Monday 27 April 2015

ANZACs and the Bible

The Bible is the world’s bestselling book of all time. It contains many different genres of writing including historical narrative, poetry, prophetic books and letters of instruction. 
The first section of the Bible, known as the Old Testament, narrates the creation of the world, the fall of mankind and the selection of one very special man of faith, Abraham, through whom all nations of the earth would be blessed. Abraham was the father of the Israelite people.  

In the first books of the Old Testament we read how God promised Abraham’s descendants a land of their own where they could live in a theocracy which would demonstrate God’s character to the world. However they were warned that if they failed to follow God’s laws and stopped recognising and following Him as their God they would lose their land and be dispersed among ‘all the nations of the world’. 

Although this did in fact happen and in 70AD the last of the Israelites were scattered throughout the world, God sent prophets who foretold a time when God would gather His people back, restoring them both to their land and to Himself. 

Fast forward to the twentieth century and we find the ANZAC soldiers playing a pivotal role in the First World War where they captured Beer Sheba, a crucial town which allowed the Allies a foothold in the ‘Promised Land’ and ultimately led to the restoration of part of the land of Israel to the Jewish people in 1948. This was in fulfilment of many Biblical prophecies. We still await the time when God will restore the hearts of the Israeli people to Himself. In the meantime those who are not descendants of Abraham now have an opportunity to get to know Jesus, the Jewish Messiah (Chosen One) as the Saviour of the world. 

What an encouragement to know that God is watching over His word to fulfil it, is watching over His people, and has allowed this tiny nation of New Zealand, through its ANZACs, to play a critical part in establishing the reliability of the prophecies in His Word.  




Esther Henderson 
Grace Christian Fellowship 
Esther is the Co-ordinator of Bible in Schools in Gisborne and teaches children at Motu school, her local school, about God's word in the bible.

Published in the Gisborne Herald 25 April 2015

Wednesday 15 April 2015

An Easter Challenge

As Easter egg remnants are consumed do we stop to think “What was the point of that?” For many, Easter will have been another expensive time with little to show for it other than scattered glittery foil and unwanted smeared chocolate finger marks. Is it really necessary or potentially detrimental to lie to children about a mythical rodent, the Easter Bunny?

The Bible advises not to lie to each other in Colossians 3:9, and in Proverbs 12:22 we are told God detests lying lips. Nowhere does it say it is OK to lie to children as eventually they will discover the truth. There is nothing wrong with fairy tales or made up stories, they often contain good moral messages, as long as children are aware that that is what they are, made up stories. I wonder what God thinks about people’s lack of appreciation for what he did for them in creating them a beautiful country and giving us a Saviour who died many Easters ago?

I have always tried not to lie to my children. Wise friends of ours pointed out that if you lie to your children about things, including the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy when they discover you have been lying to them for years will they not question what else you have lied to them about? Will this cause them to lose some respect for you as a parent?

There is much to enjoy in our world, including chocolate, that God has created. We are currently enjoying watching our chrysalis’ hatch into beautiful monarch butterflies and my son is looking forward to being able to stay up late in the school holidays to look at the majesty of the night skies. Let’s remember these things throughout the year and cease lying.

Nicola Hawkins - Mangapapa Church

Published in the Gisborne Herald Saturday 11 April 2015

Monday 6 April 2015

Game over?

“I can't stand for this anymore, we're going at them as hard as we can.” So said Aussie Cricketer Brad Haddin, who couldn't stand the 'love' shown to him and his team, by Brendon McCullum's Black Caps. They chose to be 'verbally nasty' instead on the field of play. 

Well, the Cricket games are over and Easter is here, with the greatest celebration and revelation of 'Love' through Jesus Christ, that mankind will ever know in this age. Yet it was also men who said, "We cannot stand this anymore", who rejected love personified, and crucified the Son of God. Game over on Good Friday? No, Sunday's coming, and Love wins! 

We can never define love in human terms, because 'God is love', says the Apostle John, therefore it is only God who can define Himself. That is why when He came amongst us in Jesus Christ, no one recognized Him! This Easter, do a check again on God's definition of love. His love is an absolute. His love is a standalone love. His love never needs feeding. His love is not dependant on another. Just as a tree is a tree, a man is a man, and the sun is the sun, so love is love. Nothing that happens on earth will affect the sun. It stands alone and does not shine on condition. Unlovable simply does not exist for perfect love. 

Do you have the revelation? God loves you! But words are inadequate to describe love. God did not even try to describe love with words, because they were not good enough! So the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. To know love, we must know Jesus Christ. (Oh, just to clarify, He does love our sledging Aussie bro's too).



Stewart Patrick
Leader, Mangapapa Church, Gisborne

Published in the Gisborne Herald Saturday 4 April 2015

People of the Cross



On, or around 15 February, twenty-one Coptic Christians were martyred in Libya on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. Calm, resolute, faithful to the end, these martyrs are shaping a new generation. Humiliated in this life, they will reign with Jesus for all eternity. In a world largely consumed with selfish ambition, the martyrs stand out by laying down their precious lives as an act of devotion to Christ. Like seeds they have fallen into the ground, but Jesus promises, "Their deaths will reproduce a rich harvest after their kind" (John 12:24). 

They were called "the people of the cross". The glorious message of the cross is the good news that God loves humanity so much that He gave His only son, Jesus Christ, so that everyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. Jesus carried our sins in his own body to the cross, and taking our punishment, he died, on the cross, as a sacrifice. The prophet Isaiah wrote, "He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed" (Isaiah 53). The Bible also says, "God was in Christ, offering peace and forgiveness to the people of the world ... Christ never sinned! But God treated Him as a sinner, so that Christ could make us acceptable to God" (2 Corinthians 5:19 & 21). 

For these divine truths the young Egyptian men died, and as a tribute to them their first names are listed: Milad, Abanub, Maged, Yusuf, Kirollos, Bishoy, Somaily, Malak, Tawadros, Girgis, Mina, Hany, Bishoy, Samuel, Awr, Ezat, Loqa, Gaber, Esam, Malak, Sameh. They believed Christ Jesus is worth living and dying for. Do you?


For further information please see http://time.com/3718470/isis-copts-egypt/

Julia Martin 
Wife, mother, grandmother, Julia has been engaged in the battle for LIFE since the 1980’s. She believes human life is of ultimate implication because each one is created in the image of the Divine.

Published in the Gisborne Herald 21 March 2015.