Romans 1:20 (below) is an extremely important verse from the Bible and it is worth us taking time to think about. First, it says “Since the CREATION of the world”. Here we learn a basic fact: The world was created – it had a beginning. There was a time when our world was not, and a time when it came into being. It didn’t just sort of “happen” all by itself as some people tend to think. This makes sense, when you stop and think about it. After all, can you think of anything that sort of just “happened”? Take the house you live in. Did it just “happen” or was it designed and built according to a plan? What about the oven in which you cook your kai? Maybe it just “happened”. Perhaps, one day, in a workshop somewhere some guys threw a whole lot of junk into a corner and after a while something just “happened” – maybe a series of earthquakes – and some of the junk came together in some sort of order. Finally, after a few more earthquakes or even an explosion or two, the workmen came to work one day and there in the corner stood a gleaming new stove! If I tried to persuade you this is what happened you’d be right in thinking I was porangi!
You just cannot get order out of chaos, or an explosion – or out of a pile of junk by accident, no matter how much time you give it. Things must be designed and made. And yet some people think they are very clever when they come up with the idea that the world and even the universe, which is far more complex than a stove, got here by an explosion or a series of random accidents. The Bible cuts across all the guesswork when it says with authority, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). This is how it all got here: God created it. When we take the time to really look at the things in nature – the animals, plants, insects, or the grandeur of the mountains and oceans – or we go out on a clear night and look up into the heavens, these all speak to us of God. They reveal not only His existence, but His majesty and almighty power. Continued overleaf
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” -- (Romans 1:20).
Editor: Graham Batson Design: Paul Kjoss Mail: PO Box 10, Wanganui E: info.maoripostal@gmail.com
Number 226. Vol 51:3 All English Bible references from the NIV unless otherwise stated.
COVER PHOTO: Swans at Virginia Lake, Whanganui.
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The Bible further says in Psalm 19 that “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the end of the world”. Simply put, the marvels of creation not only proclaim the message that God exists but that He is powerful far beyond the limits of our imagination.
Furthermore, this message has no language barrier. It does not matter whether you are Maori, Pakeha or from any other nationality anywhere on the planet, you can receive and understand this message. And when people who reject God finally stand before Him in judgment, they will have no excuse. 4 • Tupu Whakarangi
But while creation reveals to us God’s existence and His almighty power, it can never tell us of the depth of His love for us. For this we need to turn to His holy Word, the Bible.
What a wonderful book the Bible really is! It tells us about God, how the universe came into being, the meaning of life and death. It gives us principles to live by and warns us of life’s dangers. And it also shows us our greatest problem – the fact that our sin has separated us from God, our Creator. God created this world as a place most suitable for us human beings to live. As far as this world is concerned, we are the most important part of His creation. But the tragedy of it is that we rebelled
against God and this is what makes us sinners. We have broken His laws and got ourselves into a terrible mess.
God is holy – completely separate from moral evil and corruption of any sort – and He must deal with sin. The Bible says, “The wages of sin is DEATH, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Here “death” not only refers to physical death, but primarily to spiritual death, which means total separation from God in Hell.
Jesus Christ, the only eternal Son of God, came into this world, died a shameful death of crucifixion at Calvary and three days later, rose from the dead. In doing so He became the sin bearer and Saviour, taking the punishment we deserved. He paid the price so that we could be forgiven, cleansed and set free. God has done everything necessary for us to be saved; now it is up to us. There is another well-known verse that says, “To all who RECEIVED Him, to those who BELIEVED in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1, verse 12). Editor.
It is here that we learn about the depth of God’s love for us. One of the best known verses in the Bible is John 3, verse 16, “For God so loved the world (you and me) that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”. Tupu Whakarangi • 5
“And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.” Genesis 1:14-15. Our sun is, of course, a star although it is now becoming evident that it is a very special star that permits life to exist on planet Earth. If the Earth were only one percent closer to the sun, we wouldn’t be here to worry about any “greenhouse effect.” And if the Earth were only one percent farther away from the sun, there would be plenty of snow and ice on Earth, but no one around to ski on it. The distance from the Earth to the Sun is very precisely set to allow life to live comfortably here. The chances of that happening without design are virtually nil. Many stars, perhaps most stars, vary much more than our sun does in the amount of energy they give off. Life as we know it would not be possible around those stars, no matter where the planet might be located. But our sun varies its energy output by only about one-tenth of a percent.
it does close to its poles. This is known as differential rotation and is because of its gaseous composition.
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The Sun has a powerful magnetic field. When magnetic energy is released by the Sun during magnetic storms, solar flares occur which we see on Earth as sunspots. Sunspots are dark areas on the Sun’s surface caused by magnetic variations. The reason they appear dark is due to their temperature being much lower than surrounding areas.
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Temperatures inside the Sun can reach 15 million degrees Celsius. Energy is generated through nuclear fusion in the Sun’s core. This is when hydrogen converts to helium – and because objects generally expand, the Sun would explode like an enormous bomb if it wasn’t for the counteracting effects of its tremendous gravitational pull.
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The Sun generates solar winds. These are ejections of plasma (extremely hot charged particles) that originate in the layer of the Sun known as the corona and they can travel through the solar system at up to 450 km per second.
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The atmosphere of the Sun is composed of three layers: the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona.
Scientists now speak less frequently about our sun being an “average star.” The facts show that it is a “very special star.” Our growing knowledge of the universe is helping us to see that God created this special star with precisely those characteristics necessary to support life on Earth. Modern science is only now learning what the Bible has always taught! SOME FACTS ABOUT THE SUN
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The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in the solar system. It has a mass of around 330,000 times that of Earth. It is three quarters hydrogen and most of its remaining mass is helium.
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Over one million Earths could fit inside the Sun. If you were to fill a hollow Sun with spherical Earths, somewhere around 960,000 would fit inside. The surface area of the Sun is 11,990 times that of Earth.
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The Sun is almost a perfect sphere of extremely hot plasma. Considering the sheer size of the Sun, there is only a 10-km difference in its polar and equatorial diameters – this makes it the closest thing to a perfect sphere observed in nature.
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It takes eight minutes for light to reach Earth from the Sun. The average distance from the Sun to the Earth is about 150 million km. Light travels at 300,000 km per second so dividing one by the other gives you 500 seconds – eight minutes and thirty seconds.
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The distance between Earth and Sun changes. This is because the Earth travels on an elliptical orbit path around the Sun. The distance between the two ranges from 147 to 152 million km. This distance between them is one Astronomical Unit (AU).
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The Sun rotates in the opposite direction to Earth, rotating from west to east instead of east to west like Earth. It rotates more quickly at its equator than
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When we consider the power of the Creator who made the Sun, our solar system and the immense universe of which it is a very small part, we cannot help but feel humbled. Truly, the heavens declare His glory.
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That thought should captivate us all, for it is true.
Pornography can tear apart a home, and it can tear apart a person’s soul. And in some cases it leads to even worse consequences. In the 1950s a boy named Ted grew up in what he described as a normal, loving Christian home. When he was about 12, Ted started looking at so-called soft-core pornography found in a local grocery store. And like many boys do, while exploring the alleys and trash piles in his neighbourhood, he encountered more explicit pornography, which had been carelessly discarded. Ted’s casual interest in pornography over time turned into a compulsive addiction. And like any type of addict, he needed stronger doses of his drug to provide the same levels of excitement and satisfaction. Ted moved gradually to harder and harder pornography until he was hooked on the worst, the most explicit printed and film images of raw sexual violence.
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To his family and friends Ted was just the all-American boy. He was intelligent, was an A student, became an Eagle Scout, went to college, and eventually studied law. The desire for pornography was a hidden part of his life. He reached the point where merely seeing violent pornography no longer gave Ted the rush that he craved. For about two years he stood on the edge between fantasy and actually performing the violent scenes flashing through his mind. One day he snapped—abducting, abusing, and murdering a young woman. Some months later he did it again. Then again…and again. By the time he was finally stopped, Ted Bundy admitted to having killed more than two dozen women and girls.
Just hours before he was executed at a Florida prison in 1987, in an interview with Dr. James Dobson, Ted explained the role that pornography— and alcohol—had played in fuelling and enabling his twisted passions. “Pornography can reach out and snatch a kid out of any house today. It snatched me out of my house 30 years ago.…The most damaging kinds of pornography are those that involve violence and sexual violence. The wedding of those two forces brings about behaviour too terrible to describe.” Is this just an isolated case? The particularly cataclysmic outcome may be, but police investigators will tell you they are never surprised to find pornography in the home of a sex offender. And who can estimate the number of lives, marriages, and families that are rocked and wrecked each day by this pornographic sewage that seeps throughout our society? THE REAL ISSUES OF PORNOGRAPHY A certain TV ad has stated that “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
The Bible speaks often about the importance of the mind and the need to guard it (Proverbs 4:23 CEB). The thing about pornography is that it distorts the thinking of a person to the point that they begin to see their world differently. Another important statement regarding the mind is found in Proverbs 23, verse 7 where it says, “For as a man thinks within himself, so he is.” The truth is, what you let your mind dwell upon is what you become. That is why the Apostle Paul told us in Philippians 4, verse 8 - “Whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” Paul’s words explicitly state that our minds should think on, indeed dwell on, things that will have a positive influence on us. The obvious implications of Paul’s words are that we are not to dwell on things that will have a negative influence on our lives; and, pornography is one of the most negative things for men or women to indulge in. If you think that pornography is a harmless indulgence you are wrong. It will influence how you view the world. Indeed, it will shape your worldview - but in a destructive manner, not in a Biblical and godly manner.
Continued overleaf Tupu Whakarangi • 9
Images leave a strong and lasting message in our minds. Images are not easily erased and often surface at the most inopportune times. One of Satan’s greatest tools against us is our inability to completely erase that which has entered our minds through our senses, whether visual or auditory, but especially visual. Jesus spoke of this power of thought through vision when He said in Matthew 5, verse 28, “I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”
A Letter from a Mother to her Sons About Pornography By Liz Wann My Dear Sons, The eye sees much good and evil in this life. Seeing leads to becoming. What we continually put before our eyes and minds will shape and determine who we are. Images either tell the truth or lie, but they all speak. On top of this, our natural eyes are lustful things not easily satisfied (1 John 2, verses 16-17). One lustful look can change us. One look can feed the monster within so that it rears up its ugly head looking for more. “Feed me,” he says. His appetite is fierce and unsatisfied. One look leads to another, and then to many more. This is the kingdom of sexual lust — a world of soft porn and free porn — and secrets contained in cleared web browsers. What you see, boys, you become. If you sit and soak in pornographic fantasies, your life will have a bitter taste. At first the flavours might taste sweet, but
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Our minds can be a powerful weapon in the hands of Satan if we do not control what we allow into them. Many people are very careful as to what they eat and allow into their stomachs, but are careless and lack control regarding the corrupting perversion they allow into their minds. If pornography is a problem in your life and you are unable to free yourself, Christ can set you free and the first step is to repent and allow Him into your life. When He is invited into a life, He brings with Him purity, deliverance and purpose for living. He takes away the frustration of lust and loneliness and replaces it with the sense of His presence and power. bitterness will always be the end result. And the bitterness will be shared someday in your interactions with women: how you think about women, talk to women and treat women. An Evil Education in Sex Pornography distorts your vision of women, whether you realize it or not. And one day, pornography will affect your relationship with your future wife. The women gleaming on the computer screen may not directly feel the effects of your lust, but they will indirectly, as you fuel the evil industry that enslaves and traffics them. But the images cannot feel the painful grief and loss a wife feels when her husband’s hidden sins are inevitably revealed. I plead with you to not drink at this polluted fountain; to not let one look turn into thousands of looks over the course of years. If this happens, you
will taste the bitterness, my sons, and you will want to spit it out. Lust distorts the glory of both Biblical manhood and womanhood; it goes against the divine mandate in the Garden of Eden. Men are to care for women — and provide and protect with humble strength — not exploit and dominate. Women are strong, capable, and your equal, not objects to be used and discarded. But the porn industry diminishes both men and women, and reduces them all the way down to simple actors of animal lust for pixilation, instead of celebrating them as complex and glorious image-bearers of their Creator. This is the consumer society we live in, devaluing human beings as they’re offered up for consumption. The porn industry is lining online aisles with a corrupt sexual zoo for viewing pleasure. A Far Better Place to Look You, my sons, are called by God to reject such sexual consumerism. You are called by Christ to seek pleasure in Him, and to pour out your life in selfless giving to God and to others. Jesus Christ is the opposite of pornography. Jesus lived a life of denial and sacrifice. No lust, ever. Sex for Him was unnecessary, even as he imaged God perfectly. He became the least and the last in order to put us first. Pornography is self-exalting. It is putting your pleasures and desires first, before the glory of God and the good of others. Since Christ is the opposite of pornography, then look to Christ in your fight against sexual temptation and sin. When you focus on Christ you will become like Him. “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4, verse 6). Look upon His face, and pornography will begin to look strangely dim and depraved. A Safe Place After Sexual Failure When Moses asked God to show him His glory (Exodus 33, verse 18), the glory of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ had not yet been fully revealed. How much more glorious is it for you, when you ask God to show you His glory now after the cross and resurrection? You only have to read about this glory in God’s Word, and meditate upon it in your hearts and minds. You will be changed. “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word” (Psalm 119, verse 9). And if you are drawn into the illicit pleasures of the internet, remember the words of Robert Murray McCheyne, “For every look at yourself, take ten looks at
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“You might ask, ‘How is this possible?’ It is because God’s endless love lifts me above all the lies and superstition that kept me trapped in my old ways”. I was born over 30 years ago in Te Awakairangi (Lower Hutt). My dad was a gangster; my mum grew up in an orphanage. They split up not long after I was born, so myself and my siblings were put into foster care and eventually adopted. Good times for me were playing in the tree house, riding my horse to school and fish ‘n chip Fridays. However, these memories were overshadowed by darkness, namely physical, emotional, verbal, psychological and even sexual abuse. I started to use drugs and alcohol as a child. My view of God was clouded by the hypocrisy I experienced almost daily, being beaten by someone who called herself a Christian. In my mind, God was love and in Heaven, and I cried out to Him to take me there. I later went to live with my mum in Auckland who was a Christian by then. I had escaped the abuse. But my teenage years started poorly, with truancy report for the first 18 months. However, by the fifth form
(year 11) I was awarded the principal’s award and later got UE. I went to teachers’ college to get my B/Ed, aiming to complete my degree and start teaching in Maori full time. This didn’t happen. My mum and step-dad served the Lord whole-heartedly. I professed to be a Christian, but my heart wasn’t in it – I was bitter, resentful, rebellious, and selfish. While working part time, I met a guy who I eventually left home to live with, who was the father of my first child. To cope, I resorted back to using alcohol and drugs, to avoid the emotional and physical pain that I felt. I wanted to feel good about myself. It worked temporarily but didn’t remove the underlying guilt, shame, confusion, fear, anxiety, despair and insecurity that I felt. At age 18, when I found I was pregnant, my partner proposed to me. But his mother hated me, saying, “I never raised my son to marry a coloured woman”. She told me to have an abortion; my partner agreed because having a child was “not economically viable”. To avoid that, I left him and went to live with Mum, getting back with him when my baby was 3 months old. We moved to a city where I hardly knew anyone. He worked long hours, so I felt alone with a new baby; and I became depressed. I found out that he was having online relationships; this made matters worse and we started to fight, so I headed back to Auckland with our baby.
I got an apartment and my brother moved in. I was introduced to methamphetamine which appeared to give me more energy, but coming down meant that I was too fatigued to look after my two-year old. Out of concern, Mum took baby to church, and eventually ended up caring for baby full time. I met a new man who fathered my last three children. He had majored in chemistry and physics at university; his daytime job was reconditioning Formula 1 racing cars and occasionally aeroplane engines. But his increasing involvement with meth made our lives worse. He became unreliable and unpredictably violent and ended up in prison. In fact, for a start, most people I knew who were on drugs had lots of money, owned homes and businesses, worked hard fulltime and even were in government agencies – as opposed to stereotypical drug users. A lot of my life then is a blur because I was stoned or drunk for much of it. I was in and out of work, criminal activity, co-dependant relationships and abuse. I married and divorced. I had no morals, yet I thought others were more immoral than me. Responsibility was like a swear word, and I survived living this way. I watched many friends die from this lifestyle or by suicide; I almost died by two accidental overdoses. I wanted to die because my life on earth was hell, but I didn’t want to die just in case I went to the real Hell.
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My norm was to have meth in the morning and heroin in the afternoon and alcohol if the drugs weren’t available. I was looking to alleviate my conscience from the guilt, shame, anxiety, fear, despair and insecurity; but I was trapped and enslaved by my circumstances and my wrong choices. When pregnant with my second child I briefly returned to Mum’s, and so I attended church every week out of obligation. I knew there was something good about it but I couldn’t get it. I moved into my own place with my second child. Because my partner was abusive one day my child was uplifted by CYFs, and Mum rescued that one also. When I was pregnant with my third child, my life was a mess, so I had an abortion which added to the guilt, shame, insecurity and despair I already had. Later I had a third child to that same guy. CYFs got involved immediately. To avoid a potentially devastating and tragic system, I agreed with my mum that all my children would be better off getting kept together. So, Mum took baby from the hospital at 6 days old. It was then that I decided that I was never going to let another child be taken from me, nor would I ever want to be in a vulnerable position where a human life was terminated, which is now a recurring source of agony for me. So as a solution I chose to have a sterilization procedure. Soon after that I went to a longterm rehab programme. But they
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were treating my spiritual problem with a chemical solution so I never really got the help that I needed. It was treating the symptoms but not the source, so there was no lasting change. I was living a very transient life. I had nowhere to go. I was maxed out and as a last resort, I thought doing another geographical would somehow give me the answers that I was looking for, so I moved to another city. But it was the same old same old, just with a different name and a different face in a different town. Mum and my kids came to visit and I loved the precious moments with them. It was devastating watching them driving away from me and not knowing how long we’d be parted for again. Meanwhile Mum put one of her friends in touch with me and that lady invited me to her church. Eventually I agreed to go in the hope that I would hear a positive message from God. When I arrived at church, I felt like I was under surveillance. The pastor was preaching about eternal life. Everything I had ever done wrong came to my mind. I realised that it offended God, and not only did I not have eternal life, but I was going to Hell because of it. It was an indescribable realisation that I wasn’t going to be with God forever, as I had cried out for as a child. I felt convicted and I knew I had to put my life right with God somehow. I had to “get square with the house”. But I also knew I couldn’t
do it because I had tried everything else. Then somehow, I remembered that Jesus died on the cross for me and He paid for everything that I had ever done wrong against God, that He rose again and it was possible for me to actually have eternal life through Him. This was totally unreal to me. Who would love someone like me to the death? I couldn’t believe that this Man, Jesus, loved me to death – it was totally unfair; I did everything wrong, but He died in my place! I had heard this before, but finally it became real to me and in my heart, I believed that what God said was true
because of the real lasting change happening each day in my life. I am excited because I finally have hope, limitless hope, in Jesus. Finally, I know unconditional love from Him. Beyond my wildest dreams doesn’t even begin to express the indescribable peace, joy, happiness and freedom that I have had since then. Since Jesus Christ rescued me, my life has had bigtime changes. Don’t get me wrong; I’m no angel, and life’s a battle. The changes have been gradual and hard-won, but they have been lasting. God’s help hasn’t been
I couldn’t believe that this Man, Jesus, loved me to death – it was totally unfair; I did everything wrong, but He died in my place! I had heard this before, but finally it became real to me and in my heart...
and that I’d finally found the Man that I could trust. I’d finally found unconditional and true love. One of the pastors led me in a prayer. I felt awkward, but with all my heart I was genuinely hoping that what he prayed would come true. I seriously meant every word I prayed to God, asking for His forgiveness for everything I’d done wrong, and that I accepted Jesus’ offer to pay my debt and I believed everything He said. I was finally “square with the house” because of Jesus. At that time, I suspected it was too good to be true, but over 2 years since then, I have seen that it is true,
like a magic trick – it’s more like living in a cosmic war zone where I must depend on God as opposed to the old me which depended on drugs, cigarettes, co-dependent relationships or anything else. I no longer live a life patterned by daily drinking, doing drugs, smoking and trying to find security in relationships. In fact, I have smoked less than a handful of cigarettes in the last year, as opposed to nearly two decades of daily smoking. I have been living on my own for the past two years rather than in unhealthy and abusive relationships. I’ve been drug free for at least 18 months as opposed
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to doing drugs off and on since I was about eight years old. You might ask, “How is this possible?” It is because God’s endless love lifts me above all the lies and superstition that would keep me trapped in my old ways. He is faithful, even when I am not. He has always been good to me and is the only Person who has never left me and never will leave me, despite me. God has been helping me heal and grow. He has shown me love, and is showing me how to love others genuinely, which I wasn’t very good at. I now have meaningful relationships with my children, Mum, and step-dad.
replaced my hateful heart toward her with a heart that fell in love with her in the purest way that I’d ever known, until her dying breath. This full forgiveness toward her is so impossible on my own that I know it is more proof and evidence of God’s marvellous grace. I have earned respect again in terms of being employable because I was able to hold down a full-time job. Having a job in a call-centre really put me to the test because of the abuse and the hostile working environment. I managed to patiently endure and show kindness, when before I would counter play the poor behaviour and imitate the
Perhaps you can relate to having a guilty conscience that constantly nags you. Perhaps you think you’ve done nothing wrong but you have harassing doubt and insecurity. Because Jesus has forgiven me, I forgave my childhood abuser. This has been difficult and challenging, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears were involved, as it takes real love to do this – the kind of love I know only God can give. I met up with her regularly and even spent much time caring for her when she was sick until she passed away in my presence. Before I became a Christian I hated her and hoped that she would die because of all the traumatic abuse in my childhood. I think the emotional pain from that was a contributing factor to my chemical substance abuse. So, it is an undeniable miracle that God
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impatience and give the proverbial middle finger and walk away. Before I became a Christian I had no references but now I have more than a dozen people willing to vouch for my reliability and integrity as a worker. I never thought I would ever be able to do this, but God helped me. It had been more than 16 years since I’d been at school, and so I went back to study and tap back in to what I was hoping are my gifts and talents. This year I am continuing my studies to complete my degree (unfinished business). This feels like a second chance to me, something that I never
thought I’d be able to do again. Furthermore, I was red-flagged by the NZ Police as a highly susceptible victim, but I have had no police involvement since I became a Christian. My involvement with the police was always negative but now I have written recognition from them of the positive changes in my life! These are just some of the examples of how God has changed my life. With Jesus, there’s always more. Perhaps some of you reading this can relate to this kind of hopelessness and darkness. Perhaps you can relate to having a guilty conscience that constantly nags you. Perhaps you think you’ve done nothing wrong but you have harassing doubt and insecurity. Perhaps you’ve heard about God before. Perhaps you want freedom from guilt, shame, fear, anxiety, despair, confusion, hatred or self-denial. Imagine this coming true, and having that freedom freely offered to you forever as God’s gift? You may think that no-one cares; this is a lie. Maybe you suspect everyone is fake; another lie. Know that Jesus loves you and His love is genuine and He proved it when He died for us even when we don’t deserve it. He rose again and is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6). He is a solid rock; He is always a safe place; there is always hope in Him. Peace be with you. From Anonymous Contact via maria@oac.org.nz if you wish.
Continued from page 11 Christ.” One look at your sinful self calls for ten looks at Christ nailed to a cross for you. Being in Christ is the only qualification we need to behold His glory, even after we have sinned. He alone is the cure and the prevention for your sin. Be Thou My Vision Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6, verse 22: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” A healthy eye connotes clear vision, and you will have a spiritually healthy way of looking at things (like the gift of sex). But your eyes can lie to you if you only see with them and not through them. The eye can distort your heart and mind if you are using it to see what is immoral and corrupt. When your eyes are filled with the glory of God in Christ, you will clearly see through the distorting lies of lust. Before your father and I had you boys, we planned our wedding. I wanted to play my favourite hymn, “Be Thou My Vision,” before I walked down the aisle. My prayer was that Christ would always be my vision in marriage, but now that prayer surrounds you as well. I pray Christ would be your vision in all of life — that your eyes would be filled with glory leading to truth and life and joy. What you put before your eyes will change you. May it fill you with light, and not darkness. Love, Your Mum.
From a Prison Inmate
God, the Bible or Jesus Christ. I grew up with no belief about s 26 something there – until I wa But I always felt there was that gs thin the see I can clearly years old. Now, looking back, atche er, ang m, ble aviour pro happened in my life – my beh I ere wh to me led – it all of ing, drinking, smoking, pride, up mitted my crime and ended am now. The fact that I com s no ce, made me think there wa in prison doing a life senten ist. freedom – until I met Chr future for me – no hope, no I only used the pages for smokAt first I didn’t read the Bible; d when I accepted Christ into ing at first. But things change h my heart is changing. My fait my heart. I can witness how I ns isio dec t bes the was one of led me to get baptised and it ugstr I and me to e clos is so made. Even though temptation them. So I believe coming to to ct rea I y wa the gle, I change that happen to me. At first I saw prison was the best thing to k, bac k loo it as God’s plan as I as a question. Now I can see at I am today. comparing what I was and wh to kenness, heaviness, struggling From living in darkness, bro nds frie and ily fam away from find a grip, ending up in prison . Now Christ is the only way ure fut the for e I could see no hop love nt to show others Christ’s for me to go forward. I wa through me. spiritually to say in front of Before I wasn’t strong enough I ist. But now I can proudly say others I am a follower of Chr e hav I w kno I my head held high. am a follower of Christ with I ding about God and Christ, but tan ers a long way to go in und I ns isio dec ng wro all the bad and have made the first step. In n isio dec t righ e uin gen is the first have made, accepting Christ d! Lor the ise Pra I have made.
Ranger was a good watch dog. He was rather large and strong and most people were a little afraid of him. But this was not so with a certain real estate agent. Ranger’s master had put his house up for sale. The real estate people were given careful instructions to call before bringing anyone out to see the place. They were to be sure to make an appointment. Most of the real estate people did this. When they drove up Ranger would bark a warning, but at his master’s command he would lie down and watch quietly until the people left. But one day one of the men from the real estate office, hoping for a quick sale, brought some interested people out to see the house even though no one was at home. He had not made an appointment – he was not following instructions. As they drove up Ranger warned them by barking. However, the man ignored him and reassured the clients that this big dog was just a “pussy cat”. All went fine as they crossed the yard until they got near the house. It was there that Ranger growled and blocked their way. When the man extended his hand in a gesture of friendship towards the dog, Ranger took the man’s wrist into his rather large mouth and held him fast, but without actually biting him. Terrified, the other people backed away towards the car. Ranger let go of the man’s hand and quickly headed them off. He allowed them to go no further than halfway between the house and the car. Ranger circled them, holding them captive for a long time. About then, Ranger’s master came home and, finding three frightened people huddled together with
18 • Tupu Whakarangi
Ranger circling them, ordered the dog to retreat. Ranger slunk off to one side. With great relief the three quickly headed for the car and left, not even bothering to look at the house. That real estate agent never came out again to show the property to anyone. He had learned his lesson! Is there another kind of lesson for us in this story? Yes, there is. Just as it is important to pay attention to warnings and to listen to instructions in our everyday lives, it is even more important to pay attention to God’s warnings and to listen to His instructions. God warns us that sin must be punished and tells us of coming judgment in John 5, verses 25-29. However, He also loves us and has provided and clearly explained the way of salvation. It is provided through the Lord Jesus Christ. On Calvary’s cross He suffered and died and in His death He paid the penalty for our sin. Now all we need do is be willing to turn from our own sinful ways and receive Him into our lives as Saviour. Have you confessed to God that you are a sinner, that you have not always obeyed His instructions in His Word, the Bible? Why wait any longer? Do it now! The real estate agent who was held by the wrist by Ranger had a good reason to be frightened. But if you are not saved you are in a more frightening situation. You are being held fast by sin and Satan, and facing God’s judgment too! Will you listen to Jesus’ instruction now? He says, “He who hears My words, and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (punishment), but is passed from death to life” (John 5, verse 24). Hear, believe and live!
Tupu Whakarangi • 19
What then followed will always be etched on my mind. I still know exactly where I was at that moment – in a side room of our home, and we stood close together. Mum put her arm around my shoulders, and with a clear voice she repeated all the words from Psalm 130 from memory: “Unto the Lord, I lift my voice!” Ralph Wichers I GUESS we all have certain memorable events in our lives – more so when we have a number of years behind us. Often they are pleasant ones, which have enriched our lives and many of us will have recorded them in our diaries. Some are less pleasant or socalled mixed blessings, depending on our circumstances. Life is made up of a mixture of these experiences. One of my most dramatic moments, which also involved my Mum, was during the war years in Europe, when I was a teenager, and the Nazi regime was dominant. I was required to join their work forces for labouring duties in Eastern Europe. This consisted largely of digging trenches as defences against the Russian army that was gaining ground in a counter-offensive. The Nazis were now in retreat, but were by no means defeated. Soon afterwards I received a registered letter with a train ticket to travel to that distant place. I certainly was not in a mood to assist the enemy, and the only alternative was to “disappear out of circulation” and ignore the call-up. This in turn put me on the black list of the Gestapo. They were the executive arm of the Nazis for doing their “dirty work”.
Then she prayed in a clear voice, and then we waited, expecting at any moment to have the door kicked open. I also noticed the determination on my mother’s face, and I realised she would fight with her bare hands if need be. So, we waited as time ticked by. Then Mum asked my younger brother to have a look through the window, and he excitedly called out: “Mum, they have all gone!” That is when Mum broke down. Later, as we went over it all again, it was then that we came to the conclusion that the Gestapo men’s minds were confused when Mum prayed, and instead they went to a neighbour’s place, an elderly couple whose children had left home. Their home was number 176 and ours 175, only a stone’s throw distance, but that was enough. Mother’s Day is an annual remembrance day for us to appreciate what our mothers are doing, or have done for us. Dads, or course, too but mothers carried us under their hearts for some nine months, and that makes for a special relationship. Amazing for sure!
My Dad had placed an old car body under hay in the barn. This was connected to the outside through a tunnel from the back. One had to cross a drain, and via that tunnel crawl to the hideout. That was where I spent many a night, as the Gestapo seemed to operate during the night hours. Often I was home during the day time, till one day there was a sudden crisis situation. My younger brother came rushing in with the message, “Mum, the Gestapo are coming – they have got guns!” 20 • Tupu Whakarangi
Ralph’s Mum who prayed for her son.
Tupu Whakarangi • 21
NEW SCHOOL PRAYER The Lord’s Prayer Is not allowed in most Public schools in America anymore because the word ‘God’ is mentioned. From a 15-year-old School pupil -Now I sit me down in school Where praying is against the rule For this great nation under God Finds mention of Him very odd. If scripture now the class recites, It violates the Bill of Rights. And anytime my head I bow Becomes a Federal matter now. Our hair can be purple, orange or green, That’s no offense; it’s a freedom scene. The law is specific, the law is precise. Prayers spoken aloud are a serious vice, For praying in a public hall Might offend someone with no faith at all. In silence alone we must meditate, God’s name is prohibited by the United States. We’re allowed to cuss and dress like freaks, And pierce our noses, tongues and cheeks... Guns are allowed, but not the Bible … To quote the Good Book makes me liable. We can elect a pregnant Senior Queen, And the ‘unwed daddy,’ our Senior King. It’s ‘inappropriate’ to teach right from wrong, We’re taught that such ‘judgments’ do not belong.. We can get our condoms and birth controls, Study witchcraft, vampires and totem poles... But the Ten Commandments are not allowed, No word of God must reach this crowd. It’s scary here I must confess, When chaos reigns the school’s a mess. So, Lord, this silent plea I make: Should I be shot; My soul please take! -- Amen 22 • Tupu Whakarangi
Tupu Whakarangi • 23
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