Marriage How God Sees It

When the Queen and Prince Phillip first came to Australia in 1954, I had the privilege of being one of the soldiers who lined the streets in Sydney as Guard of Honour for them. A few weeks later I asked Audrey to marry me and on the 9^th of April the following year we were married and as you see Audrey looked very lovely. This later photo of us dressed in very ordinary work clothes on the farm shows Audrey not just lovely but also very happy (anyone can buy nice clothes, but you cannot buy happiness it comes from love and commitment). Last month the Queen sent us a photo of herself and a card congratulating us for having reached our diamond anniversary (60 years of married life). Now wasn’t that nice?

When people get married they vow before God and in the presence of a minister, priest or pastor and their friends and family that they will look after each other “For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health unto death us do part” Now that is a contract making a commitment which cements the relationship drawing them together as nothing else can and according to the bible has the backing of God who created us so if we honour that “contract” there are great rewards for us and our family. I am very concerned though by the fact that so many young people today are not bothering to avail themselves of that privilege that is rightfully theirs but are living together without getting married and are therefore ignoring God’s direction. I’m talking here of lovely young people who are friends of mine, and some older ones too. Why don’t they get married? Well there are a number of reasons but in God’s sight the matter is not negotiable. What is the answer then? Simple, find a minister, get 2 witnesses and take the vows; it will only take half an hour and the problem is solved. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being Judgemental here, I’m just worried that many people, and particularly young people, don’t fully understand that the bible does not permit sexual relations outside of marriage. The laws in our society change from generation to generation and Governments declare things legal or illegal depending on the mood of the people. However we must realise that God’s rules never change because they are perfect for people of all generations.

Each week I write short articles to endeavour to explain as simply as possible, how bible principles apply in our world today on relevant subjects so people who are not familiar with God’s instructions will not accidentally disobey and therefore sin without meaning to. For example, at the moment there is a very vocal movement in many countries insisting that the laws be changed to allow same sex couples to marry.

 For two people of the same sex to be fond of each other is no crime; when I was at school the hotel keepers son and I were great mates for years but it was not a sexual relationship; just a wonderful friendship.

God accepts us as we are and we have no right to be judgemental about another person if they are born different to us in any way: We are what we are and had nothing to do with our makeup. However what we do with what we are is our responsibility and God is quite definite that living in a Homosexual (marriage type) relationship is not acceptable to Him, for example: 1 Corinthians 6: 9 says in the New Living Translation “Don’t you realise that...those who indulge in sexual sin...or practice Homosexuality....none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God”. Now I didn’t make that law, I just felt it to be my responsibility to tell others who might not know so they can be aware of it and thus make an informed decision by taking God’s laws into account; after all, in the finality God’s laws take precedence over man’s laws as He is the supreme authority.  The wonderful thing about our God is that He knew we would make mistakes of all types: indeed the bible says “There is none righteous, no not one...all have sinned”.  And that is a hopeless situation but God loves us so much that he stepped in and sent Jesus to die for that sin, thus it can be deleted from our record; all we have to do is repent and believe on the Lord Jesus: “God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him shall not perish but inherit eternal life”. How good is that?      Best wishes as you consider all that,  Tom. 

Interesting Results

‘Hullo is that the insurance company?” “Yes this is the insurance company.” “Oh good, my name is Smith and I live in a house on the east road, I want a fire insurance policy on my house for $400, 000. Could you please make out a cover note for me immediately?”

 “Well yes, Mr Smith we could do that, but first I need more information; how old is the house? Have you had any insurance on it before? And why do you want a cover immediately?”

 “To answer your questions: The house is 5 years old. I haven’t had it insured before because I felt that the cost of insurance was higher than I was prepared to pay, however I want immediate cover now because there is a severe bush fire approaching us at a rapid pace and the house might catch alight at any moment as there are spot fires all around us”.

Somehow I don’t think the insurance company will agree to Mr Smith’s request, do you?

When I was 8 years old we lived on a property out in Western N.S.W. there was no telephone and the letterbox was 14 kilometres from the house, that was during the 2^nd World War and there was a shortage of petrol, therefore the letters sometimes didn’t get answered for a week or two, and I think that was the reason the insurance on our house became overdue. On the night in question we awoke at 3.00am to find the house engulfed in flames and we escaped with little more than the pyjamas we were wearing. Dad went to town in his pyjamas and overcoat the next day and told the insurance agent that the house had been completely destroyed. The agent phoned his head office in Sydney and they pointed out that as the premium had not been paid they were under no obligation to pay any claim, however, much to Dad’s relief they did pay the insurance anyway.

 Now why the difference in these two scenarios?

Well, Mr Smith, in the first story would be looked on as an opportunist or con-man; not prepared to bear the cost of insurance protection but nevertheless wanting to claim the benefits. Whereas in the second story my dad was known as an honest man who had paid the cost of insurance protection for many years and the insurance company apparently had Christian ethics and therefore believed he was “just late with his payment” (as he said) so they accepted that.

Jesus was placed in a somewhat similar position to both these insurance companies when He was crucified between two thieves; the first thief to speak said to Jesus: “If you be the Son of God, save thyself and us”. Now from that statement we can see that there is no commitment there; like Mr Smith this man just wanted the benefits. He didn’t repent or show any remorse. If Jesus had done what that thief had requested he would have been defying the magistrates by letting a condemned criminal go free and would have been complicit in helping that man return to his life of crime. Consequently Jesus did not grant his request. The second thief however approached Jesus with an entirely different request and had an entirely different attitude when he said: “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom.” In making this statement he showed that he recognised Jesus as “Lord” and “King” and wanted to be one of his followers in future. He even told the other thief that they deserved the suffering they were going through so he was also repentant. And as “believing in Jesus and repenting” are the requirements for Salvation, Jesus replied: “This day you will be with me in Paradise”. There is a cost in everything we do: Jesus said we should “count the cost” of following him and pointed out on a number of occasions, the dreadful cost of not following him. The Mr Smith mentioned above would be regretting that he hadn’t accepted the cost of his premium, and the first thief on the cross has had 2015 years of regret as he languishes in Hell and there is no end in sight either because there is no end to eternity.

The black box retrieved from the plane that was crashed into the French Alps indicated that many passengers were screaming as it went down. Why? Well it could just be natural fear and that is understandable. However it is also possible that for some that fear was part of the fact that they had not expected to be faced with death so soon and therefore had put off making a decision, thus the uncertainty of their eternal future would be horrifying.    We all need to make sure we’ve got that right.   Best wishes, Tom.

 

Keeping in Touch

In one of the “Mc Hale’s Navy” D.V.Ds a Japanese submarine has just sighted their Patrol Boat and they can’t get out of its way because their engine won’t start. Mc Hale tells Ensign Parker (his 2^nd in charge) to pray, and he does, but all he can remember is a prayer he used to say when he was a little child: “Gentle Jesus Meek and Mild look upon this little child.....” which is somewhat inadequate for that situation. However he recites it but it is pathetic to hear him doing so. In the other picture which is of the Gallipoli landing, I dare say that there wouldn’t be a soldier there who didn’t offer some sort of prayer. My   father in law was there as was my uncle, and to be involved in that very gruesome situation must have been horrific. I guess there would have been some there who had not been accustomed to praying and felt very much alone in “unfamiliar Spiritual territory”. Nevertheless God would have understood that too.

Of course it is most desirable that we have a good working relationship with our Heavenly Father and don’t wait until there is an emergency before we learn to pray. After all “we do have an Advocate with the Father; Jesus Christ the Righteous” (1John 2:1) and if every aspect of our life revolves around this relationship we will find that we don’t just look forward to a relationship with God in Heaven but also can have wonderful fellowship with Him right now because God is very willing to involve Himself in our lives if we request his involvement.

I was thinking about life to-day (imagine that) and it occurred to me that we are like a phone cable I once bought: After the conclusion of the 2nd World War army disposals stores were selling surplus equipment cheaply for many years. I wanted to connect our woolshed to our house by phone, so I bought a reel of phone line, the type the army used to reel out as the troops were advancing so the command post could keep in touch with the soldiers at the front. The cable was just a little thicker than the cable that connects a laptop to its charger. It consisted of one very thin copper wire and four thin high tensile steel wires. It was the copper wire that was the important part as it carried the phone messages (copper still serves house phones). The steel wires were just for strength and the whole lot was covered with a rubber covering to keep out moisture and stop short circuits. The rubber was covered with a cloth fabric to protect it from damage.  “What has that to do with our life” you may well ask.

Well, we are Spiritual beings with eternal life, and just as every component of that telephone cable was there to protect and maintain the copper strand that was in it, so everything we do in our human bodies should be geared to protecting and maintaining the spiritual life within us too, thus we can keep in touch with our Heavenly Father instantly throughout the day. Now if we are not maintaining this connection then we have “Lost the Plot” and will have to ask God to remove whatever blockage or damage there is that has disconnected us and of course He will do that (John 6:37 says “and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”

God placed our souls in these bodies and gave us this beautiful world to enjoy. Yes it is important for us to eat good food, exercise and enjoy our surroundings as we work and play, but just as a child may enjoy the sports and fun available at school that child must never forget that the ultimate goal of schooling is for it to learn and qualify for a position in life when school days are over. Similarly we must never forget that our goal is Eternal Life in Heaven when our days on earth are over. Therefore we should accepted God’s forgiveness through Jesus and learn to interact with other people and develop  the fruit of the Holy Spirit which is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, kindness, goodness and self- control thus we will be happy and also more comfortable to enter Heaven when our life on earth concludes.    Best wishes, Tom.

Incredible designs

 

I really do appreciate beautiful designs and they are everywhere. Just look at this yellow flower in my daughter’s garden it is very simple but very attractive. Then look at this bed of panzies in the main street: they have interesting “faces” and lovely colours but as you see in this next photo we have something entirely different again. There are thousands of different flowers with a great variety of designs and perfumes and all this beauty is derived from the soil they are growing in. Can you imagine the mind that thought up such beauty in the first place? For this to happen this mind that designed the flowers had to “plan ahead” and arrange things too, so that the soil would have all the necessary elements for the plants to grow and produce these lovely colours. Nothing but the super computer mind of God could possibly come up with such a plan and achieve such a remarkable outcome.

Look at it this way: If, for example, you decide to cook a meal of roast lamb and mint sauce for dinner (a popular Australian meal), it won’t just happen; first you must acquire a portion of lamb, some potatoes, some pumpkin, some beans, some mint and any other necessary ingredients, plus a roasting dish and a stove with an oven. Likewise when God decided that the earth should produce vegetables for food and flowers for the enjoyment of the people He was planning to create, He had to see to it that there was soil containing all the necessary ingredients available for these vegetables and flowers to grow in.

To do so would require an incredible scientific ability to know what elements would be necessary and also an incredible inventive mind to create those elements. He would also need to have an incredible ability to “program” the plants so that they could utilise these elements and convert them into edible vegetables for us and flowers that brighten up our world.

In Australia, Woolworths call themselves “the fresh food people” but without God’s provision there would be no food of any kind, fresh or stale. The bible says “in everything give thanks” so we must not forget to do that! Lots of people give thanks (say grace) at meal times and that serves as a good reminder for them that God is their provider and deserves their thanks.

Flowers are not just “pretty faces” either: they are the reproductive portion of the plants, fitted out with pollen to fertilise other flowers and also designed to be attractive to the bees and insects that will then be willing to do the pollinating for them. Of course no plant could plan all this, after all they have no brains to think with, and even if they had brains equivalent to ours it would make no difference because we couldn’t do it either. Oh sure we can experiment with the flowers and plants by cross-pollinating, and careful selection, fertilising and so on but we are completely dependent on God’s handiwork. This is similar to the way we can do all types of things with our computer but in the finality are limited by the available programs that someone else has designed.

It reminds me of the song: “To God be the glory, great things He has done so loved He the world that He gave us His Son who yielded his life an atonement for sin and opened the life gate that all may go in.”Thank God He loves us enough to do that too, because there is no way we can delete the consequences of our sin ourselves. Fortunately though He has done that for us too, (if we aren’t too proud to accept his forgiveness). It sure is good to have a Loving Heavenly Father but we have a tendency to take Him for granted and sometimes even ignore Him! I think this is partly because we have “so much on our plate”. But that won’t do as an excuse either, because we are expected to get our priorities right as Deuteronomy 6 verse 5 tells us.        Best wishes, Tom.

Misdirected Faith

When we see a magnificent Cruise Ship like the Costa Concordia we think how lovely it would be to go on a cruise in such luxury because it is the very latest form of floating “Holiday Resort” where all our holiday needs would be catered for. As for safety, it is designed with the latest “State of the Art” equipment and controlled by the latest technology. The crew are all highly qualified and the Captain is a mariner of great experience. Therefore when we step aboard we should feel completely confident having faith in the ship, the crew and the Captain.

However our faith is somewhat shaken when we see the next photo of the same ship and if we were on board we might not be so impressed by the luxury surrounding us either, particularly when we see the captain being one of the first people to abandon the ship by going ashore!

The great lesson to be learnt from this is that it is a mistake to place all our faith in things and people, certainly we do have to trust them or we wouldn’t venture outside our house but when we do venture out we should ask God for the “Back Up” He has promised. That way if the people or things we are relying on fail us, we won’t be left “Floundering in the Water” so to speak, because He “Will give His angels charge over you to keep you in all your way” (Psalm 91). Promises like this one need to be claimed in prayer before we leave our house because they are like the safety belt in your car; you fasten it around you before you drive off; it isn’t that you are expecting to have an accident, it is just sensible preparedness. Prayer is similar to a safety belt except that it is also a type of email that helps cement our relationship with our Heavenly Father who loves us with an everlasting love, is all knowing and completely reliable; just the one in whom we should place our faith. However not everyone feels comfortable to do that. Which is a great shame as Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 6 says that “it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who sincerely seek Him”.  The trouble is that we are “all like sheep”. Well the bible says we are. Let me tell you about sheep: they eat grass and drink water and grow, but it never occurs to them to be amazed that grass contains all the nutriment necessary for them to form bones, flesh and blood and that they have an incredible gut capable of converting all that grass into these items I’ve just mentioned. When they drink water it never occurs to them to think just how important this fluid is to their bodies either, it is H2.0. If it had been H2.02 it would be Hydrogen Peroxide and that would never do.

You see the sheep don’t think about the perfect world provided for them. If they did they would ask “Who designed this remarkable system”? They would never be so naive as to imagine that such complexity could have designed itself! That being the case then we are not as smart as sheep. However we are like them in that we do follow the leader; I saw a mob of sheep on an island surrounded by flood water when one decided to try and cross the flood, it went into the flood water and was carried away and drowned; the rest followed and all drowned, you see leaders are not always right.

We need to look at the incredible world around us which has every item necessary to sustain us and supply all our needs, recognise that it was all designed and supplied by God and give Him the glory by placing our faith in Him, He and his word in the bible is absolutely reliable, not like ship’s captains, airline pilots or even scientists, who may or may not be reliable.

I’m not talking theory here. Millions of people over the years have proved God’s faithfulness. Every single one of us has to make our own independent decision to “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ” and have faith in God. There is an urgency for us to make that decision too, because we could be “called home” any time, irrespective of how old or young we are (22 people were killed in car accidents this Easter) and to be a non-believer or faithless on such an occasion would be a disaster beyond description for that person.       Best wishes as you think about all that, Tom.

Embroidery and Tapestry

Embroidery and Tapestry have been around for a long time. It is a fascinating art form and the end result is very interesting and lovely, an example of which you see in this first photo.

Corrie ten Boom, a lady who

spent lots of time in a German Concentration Camp during World War 2, said that life is like a piece of embroidery placed between us and God; we look up from underneath, (as we do in the second photo), and all we can see are the loose ends and knots. Sometimes our lives are like that, aren’t they? With knotty problems and loose ends, therefore we have a tendency to question what it is all about. Whereas God looks down and sees the overall picture and watches and encourages us so everything falls into place to complete the picture He has in mind for us. If we endeavour to co-operate with Him we will finally see that “all things” do “work together for good for those that love God, the called according to His purpose” (Romans  8:28).

The book of Acts clearly shows that when we decide to follow Jesus we often find considerable opposition and difficulties, but if we behave the way we are told to in James 1:2, we will find that those problems are just the equivalent of knots on the underside of our “tapestry” of life. A good example of this is where Paul and Silas were going about spreading the “Good News” of Jesus saving grace when they accidentally “trod on the corns” of some  enterprising men who were making money out of a demon possessed girl who was fortune telling for them. Paul and Silas told the demon to leave her and it did (Acts 16:18). Therefore she could not tell fortunes anymore. These men, deprived of their income, were furious and had the two disciples beaten and thrown into a prison where they were placed in stocks. Did this make them depressed? No! they were enthusiastic Christians who knew that Jesus was with them wherever they were and they rejoiced that they were looked on as worthy to suffer for Him. Consequently, “they sang praises to God at midnight and the other prisoners heard them” (Acts 16:25). Of course the Jailer heard them too and he, no doubt, had never before heard of prisoners in their position doing anything but cursing and complaining, certainly never rejoicing. These men didn’t complain and didn’t escape when there was an earthquake and they had a chance to do so. All this caused the Jailer and his family to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 16:31). Therefore he dressed their wounds and fed them in his house. As we look back we see that this was a good outcome; nothing but knots and loose ends to start with but a complete a lovely picture in the finality.

The question arises: does God then allow His children to suffer? The answer is “Yes frequently” but He promises “to be with us in trouble and deliver us and honour us, with long life He will satisfy us and show us His salvation” (Psalm 91:16).

Is this a reasonable action by a loving God? Yes! If He hadn’t allowed Jesus to suffer we would have no forgiveness for our sin. Sometimes it is in the interest of others that we suffer too, and if that should become necessary when we are delivering this “Good News” of Salvation to them, we then need to ask ourselves: what is more important, our comfort or our neighbours Salvation? Soldiers join an army knowing that they may even be killed when defending their countrymen from aggression and the hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers marching as to war” draws a parallel showing how we need to defend our nation against sin by explaining (to those who may not know) how Jesus sacrificial act sets us free from the consequences of sin. Such an action is just a form of obeying Jesus 2^nd commandment to love our neighbour and if that causes problems for us, so be it, and we should then do what James 1:2 says: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.”

Best wishes as you think that through,  Tom.

Missing the Obvious

The bible says that there is no excuse for not believing in God as we can see His handiwork all around us. However I think we sometimes fail to see the wonders in the things about us because we just give things a cursory glance, we see the obvious and miss seeing the evidence of an unbelievably wonderful God. 

Take this Dorper ewe feeding her lambs as an example; what do you see? Well just that, a ewe feeding her lambs! Well then if that is all you see you are missing the most important, if less obvious point. Here is evidence of God’s incredible “Computer” mind.

Having lived with sheep for more than half my life let me show you this evidence of God at work: The sheep is a living animal of course and as such has a most remarkable body designed for eating grasses and converting them into meat and wool. We could spend days trying to understand the complexities of its anatomy etc. but I just want to look at its breeding behavior to-day.

The pregnant Ewe, when ready to give birth, has labor pains and “knows” that she should go away from the mob so that she can attend to her new baby uninterrupted by “clucky sheep” that will get in the way by wanting to “help”.

When the baby arrives the ewe immediately gets up and licks it until it is dry, talking to it all the time and the baby talks back to her as it tries to stand and find the teat. In these first experiences together four things are accomplished: Firstly the mother gets to recognize the “smell” of her baby (this smell is unique to her lamb and it is essential she gets to remember it for future identification purposes). Secondly she gets to recognize her lamb’s voice, which is different from all other lambs and therefore needs to be remembered for identification when she is later trying to find it in a mob. Thirdly the lamb gets to recognize its mother’s voice and this is also vital if she is calling it. Fourthly the lamb needs to suck the teat promptly after it stands up as the first milk, which looks like custard, is full of nutriments which are essential for its healthy start in life.

Did I hear someone say “So what”. Well this is what: Suppose you have 1000 ewes with 1000 lambs at foot and take them into the shearing shed or want to mark the lambs, you have to separate the lambs from their mothers by drafting them. Some hours later you are finished, so you let them out into a small paddock to “Mother up”. Within the hour they will have all found each other. Now that would not have been possible if the very intelligent “Computer” mind of God hadn’t made them all capable of recognizing each other in the way I have described.

When we look at humans we see the same principle at work only much more sophisticated: God designed every baby in the world to have unique features; a group of mothers go to the Pre School to collect their children who are all dressed in the same uniform. No problem though as they recognize their child at a glance and the child recognizes the mother too. They all have unique voices as well; therefore even if it was dark they could call out and locate each other. When you think of the huge numbers of people there are, all this had to be designed by a remarkably intelligent Creator God.

Currently the police are asking the Government to consider fingerprinting every person in N.S.W. In order to make their work easier as they know that each of the eight million or so people in the state has a different fingerprint.

Have a look at your thumb. Can you imagine what sort of intelligence is needed to design hundreds of millions of thumb prints that are all different and recognizable? Furthermore, these prints are designed before the baby is born!

I hope this talk will help you realize how pecial you are in the sight of God. The bible says that “not even a sparrow falls to the ground without God knowing and you are more important than many sparrows”. 

Best wishes, Tom.