Revelation
What’s to Celebrate?
What’s to Celebrate? Irrelevant Celebrations What’s to celebrate about Parihaka? Well, consider what we are already celebrating as a nation every year, on 31st October and 5th November: Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day. Since Halloween is still relatively new to NZ, many elderly folk look uncomprehendingly at the little figures “trick or treating” at their front…
New Zealand’s Amazing Covenant
New Zealand’s Amazing Covenant The Treaty of Waitangi Two old friends were at a wedding. When the minister came to the familiar marriage text, “the two shall become one”, one laughed, leaned over to the other and whispered, “Yes, and we all know which one that will be!” In every marriage, one personality can overwhelm…
One Big Word: Propitiation
One Big Word: Propitiation What’s propitiation? It’s one big word but well worth understanding because it perfectly explains why Jesus died and why we need Him. There’s a lot of confusion today about this. William Paul Young, for example, author of popular Christian novel The Shack, writes in his non-fiction work, Lies We Believe About God, that one…
The Hermeneutics of Daniel and Revelation
The Hermeneutics of Daniel and Revelation Introduction Hermeneutics is the study of how to interpret the Scriptures and the books of Daniel and Revelation are particularly difficult. I’ve been studying them since 1973, listening carefully to competing eschatologies and observing first-hand the outworking in cults and sects as well as in mainline denominations. I’ve…
Who’s Colonising Whom?
Who’s Colonising Whom? We’re often told today that the Jews are the “colonisers” and “imperialists” in the Middle East but who’s fact-checking this? Obviously, the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank is a complex issue which must be carefully negotiated to create a second Palestinian Arab state (Jordan being the first) but, all…
Divorce & Remarriage
Divorce & Remarriage I was recently contacted by a friend in Pakistan about a court case there where a Muslim judge was allowing a Christian woman to divorce her abusive ‘Christian’ husband. Christian leaders there, however, were responding that she couldn’t, even when faced with ‘extreme cruelty and death’, because of Matthew 5:32 where, they…
Milk or Meat? Why We Aren’t Growing Spiritually
Milk or Meat? Why We Aren’t Growing Spiritually Growing Spiritually My primary concern as a Bible teacher is that we are growing spiritually. I’ve been challenged by Hebrews 5:11-14 Concerning him [Melchizedek] we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.For though by this time you…
A Colloquium and Its Book
A Colloquium and Its Book I recently read The Gospel and the Land of Promise (Christian Approaches to the Land of the Bible). Published in 2013, it’s a collection of essays arising from a one-day colloquium at Auckland’s Laidlaw-Carey Graduate School on July 9, 2009. I had attended the colloquium, knowing it would be some kind…
Blessed Are the Peacemakers
Blessed are the Peacemakers Part 1. Peacemakers – “A Time For Everything” Sometimes, as Mrs Roy says above, fighting back is just “not worth it”! In Solomon’s famous words: There is an appointed time for everything under heaven… a time for war and a time for peace1 I have always loved the concept of peacemakers and…
Safeguarding the Fourth Estate
Safeguarding the Fourth Estate How ironic that Meryl Streep, one of my all-time favourite actresses, showed she had been taken in by fake news when at the Golden Globes she was calling us to support journalists? She’s undeniably right that “we’re going to need them going forward and they’re going to need us to safeguard…
Answering Brian Tamaki
Answering Brian Tamaki The day before Kaikoura’s massive 7.8 earthquake on 13th November, Brian Tamaki, leader of New Zealand’s Destiny Churches, was telling a congregation that the earth “convulses under the weight of certain human sin.” Explaining why Christchurch had suffered devastating earthquakes in 2010 and 2011 which killed 185 people, including my friend Wally…
A matter of Simple Justice
A Matter of Simple Justice Given the present world-wide media focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it seems odd to me that so little background analysis to these events is being offered. It does, however, explain the almost instantaneous widespread condemnation of Israel – isn’t it a matter of simple justice that we make our judgments after we’ve…
Blueprints of the Church
Blueprints of the Church And those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; You will raise up the age-old foundations; And you will be called the repairer of the breach, The restorer of the streets in which to dwell.1 “Do All to the Glory of God” This is the most important consideration of all.…
Pt 8 – Equipping Royal Priests
Pt 8 Equipping Royal Priests Once the average believer like you and me begins to grasp the extent of our priestly work, we can feel a bit out of our depth and wonder what we are taking on. As George Bernard Shaw observed, “Liberty means responsibility. That is why most men dread it”. It’s one thing to struggle…
Pt 7 Bread, Wine, Water, Oil & Hands
Pt 7 Bread, Wine, Water, Oil & Hands “But What of our Traditions?” You may be finding you have some strong internal reactions as you work through these issues, especially if you’ve been raised in “traditional” churches, where the priesthood has been strictly limited to the man in charge of the congregation, who is in…
Pt 6 – The Sacrements
Pt 6 The Sacraments Sacraments are the sacred acts or ceremonies that we are all to perform as priests. We’ve just seen that the Law’s sacrament of burning incense foreshadowed the call of every believer in Jesus to prayer, and the burnt offerings foreshadowed dedicating ourselves to Jesus, body, soul and spirit. Now we’re going to…
Pt 5 – On Being Priests
Pt 5 On Being Priests Definition As we have seen, the history of the word “priest” is chequered. Derived from the Greek word “presbyter”, or elder, it is taken by most professing Christians today to mean: (i) the man in charge of a congregation, (ii) in full-time service and (iii) the only one able and…
Pt 4 – On Being Kings
Pt 4 On Being Kings Let’s be absolutely clear – for Christians, “kings” here is a generic term for the majesty of men and women, both made in the image and likeness of God. Here are five Biblical kingly essentials: 1. Kings Choose Freely As we saw earlier, Jesus exercised His sovereign free-will to deny self-will by…
Pt 3 – Reigning With Him
Pt 3 Reigning With Him Some time ago I heard a preacher speaking on God making us “kings and priests”. He explained the difference between a king and a priest and the tension between the two roles. Kings, he said, are to function in the world whereas priests are to function in the church; business…