Miraculous Achievements

 

I often pass by two young Palm trees as I go to the Mall and admire their leaf structure but other than that I have taken them for granted as most people do. However, last week the gardener decided to remove one of them so chopped all its leaves off and cut its top off. Looking at that doomed tree I realised that there was more to it than I had considered before.

When those leaves emerge from the stem of the tree they are remarkably folded. If you look closely at what looks at first glance to be a fairly solid block of wood in the centre of the tree stump (beside the unfolding leaf) you will find that it is nothing but tightly folded leaves and as they open look at how beautifully they were folded (somewhat like a Chinese fan or a concertina). Now we know that those Chinese fans are designed and folded by very artistic people with considerable ability and on a table, or similar, where they can see what they are doing. Anyone can tell you that a fan cannot design and fold itself inside a cupboard, out of sight; such work takes know how and brains. See all those very tightly folded leaves in the main stem there, well they were folded in the dark, out of sight. What a neat trick!

Incredibly there are people who claim that trees like this, designed and folded their leaves themselves without brains or know how. Now that would take a lot of explaining. I prefer to believe the Bible when it records that God designed all these things and programmed them to do what they do. What people believe is their business of course, but children should be encouraged to recognise God’s remarkable designs in the world around them and look to the bible for answers e.g. where God says that He made everything and it was “Very  good”.  Now just look at this photo I took in our back yard of Milk Thistle seeds attached to their “parachutes” just waiting for a gust of wind to carry them away and deposit them in a new field. What a remarkable God we have who can conceive such a unique method of spreading seeds and then program a plant to do it.

At first glance this seems very simple but it is so complex it is more than our minds can fully comprehend: each of those seeds is no bigger than a pinhead and yet in effect it is a super microchip, as it contains all the information necessary to develop a new thistle plant and “instruct” it to draw on the soil where it has been deposited and gather moisture chemicals and pigment and convert those items into a dark green stem and leaves and develop bright yellow flowers with pollen to attract insects. Those insects will then fertilise the flowers so that more seeds can be formed and programmed to continue the species. Each plant is therefore a Science laboratory in itself and seeing the plant has no brains we have just got to give God the credit. Talking of giving God the credit; how about this daisy, it grows in very ordinary soil in our yard

where there are no obvious colours and yet its roots suck up the necessary ingredients to make these colours and the plant places them in their right order. But if that wasn’t difficult enough, it does it whilst the flower is folded up in the bud! And the flower is not just a pretty face either: it is the plants reproductive mechanism with its centre being laced with pollen and whatever is necessary to attract insects that will fertilise the seed pod behind it. Now all this is so well thought out that we would expect the plant to have a Science degree in Plant Genetics, if not, it must be that God programmed the plant to do all that. Which is what the Bible tells us. The public schools teach children that these just evolved by accident. How ridiculous and what a direct insult to our Almighty God.        Some more food for thought. Best wishes, Tom.

A Rock Foundation

Can you imagine the horror of the residents of these waterfront dwellings at Colloroy, a Northern beach suburb of Sydney, when they woke up to find that their beach had gone, along with their back yards, boat ramps and swimming pools?  After a day of severe storms and rough seas accompanied by a King Tide.

The caption in the top right of the photo says it all: it was “an accident waiting to happen”. Actually though it really wasn’t an accident, was it? It was a disaster that should have been anticipated, and avoided, after all, if you build a building on a foundation of sand right near the seashore you would have to be blind not to see the dangers. There have been so many precedents for this: year after year we hear about this happening somewhere in the world. In every generation there are those who have to learn the hard way it seems, but I’m pleased to say that some do learn from instruction and the experience of others.

Two thousand years ago the same thing was happening, and in the New Testament, Matthew, in Chapter 7 and verse 26, of his gospel quotes Jesus as describing the problem and drawing a parallel to the way we live with the following words: “Every one who hears these sayings of mine, and doesn’t do them shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the wind blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” So we see that to build on an insecure foundation like sand has always been looked on as “foolish”. However, although Jesus was brought up in a carpenter’s home and would have heard Joseph discussing this subject with Mary, He wasn’t just lecturing on building foundations at this time, but was advising His hearers (which includes us) to make sure that we build our lives on a rock foundation as He went on to say: “Whoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock”. Actually houses are quite fragile, it is their foundations that give them strength and we are fragile too, as this little pillow (that a kind nurse gave Audrey) states: so even though we may consider ourselves capable and not in need of outside help, Jesus points out that we must build our lives on His word or when the inevitable “Storms of Life” buffet us we will not stand the pressure either. Did you say “what storms of life”? Well they are things like ill health, loss of your job, family problems, marriage difficulties, financial problems and the list goes on. There is no way we can dodge them and if we have made no insurance provision by building our life on Jesus words, then they can make our lives collapse.  If on the other hand, we have made that provision by asking His forgiveness for past sin and keep referring to, and living by, His instructions, then when something like that happens we can claim His promise where He says: “I will be with you in trouble, I will deliver you and honour you, with long life I will satisfy you and show you my salvation”.  This “rock foundation” is absolutely essential and is absolutely reliable; believe me, I know!

Jesus knows what He is talking about, and as with any insurance policy it is a good idea to talk to your “Insurer” and get Him to “cover you” before the storms eventuate. However, if you have neglected to do that and your life is therefore already in trouble, then you need to read Luke Chapter 15 Verses 11 to 31, in the New Testament, and you will see how your Heavenly Father understands your situation and is waiting to welcome you back with open arms as the Prodigal son was welcomed back by his father.  

Best wishes, Tom.

Our Titanic

The Titanic was the largest and most luxurious ship afloat when it set out on its maiden voyage from England bound for New York in April 1912. The White Star Line had spared no cost in its manufacture and was certain that it was unsinkable. Over confidence and lack of wisdom both contributed to its downfall as the captain steered the ship, at full speed, through dangerous waters where icebergs had been seen, and it hit one of them. The rest is history; there were not enough life boats and the band was playing as it went down. The unthinkable had happened.

I believe that this Australia we love so much has now “struck its iceberg” too because successive governments have stopped honouring God; we have even had a Prime Minister who claimed to be an atheist and she is not the only elected politician that thinks that way. If you read 2 Chronicles 14 Verse 8-12, and Judges Chapter 7, in the Bible, you will see how a nation succeeds when its leaders put their faith in God. Three or four decades ago Australia was “sailing along” wonderfully with plenty of industries manufacturing most of the things we need because those industries were wisely protected from the competition of cheap imports by import duties. Our governments have since bowed to “level playing fields” and “free trade” ideas by removing those duties in order to comply with the wishes of the Godless United Nations. This simply means “good bye” to our industries. When I was young, as well as having healthy industries, our Governments owned the Commonwealth bank (on our behalf)  and also the Rural bank, coal mines, railways, electricity, ports, highways,  and many other important and income producing assets. They have now either sold or “pawned” most of these in order to acquire some instant cash.

Federal & State Governments both contribute finance to our Educational institutions and are turning a “blind eye” to the fact that all our youth in the public school system are supplied with a curriculum that denies the existence of God, as children are taught that there is “no sign of intelligent design in the universe”, (What absolute rubbish), and that everything just evolved by chance. In our law courts this teaching would be illegal as the members of a jury must hear all the evidence both for and against before making a decision, therefore children should be told the “God in Creation” side as well as the theory of evolution, and be allowed to make up their own minds. To cap that they have now introduced the “safe schools” program, which is nothing less than indoctrination that will do more harm than good. Also degrading and violent D.V.Ds are allowed to be sold everywhere too. There is a lack of “duty of care” here as these D.V.Ds must damage domestic relationships.  In God’s sight

governments are responsible for the welfare of the people, just as the captain of the Costa Concordia was held responsible for his ship (pictured) and its passengers. In a similar way Government members are personally responsible for “Placing a stumbling block in the path of one of these little ones” as Jesus said, and will receive His Judgement. In Luke 12:48, He confirms this, by saying: “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required”, and we take it for granted that those we elect to govern, will protect our children. At the moment, with the Federal elections imminent, the candidates are ignoring this and just making promises that are akin to re-arranging the deck chairs on our sinking Titanic (Australia), which will fulfil Ex-Prime minister Keating’s prediction that we will become a “Banana Republic”. We must contact our local politicians and voice our concern, because if we as individuals do nothing we will also be held responsible by default. Then we must pray and fill the churches with ourselves and our family (the roof won’t fall in) and God might just rescue our nation. Do this and He will at least rescue you and your loved ones. Because when talking to His followers He says: “I will be with you in trouble, I will deliver you and honour you, with long life I will satisfy you and show you my salvation” (Psalm 91), and “He that comes to me” Jesus said, “I will in no wise cast out”, (John 6:37). So God will provide a “lifeboat” for “believers” even if our “Titanic” does sink and turn into a “Banana Republic”.  Something for you to ponder.           Best wishes, Tom.