Doors

In the near future, we are going to live in an old villa in the country.  The villa has been altered at various times in its history, resulting in a mixture of styles from different eras.  One of the interesting features of the house is the doors, which have a smooth modern look.  Most people would think the doors are not part of the original house.  The doors are in fact solid native timber with nice panels and have been covered with a thin veneer to modernise the appearance of the house.

The current state of the doors, remind me of an account in the Bible in the book of Samuel.  “......The Lord does not look at the things people look at.  People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam 16:7).  God chooses a young shepherd boy David, to defeat Goliath and become the king of Israel.  David completely relies on God for strength.

The God at the centre of this story is alive today just as much as He was in the time of David.  I have personally experienced the transformation by God from a “door” vulnerable to damage, to one with a solid timber core that has God has created me to be.  God has gently removed the veneer that I had and exposed a depth and dimension in my character that I believe can only be created by Him. 

There is a strength and solidity that have resulted from a faith in God.  There is also a hope in God that I can hold onto daily.  You too can start the process by simply asking God to strip back the veneer in your life and reveal the character, He has created in you.

Don McLean

Assembly of God

Amid the darkness

War in the Gaza Strip, murder in the skies above the Ukraine, and persecution of Christians in Iraq:  everywhere we look we can see death and destruction.  And yet if we look for it we can also see the good around us.  The Commonwealth Games have started, celebrating unity, perseverance, and the potential of the human body; Maori language week has promoted unity through he taonga te reo; and a “gratefulness challenge” is doing the rounds on social media.

Are we wrong, or “shallow” to focus on these glimpses of light when there is so much darkness in the world?  No, I don’t think so.  Nearly two thousand years ago, in a time of racism, slavery, and persecution Paul said to the believers “Whatever is true, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Phillippians 4:8).  Then as now, focusing on the good helps fortify our minds against the darkness around us.  That is not to say we can ignore what is going on - we are told to “mourn with those who mourn” (Romans 12:15) and we should add our voices to the call for justice and freedom – but as we celebrate what is good we are saying “there must be another way.”  And there is:  Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life,” (John 14:16) giving us hope and direction for our personal lives and assurance for eternity.  He also promised to come back to restore this world of death and destruction to God’s perfect design of a world of joy, freedom, and life. 

So as we wait for His return, seeking out moments of light, and speaking out against the darkness, we can trust in a God who has an ultimate plan, and earnestly pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” 

Larisa Hockey

Mangapapa Church

Larisa moved to Gisborne with her Gizzy-born husband John, in 2006 and joined Mangapapa Union Parish where she is now one of the worship leaders.  Larisa, who has been a Christian since learning about Jesus at the Kaukapapakapa (North of AKL) Youth Group, is passionate about the power of the Gospel to transform lives and believes that this starts at home.  "Love God, love others."

Protecting Life in El Salvador

Earlier this year, in a highly published ruling, Bolivia's Constitutional Court bucked the recommendations of two UN committees to decriminalise abortion - and instead, handed down a surprise ruling which continues to protect the unborn. According to a Life News report, the court's arguments for protecting life were "original", asserting "ancient indigenous cosmic beliefs that life is in constant perpetuity, without beginning or end; therefore everything that is life or 'could potentially generate life' is protected by the Bolivian constitution". The Bolivian President Evo Morales says, "Any abortion is a crime."

Also of interest is that in El Salvador, the smallest country in Central America, it is illegal for a mother to abort her child. Underdeveloped countries like El Salvador depend on foreign aid to help improve the country. But such aid usually comes with "reproductive rights" strings attached. After returning from a foreign assistance meeting in Europe, one cabinet minister said, "All these people want to do is talk about abortion." In 1988, abortion became illegal in El Salvador, but the victory was tenuous. Pro-lifers knew the only way to guarantee protection for the unborn was a constitutional amendment that no treaty could override. For the amendment to be enshrined in the constitution, it had to be ratified by a two-thirds majority during the next parliamentary period. It seemed impossible, but the pro-lifers said, "We have to try. We have to do our best." People prayed, and when the time came for the vote, the first person to speak was a socialist woman who said, "I'm going to give my vote as a woman and as a medical doctor for the constitutional amendment." After that, there was no vote against it.

It may be highly significant that the name El Salvador means "the saviour" or "the rescuer".

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

What a game!

Last Saturday night, I was glued to the screen as England and the All Blacks played their hearts out.  What a cliff hanger!!   

Even when the odds in favour of the All Blacks seemed overwhelming, each player remained focused on their task, working solidly and steadily towards their desired end.

Only one team celebrated victory.  The other team, however, did not experience defeat, even though the players lost. They had given their all in pursuit of the goal. Surely honour was also theirs. 

Winning isn’t everything. Success can’t always be easily measured.  

I am reminded of the Apostle Paul. Executed for his allegiance to Jesus Christ, Paul died an apparent failure. Yet, because of his life and work, the good news of Jesus’ redeeming love spread across the known world.

            

As his life ends, Paul seems do a little self-reflection. His questions review not his success in the world but the centre of his life focus -          

            Have I done the best I could for Christ whom I serve?

            Have I gone as far as I could for Christ whom I honour?

            Have I been faithful to Christ who has been faithful to me?

And he responds with conviction: “... the time for my departure is near. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim 4:6-7). How blessed to come to the end of life knowing that one has done the very best possible to honour the One who committed His all for us. To all who share in the restoring work of Christ, be encouraged.  “Keep alert, stand firm in your faith, be courageous, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love." 1 Cor 16: 13-14

 Rev Shirley Barker-Kirby

HEALING

Driving a nail in, the hammer glanced off the nail and hit my finger with great force. My finger was half its normal diameter for a short while until it swelled, and it was very painful. I said Aaaaah! The good doctor dressed it and gave me antibiotics to avoid infection. Now, eight months later, the bone chips have grown back on, the new nail is grown and my finger is nearly normal again. It is so good to have my finger back. I am so thankful for all of the medical people, for their great knowledge, skills and care, and to the fantastic health system in this country. 

Healing is an incredible, in-built, property that we all have. Our body is healing from many injuries and sicknesses almost continuously, yet most of this we are completely unaware of unless we stop to think about it. Think about a cut on your finger, it bleeds. If we had no healing, that bleeding would go on forever, your finger would be permanently very sore and unusable, and you would have to dress it every day to stop the blood getting on everything. Next week you cut or bruise another finger. Now you have two fingers permanently unusable. Very soon your whole body would be painful, bleeding, diseased, broken, disfigured, itchy, smelly, etc. I would say Aaaaah again. A friend and I thought we might only live a week if our ability to heal ceased. 

So I am extremely thankful to God for making us so that that we heal. Jesus healed many people using power he had as the Son of God, and he will heal us, both physically and spiritually. 

Alan Radcliffe

For Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship

Alan and his wife Joan have been members of the Gisborne Christian community since 1974, attending the Te Hapara Anglican Church and Mangapapa Union Parish.  Alan joined Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship somewhere in the 1980’s, and over the years held positions on the Takitimu (Gisborne) Chapter committee including 5 years as Chapter president. The Chapter is in recess at the moment.   A busy surveyor, God is at the centre of Alan's work, as evident in his motto "In God we live and move and have our being."

Praying for 230 girls

On 15 April, two hundred and thirty precious young girls were abducted from school to satisfy the evil desires and objectives of Boko Haram terrorists in Nigeria.  At the time of writing it appeared that these girls had likely been sold as slaves.

Can we imagine the families’ horror and grief, their frantic efforts to find their girls, while the government has been slow to react?   If we let ourselves we can imagine  -  and we should, because it is the voices of the people that motivate leaders to action.  International social media campaigns have spread awareness and, perhaps inspired by these campaigns, many countries,  including New Zealand, have offered help, placing pressure on the Nigerian Government to search for the girls.  Nigeria’s delays however may have already led to great suffering.

This raises the question – if the girls were Christians, attending Christian schools  (see the Robin Harris’ blog in the spectator.co.uk.), why then did God allow this terrible thing to happen?  The short answer is that there is great evil in the world, but also great good and we can be reassured that “God works to turn all things for good for those who love him” Romans 8:28.   Already we can see some good as the religious war and political corruption in Nigeria are being exposed to international attention.   Maybe the issue of slavery – 27 million people, largely women and children, are enslaved in the world – will be addressed.  And maybe we will one day hear individual stories of strength, comfort, renewed faith to come out of the situation.

In the meantime what can we do?  We can lobby our Government to continue to place pressure on Nigeria to commit to finding the girls.  We can pray that the girls and their families will find their strength and comfort in God.   We can pray for, and campaign for, an end to slavery worldwide.  And we can treasure our own girls for, as the old saying goes, “there, but for the grace of God, go I". 

Larisa Hockey - Mangapapa Church

A christian since Youth Group days, Larisa Hockey is one of the Worship Leaders at Mangapapa Church, where she has attended since moving to Gisborne in 2006 with local-born husband John.  She believes in the word of God as the basis of a fullfilling life, and that Christians have an important role to play in issues affecting our community, country and beyond as they are called to be "the light of the world."

Anzac Thoughts

What is it that makes people turn out in their thousands for Anzac Dawn Parades? 

For generations who are comfortably distanced from war the commemoration service seems to stir a deep need in people.   Dawn Parade is sufficiently secular and occurs sufficiently seldom that it provides a reason and the means to ‘act out’ that felt human need which has much to do with the human faculty of memory.

This deep need is akin to the need of human beings to worship a God. It seems human beings are hard wired to acknowledge someone or something that is completely outside, or other,or more perfect than all that we know makes up the human person. Nostalgia, the yearning for a more perfect time, is a common symptom of this hard wiring. The self-help industry provides many alternative means for fulfilling this longing. Science is getting better at explaining such human frailties but in the end science fails to explain completely what Christians would say is simply a longing for perfect love.

The followers of Jesus Christ see something of this otherness, or perfection in him. In Sunday worship Christians remember Calvary and the power of God who raised Jesus from the dead to life.  Resurrection memory contains the kind of perfection for which human beings long whether they are conscious of that longing or not.Worship of God allows Christians to ‘touch’ the perfect love of God each Sunday and this ‘touching’ satisfies human nature in a deeper way than those secular, quick fix solutions.

Ask anyone who went to a Dawn Parade what they were remembering and it will not just be fallen soldiers. Absence of loved ones and the general, more impersonal theme of suffering, death and resurrection will be in the mix somewhere along with the human longing for peace which perfect love brings.

                                                                                                                                     Sue Jones

Sue is a member of the Wairoa parish of St. Peters and a past member of St. Mary's Gisborne where she continues to have connections.  Sue is a paid, published Catholic writer.  She had her first article published in 1987 and since then has had dozens more published in Catholic publications in N.Z.