The events that have unfolded before our very eyes seeing the unbelievable destruction that has taken place in Japan and the ensuing aftermath is truly draw dropping stuff. A whole town wiped away by the force of a 10 meter wall of water coming through the town and what we are seeing happening with the nuclear meltdown that has the potential of slowly killing many, many more people.
We must seriously consider whether this is the “Beginning of sorrows” Matt 24:8. This is in answer to verse 3 of the same chapter saying, “And what will be the sign of Your coming?” In answering that we see Jesus say, “Wars, rumours of wars, famines, and pestilence”. At the moment we are seeing these events more than ever before in the history of mankind.
Now is the time to give our testimony of how God save us from destruction and gave us the peace that the world could never offer, and the world can’t take it away. Verse 33 says, “When you see these things, know that the time is near.”
How then should we conduct our lives? With reverence and godly fear and serving God in an acceptable way (Heb 12:28-29). Letting brotherly love continue and also entertaining strangers and in doing so you may entertain angels without knowing it. Praise the Lord!
With Much Love,
Ps Bernie
The call to pray is becoming stronger and stronger as we see unprecedented disasters coming upon Australia in an overwhelming measure, and causing fear to grip the heart of the nation.
My question is, what will it take for people to cry out to God and; (a) When will we as Christians recognizing the signs of the times, be making ready for Jesus’ coming again and (b) When will people everywhere begin to ask for God’s mercy in our times of trouble?
There is a prevailing attitude of ‘she’ll be right’ as long as it doesn’t touch us… sadly even among the family of God. It is high time now for us to realize that we ARE our brothers’ keepers, in being salt and light in this world, and watchmen over the areas we live in. WE are responsible to be attentive to the will of God and be His voice in society in these end time events unfolding before our eyes.
On many occasions I heard it reported that the floods were of ‘Biblical proportions’ likened to Noah’s days. Are we going to see in our lifetime the prophetic words uttered by the prophet Joel 2:30-32, where he says that God will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth? I believe we should tremble at the word of the Lord in these days… taking the Bible far more seriously than is our current habit… rather than just believing what suits our preferred beliefs.
The wonderful finish to that above passage is that “Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
With much love,
Bernie
Let our example of life be one that our children are able to follow without fear that it might lead them in the wrong direction. As I am reading the New Testament through for a second time again this year, I again was challenged by 1 Cor 10:1-12 and the heading reads, “Old Testament Examples” and these are given to us as examples as what not to do and there are a number of things mentioned, i.e. ‘Lusting after evil things’; ‘Do not become idolators’; ‘Having idols in your life rather than God and Him only!!’; ‘Don’t commit sexual immorality’; ‘Don’t complain’. These are all warnings with dire consequences - death. Our final admonition in these verses is in verse 12 where it says, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall”.
Let’s look at the opposite of all these things. Doing good Acts 10:38; Love the Lord with all your heart Matt 22:37-40; be sexually pure; instead of tempting Jesus, be obedient to His commands; and be His friend John 15:14; and don’t complain, instead in all things give thanks for this is the will of God for you (1 Thess 5:18).
Let all of us be good examples to
others who follow in our footsteps. Flee from idolatry. (1 Cor 10:14)
With much love,
Bernie
Where has the year gone? I remember very well my mother telling me when I found it difficult to wait until I turned 21 saying, “Why does time go so slow?” Well that has all changed and I would like time to slow down a bit.
Eph 5:15-18 encourages us to use our time wisely, and say that we need to redeem the time because the days are evil. This word “evil” in the Greek is translated to mean hurtful influence; deceased; derelict; and vicious to name a few. They all has such a negative connotation and I only used some of the negative words said about evil in the Greek. (SC 4190).
If the days were bad then just how evil are the days we are living in today? Maybe we don’t realise just how bad things are because things have been sliding over a number of years a bit like the frog in the kettle - the heat increased so gradually the he didn’t notice and was cooked before he realised what happened.
Maybe Napoleon had a peculiar view of things he said (and thought) “Men of imagination rule the world”. Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he is not, and a sense of humour to
console him for what he is.
Let’s stick with what the Bible says, both the warnings and the encouragements Gen 6:5-7 shows us that evil brings judgment, but Scripture also shows us that faith in God brings the ability to do things not thought possible.
With much love,
Bernie
This week goes as fast as all of the others. It just begins and it’s over it seems. I have been answering phone calls, visiting people, helping Fred with concreting the kerb that is being put in to facilitate better and safer parking procedures on the church property, especially when crowds are larger than usual. And in the middle of all that I read His Word and study as much as possible and fellowship with each other and all those who God puts us in contact with, making it a busy and very satisfying life, serving and loving God with joy and gladness of heart for the abundance of everything (Deut 28:47,48).
Can we all make that our aim to serve the Lord with a grateful heart just for allowing us to be living in this blessed country where we seem to have everything and within reason we have what we want to have if hard work is not an obstacle.
For the next three weeks I would like us to think and pray and give to those who are our brothers and sisters in the Lord all over the world who can’t even buy a Bible and have the threat of being thrown into prison when they do have one (Heb 13:1-3; Matt 25:31-46)
Let the joy of the Lord be our strength and let us give in the light of that - Bibles to those who don’t have Bibles.
With much love,
Bernie
Change! What a powerful word. The very thought of change can stir excitement in some and yet others will have their stomach in knots. How does change affect you?
We live in a world that is constantly changing. When you look at how much things have changed over the last 30 years, it is incredible, particularly with regard to computers. Did you know that the first Gigabyte hard disk drive was introduced by IBM in 1980, weighed 249kg’s and cost $44,000. Today you can buy a whole computer with a hard drive 100 times that size all for less than $1000. Change is so rapid.
What scares so many people is not the change itself, but the uncertainty of the outcome from that change. However, if we want to be a people of influence, we need to embrace change. If the world is changing so rapidly, and we hold back, can you imaging how effective we will be as a church in only 20 years time?
Some may say, “Well the Bible says that God never changes so I don’t need to either.” While it is true that God doesn’t change and His message of salvation doesn’t change, the vehicle we deliver that through does.
Let’s think wild thoughts, think outside the box and be adventurous with our thinking. Discuss with others this week different ways that you can be relevant to people in this ever-changing culture, and yet still share the unchanging and uncompromising message of salvation with results.
Adrian
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