain the relationship.

We live in a time when people are very critical of one another and harsh towards public figures they disagree with. A social media post from 20 years ago might be resurrected for condemnation if it fails to live up to contemporary moral standards. Yet, the same people who condemn others are defensive when criticised themselves. In this culture, we need gentleness more than ever.

God has the right to treat us harshly for our sins. Yet, He gives us time to repent, forgives us endlessly and exhorts us to return to Him. There will be a time of judgement, and everybody who has not received God’s forgiveness in Christ will be judged and punished.

In the meantime, God treats us with gentleness.

Reflection on 1 John 2:18-29

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Scripture

Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.

Observation

The last hour is here, and many antichrists have already appeared. They have left the church, but they never really belonged.

Those who remain faithful don’t just know the truth, they know the difference between the truth and lies. Anyone who denies Christ is a liar, and anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.

If we remain faithful to Christ, the Holy Spirit will teach us what is true. So we must remain in fellowship with Christ.

Application

In my early christian years, I like many at the time, was bombarded with end-times teachings about the scary demonic Antichrist and the Great Tribulation that was coming very soon. Various names were suggested for the identity of the Antichrist, but all failed to attain the title, and most are not even remembered these days.

Here, John tells us that already there were many antichrists who had come. In fact, John is the only one that uses this term. He uses it to describe not an apocalyptic demon- possessed world ruler, but many false teachers who deny that Christ is the Son of God.

This would seem to include atheists, Muslims, Hindus, New Agers, irreligious secularists and sceptics, and many more.

The spirit of antichrist is simply any spirit that opposes Christ.

Even in the first century, they believed that they were in the “last hour.” Peter says in Acts 2 that Pentecost is the day foretold by Joel- “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”

We don’t have to worry about a demonic Antichrist seizing power and persecuting christians. That has been going on for 2000 years and will continue to do so until Jesus returns- which could be tomorrow or another 2000 years.

Rather, we need to be faithful to Christ, serving Him in our daily life, and staying steadfast until the end.

Prayer

Thank you Father for your unfailing love. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who protects us from false teachings and false spirits. Please help me to be faithful to you in all things. Amen.

Ephesians 3:11

/ newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Here is my commentary on Ephesians 3:11. I am publishing these once or twice a week, but you can read all of the available articles at our web-site, http://www.new-life.org.au

Ephesians 3:11

“This is according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God’s intent was to make known through the church His wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms. This was His eternal plan.

People are changeable, and at times, fickle. For many people, a long-term plan means as far as next weekend.

But God is not like us. When God makes a plan it is not provisional or conditional on what happens. When God makes a plan it is perfect from the beginning, and is not subject to change or improvement.

God’s plan commenced in “eternity past,” that before time began. Before the creation of the world, God made plans for a physical universe that was distinct from the heavenly realms. In that plan, God would create a race of people who could choose to reject God’s love. He would give people an option to obey God, to worship God, and to surrender to him. Or not.

This choice had been made available to the angels , but some, led by Satan, rebelled against God. While angels who have stood in the glory of the presence of God and still rejected him, are beyond repentance, human beings who only see God dimly, like a distorted reflection, they could have the ability to be redeemed and rescued.

So while God did not create sin, he did allow for it. He foreknew that Adam and Eve would fall as would every single person since. But he made a plan long before this happened that would provide a way out.

In the book of Revelation, Christ is described as “ the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world” ( Revelation 13:8). Thus it was always God’s intention from before creation that Jesus would pay for our sins.

God’s eternal purpose stretches into the future also. What was proposed before the beginning of time is eternal and unchanging, and so will continue past the end of time. There is no expiry date on salvation. The offer will always be there because God’s purpose is eternal and does not change.

It might be possible for God to change His mind about how people are brought into His Kingdom. It is possible that God could say that only people born again before the year 2020 could be saved. But he will not do that because his plan and purpose are eternal and will last for eternity.

God’s purpose is eternal also in the sense that it will carry us through to eternity. He has said that we will live with him forever. There will be no time limit in heaven. We will not be transient visitors as we are on Earth. We will be there forever.

His eternal purpose, that is to save people from sin and equip them for eternity, was accomplished through Jesus. His death on the cross was the moment in time when the eternal plan was activated.

The mystery, the plan, the purpose was this: God gave himself to rescue a fallen race. The revelation to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms was that sin will not steal away God’s glory. His love and righteousness come together to defeat all sinfulness and wilfulness.

All of this is through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ literally means “ anointed one” and refers to the Messiah. Jesus was the one sent by God to rescue His people. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit for this task.

Jesus is the Greek form of the name Yeshua which means “ the Lord is our saviour” or “ the Lord saves.” It is God’s nature to save his beloved people .

Lord is the name for Yahweh, the one true God. Jesus is not just a man. He is divine. He is the Lord.

Key points in this verse:

  • God’s purpose was commenced before time began
  • Jesus is the Lamb who was slain at the beginning of time
  • God’s plan will not change and Salvation will not stop
  • Jesus is the Messiah and he is the Lord God