Christmas

When we mention Christmas we usually think of a Nativity scene similar to the one depicted here and don’t think about all the planning that God had to do for all this and its aftermaths to happen. For starters, it was well known that the Messiah, or Christ, would be born in Bethlehem, but Joseph and Mary didn’t live in Bethlehem, and their baby needed to be born in a primitive place like a stable, not a house or an Inn, that way no one could ever feel that Jesus got a better start in life than they did. God also knew that King Herod would try to kill the baby Jesus, because Herod would fear that Jesus would usurp his throne, so God needed to arrange for some financial help for Joseph, so that he, Mary, and the baby, could flee to Egypt where they would have to stay until Herod died, after which Joseph could come back and set up his carpentry business in Nazareth. God also knew that in later years, Jesus disciples would require “Diplomatic Immunity” and “International Passports” so they could travel to all the nations around the Mediterranean Sea in order to spread the Good News of God’s Saving Grace that was achieved through Jesus Death and Resurrection.  Quite a lot for God to sort out really.

The “three wise men from the East,” that are depicted in this photo, were guided to solve Joseph’s financial problem as they brought a quantity of Gold as part of their gifts for the baby, and of course gold is an international currency. (My God shall supply all your need) is a relevant text in this case. (Philippians 4:19).

The “Diplomatic immunity” problem was solved by God choosing a unique time in history for Jesus birth: it was a time when all that area, and right through to England, was part of the Roman Empire, so men like Paul had no problem travelling from country to country and were even able to call on the protection of Roman soldiers if they were bullied by the locals. Indeed, Paul even appealed for Caesar to personally hear his case when the Jewish leaders charged him with Blasphemy. As a result of this Paul was able to discuss his faith with leaders like King Agrippa and his wife Bernice as well as Roman Governors and Centurions.

Now how did God arrange for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem? No problem, He got Caesar Augustus to decree that there would be a Census so all people had to return to the town of their birth; so Joseph took his wife to Bethlehem. Only God  would have been able to arrange the exact timing, so that Mary was in Bethlehem on the day of Jesus delivery. And because of the crowds of visitors there was no room in the Inn, only a stable for the Christ child to be born in. Who but our all- knowing God could have sorted all that out to perfection?

The way God sorted all the above out is a “template” or pattern, for the way He also wants to help you and me. The actual bible quote for this is: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths”. Which clearly indicates that if we get our priorities right we will arrive at our “Bethlehem” and our needs will be supplied; it is a matter of trusting Him. (Proverbs 3:5).

Now it wouldn’t be Christmas without someone mentioning “Santa Claus”. Who then is this old man, and what is his significance?

His real name is Saint Nicholas and over the years it has just been pronounced incorrectly. Saint Nicholas was a devout Christian who lived in the Northern Hemisphere where there is plenty of Snow at Christmas, and people use Sleighs as a means of transport. Realising that Christmas is all about God’s love for us in sending Jesus to procure our Eternal Salvation, Nicholas decided to show love in a practical way by giving out presents. Children loved him then, and they probably love him more now as the “Santy” we now know has also taken on “magical” powers having Reindeer that fly and so on. This doesn’t worry me, (I believed in the “Tooth Fairy” too, when I was young, I loved the mystery of it, and even “Superman” delighted me as he did so much good).  The important thing is that children understand that Santy is just doing kind things because Jesus wants us to behave that way.  Have a happy and blessed Christmas, Tom and Audrey.

How to be Sure

That triangular construction in the middle of the photo is the Poppet Head at the New Occidental Gold Mine in Cobar as it was when I worked in the Survey office there in 1949. It doesn’t exist anymore but the underground workings will always be there. That Poppet Head stands over a shaft that is 1500 feet deep having 15 levels. A lift, like the lift in a tall building went up and down, from the surface to each of those levels. It is really just like a Skyscraper building that is upside down and carved out of the rock; each level being like one floor of the Skyscraper.

When there didn’t seem to be any more gold to mine on the level being mined, they started a new level below it because the seams went straight down, but before they abandoned a level they used Diamond drills to explore further into the rock face to see if there was more gold that they didn’t know about. The Diamond drill head is a metal cylinder a little larger than the cardboard cylinder inside a toilet roll; its end is made of metal thicker than that cardboard and the whole circle is embedded with industrial diamonds which are very hard and when rotated cut through the rock and a “core,” or sample, of the rock goes inside the cylinder. The drill is frequently withdrawn and the core is removed and examined and if it looks good is sent to the Assay office for testing.

 That all sounds simple but the drill is influenced by the softness or make up of the rock and may veer to the left or right or up or down. Therefore, although the sample of ore might be valuable, the way to reach it can be confusing, so frequently the diamond head was replaced by a head that had a compass in it with florescent tip and a piece of photo film, and beside it a vial (small bottle) half full of acid.  The drill with this head on it was pushed to the end of the hole and left for a while thus, the film when developed, indicated which way the drill hole was pointing and the bottle, marked by the acid, showed whether the hole was going up, down, or was horizontal. Crude compared to to-days equipment, I suppose, but it worked, highlighting how outside influences could prevent the miners reaching the Gold if they were not careful. This same principle is very evident in our lives; the “Gold” that we are aiming at could be a particular job, our marriage, the establishment of a business, or our Eternal life, and in each case we have to be aware of outside influences that could lead us in the wrong direction. On a number of occasions People have said to me about their life, “I don’t think God would mind if I did…………” so they go ahead and do what they are planning, and it may be quite all right too, on the other hand it may not be what God would approve of, and there is only one way to be sure and that is to see if it agrees with the New Testament, and that is why I am always advising people to read it for themselves so they can be guided by its directions.

Many years ago, before the Metric system of measures was introduced into Australia, I was driving on a back country road that connected two towns when I came to a railway level crossing, it was out on an open plain and you could see that there were no trains in either direction and the only other vehicle visible was a car a long way behind me, so I drove over the crossing at the normal road speed thinking that I had done no wrong. A short while later the car behind me which (wouldn’t you know it) just happened to be a police car, pulled me over. “Driver, you went over that railway crossing in excess of 15 miles per hour” the policeman said. “Yes I suppose I did” I replied, “but I didn’t know of that speed limit, and besides there were no trains visible so I considered it safe”. “Well” he said, “lack of knowledge of the law is no excuse, you are supposed to know the law, and whether there are trains visible or not, has nothing to do with it”. He was right, of course, and manmade rules like that change from time to time, but if we intend using the roads we have an obligation to keep abreast of those rules.

Thankfully, God’s rules don’t change and when you think of it from God’s perspective, anyone who is capable of reading, but cannot be bothered spending some time to familiarise themselves with His New Testament instruction book, (which is really a love story addressed to them), is forfeiting their right to partake of the wonderful gifts he offers, and their life is bound to veer off the straight path that leads to that “Gold”. (Like that drill when left uncontrolled).

Just a few thoughts that I felt might be helpful.  Best wishes, Tom.

Design or Accident

 Many Scientists, and a lot of their followers, are very upset because the newly elected President of the U.S.A. doesn’t believe in their model of “climate change” and therefore doesn’t want to continue giving the United Nations organisation millions of dollars that may achieve nothing. His thinking is that large sums of money like that would be better spent on something practical that we fully understand, like jobs and industries that are currently in crisis, and that has the backing of a lot of voters. Personally, I have no faith in many of those Scientists because they have been teaching that there is no sign of intelligent design in the universe, and that flowers, (like this one in the photo), were designed accidentally by brainless plants over millions of years. Such teaching contradicts the bible and is so ridiculous that it destroys their credibility.  I mean, if they cannot see that something so incredibly remarkable as a flower like that, was designed by a great mind, then how can we trust them on something less obvious and largely hypothetical like “Climate Change”?     

The truth of the matter is spelled out in the Bible for anyone to see, (God created), but of course if a person doesn’t believe in God then they won’t believe the bible either. However, God did make wood, peat, coal and gas for us to burn. So, for thousands of years, people all over the world, in their millions, have used at least one of these elements to heat their homes, cook their food heat their water and smelt metal and make glass etc. When I was young every house had at least 2 chimneys, coal powered steam ships crossed the oceans, and steam trains transported our people and produce, using the very cheap coal that God had provided.

Some people would be horrified by the amount of carbon or “green- house gasses” that they put into the atmosphere. But why should they be horrified? Well, because they don’t believe that God (the greatest “Scientist” in the universe) would have taken all this into consideration when He was planning the earth for us to inhabit. Obviously, God, who is all knowing, would have factored all this into His plan, so we must assume that there is a very good reason for that “Green-house” canopy, if there is one, maybe it helps to increase our rainfall so we can increase Agricultural production in order to feed the ever increasing population or some other such good reason like that. Or it may be a “non-event. But if we can’t cap volcanoes and can't stop bushfires,  then whatever "canopy" they create is here to stay and is acceptable to God, so just trust Him. Best wishes, Tom.