Readers of the local paper, and I am a reader, THE NORTHLAND AGE, are invited to submit photos depicting the Far North’s special qualities to the editor for “THIS IS OUR PLACE.”
Beautiful East Coast of Northland
The Photo in the Paper
Monthly Archives: September 2013
No Deadlines!
One good thing about being retired is that you don’t have any deadlines.
It was only yesterday that I was working on a post and when the post was almost finished, something happend, and everything was gone from the computer screen.
I tried for quite some time to retrieve the words, but with no avail. I had to write the story A MARTYR from scratch.
My consolation was telling myself, “Am I glad that I don’t work for a boss and according to deadlines!”
Quote
“Do not let your eyes, which are soon to see the King in His beauty, become the windows of lust.” – C. H. Spurgeon
A Martyr
That was the answer the martyr Matthew Ulicky gave to the religious people – church – of his day, when they did not agree with his teaching.
He taught that we must trust in the mercy of God, and in his mercy alone.
I am reading about Matthew Ulicky, who lived at the beginning of the 17th century in the book GEDULD UND GLAUBE DER HEILIGEN by Joerg Erb.
We are reading about the “not” and “but” also in the Bible, the word of the Living God.
At the beginning of his letter to the Galatians the apostle Paul is writing, “Paul, an apostle – sent NOT from men nor by man, BUT by Jesus Christ and God the Father …”
Also in at least five of his letters in the New Testament, the apostle starts by telling the readers that he is “…, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and by the will of God, …” He does that in his two letters to the Corinthians, in his letter to the Ephesians, in his letter to the Colossians and in his second letter to Timothy.
“SENT NOT FROM MEN NOR BY MAN, BUT BY JESUS CHRIST AND GOD THE FATHER, …”
I was born in Germany, I came from death to life, (from darkness into light) in Germany, and lived in Germany until I was 26 years old.
In Germany I met pastors, who were not sent by Jesus Christ and God the Father, but by man. They were pastors just as others were plumbers or electricians.
At the age of 26 I arrived just before Christmas as a missionary in Thailand and I knew that I was “sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father …”
Because Matthew Ulicky received his office (authority) from the Lord, he was willing to die on September 11, 1627 as a martyr.
He died a terrible death. His right hand was cut off first and then his head. While all this was happening, he prayed Psalm 70:
“Hasten, O God, to save me; O LORD, come quickly to help me.”
What about me? Am I also willing to die as a martyr?
Conservation Week (2)
Conservation Week
8-15 September 2013
Our generation has the awesome task to look after the next generation.
THE DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION SAYS :
In a Department of Conservation publication I am reading this question in Maori, “Hutia te rito o te harakeke. Kei hea to Komako e ko?” And here is the question in English, “If you pluck out the centre of the flaxbush, where will the bellbird sing?”
We have special places in our country. We have special plants. We have special animals in New Zealand.
We must look after them. We must preserve them. It is up to us to look after them for the next generation, for our families, our children and their children.
This is what Dr Bill Ballantine says,”We need beauty, variety, naturalness and quietness merely to stay human. We have a duty to preserve good examples, for the future, of what still exists. No amount of money or regret can replace extinct species, habitats or ecosystems.”
THE BIBEL SAYS:
We have the commands of the LORD. We have the decrees of the LORD. We have the laws of the LORD. You find the ten commandments in Exodos, the second book of the Bible in chapter twenty. Please read Exodus 20:1-17!
We are not only told to observe them, but to teach them to the next generation. The Bible says in Deuteronomy 4:9, “Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deuteronomy 11:19 says, “Teach them to your children, …” Deuteronomy 6:7 says that we are to impress the command, namely to love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our strength, on our children.
How do we do that?
By talking about the commands. By tying the commands as symbols on our hands. By binding them on our foreheads. By writing them on the doorframes of our houses and on our gates.
Let us also remember that obedience is commanded!
The most important thing is to teach the next generation about God, because people who believe in God are more likely to look after the things God has given them!
Sermon Outline
THE CROSS
“‘Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Mark 4:3-9
Intr:
As he was scattering the seed,
1. some fell along the path,
and the birds came and ate it up.
(Mark 4:15)
2. Some fell on rocky places,
where it did not have much soil.
It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered, because they had no root.
(Mark 4:16-17)
3. Other seed fell among thorns,
which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
(Mark 4:18-19)
4. Still other seed fell on good soil.
It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even hundred times.'”
(Mark 4:20)
End:
“Then Jesus said, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'”
CONSERVATION WEEK
CONSERVATION WEEK
8 – 15 SEPTEMBER 2013
“WE NEED BEAUTY, VARIETY, NATURALNESS AND QUIETNESS MERELEY TO STAY HUMAN. WE HAVE A DUTY TO PRESERVE GOOD EXAMPLES, FOR THE FUTURE, OF WHAT STILL EXISTS. NO AMOUNT OF MONEY OR REGRET CAN REPLACE EXTINCT SPECIES.” – Dr Bill Ballantine
EAST COAST IN WINTER
EAST COAST FAR NORTH NEW ZEALAND
EAST COAST FAR NORTH NEW ZEALAND