“May the force be with you,” it said on the garment I saw when walking on our main street here in Kaitaia and looking into a shop window some time ago. It is gone now.

“Force for the North,” is a column in our local newspaper, THE NORTHLAND AGE, called. That is a column I really like to read.

Quite some time  now I read again about the two kings who were at war with each other.

One of the kings decided to set up his camp at a certain place. The other king knew exactly where that camp was going to be, because a man of God told him.

That happened not only once, and the first king wanted to know who of his men told the enemy. But it was reported to him that it was a certain prophet, who was responsible for all that.

Not surprisingly the king found out  the city in which the man of God lived in order to capture him.

“He sent  horses and chariots and a strong FORCE there. They went by night and surrounded the city.”

The servant of the man of God did not know what to do, when he saw all that when he got up in the morning.

But the prophet had the answer. “‘Don’t be afraid,’ the prophet answered. ‘Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.'”

The kings are the king of Aram and the king of Israel and the name  of the prophet is Elishah. In Second Kings chapter 6 (the verses 8-23) you can read the finish of the story.

The force, the power, is with all true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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To win a copy of So Good They Can’t Ignore You, tell us about the best job you ever had.

The best job I ever had was while attending Bible school in Germany. I liked the job especially in winter. I was warm in the kitchen , while other students worked in the cold outside.

I have heard about the wind in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, before.

But today I am reading about someone who lives there already for a number of years and he says that in one storm he has lost a shed, a fence, a TV aerial and 5 trees.

I am glad that I don’t live in Wellington.

“Far North Community Hospice never misses a chance to spread the word about what it does,” I am reading in The Northland Age today, Tuesday, May 12, 2016.

In the newspapers we are also reading about “messages” people have for others.

“The Book of Books”

And “spreading the word” is mostly used when people talk about what is on their minds.

What is now the message I have for my neighbours? What am I talking about? What is on my mind?

It is on my heart to tell people what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for me.

I did that today at two places. Praise the Lord for that!

Here are three portions of the Bible, that tell us about our message:

a.  First Corinthians 1:18

THE CROSS

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

b.  Second Corinthians 5:19

c.  Romans 10:17

The “Far North Community Hospice never misses a chance to spread the word about what it does.”

Are we  asking the Lord Jesus Christ to help us never to let a chance go by to tell people what he has done for us?

Heimat! Wo ist sie?

“Es ist doch eine naerrische Welt, in der wir leben! Obgleich die Menschen genau wissen, dass sie sterben muessen, tun  sie, als sei diese Welt ihre Heimat,” sagt Pfarrer Wilhelm Busch in einem seiner Andachtsbuecher.

“Ich bin durch die Welt gegangen und die Welt ist schoen und gross, und doch ziehet mein Verlangen mich weit von der Erde los .” – Eleonore von Reuss

Da wir sehr viel hoeren von den Menschen, die so tun, als sein diese Welt ihre Heimat, wollen wir einmal hoeren, was die Menschen sagen, die die Welt nicht fuer ihre Heimat halten:

a.  “Ich bin ein Gast auf Erden und hab hier keinen Stand, der Himmel soll mir werden, da ist mein Vaterland,” singt Paul Gerhardt in einem seiner Lieder. Er lebte von 1607-1676.

b.  “Lasset uns mit Jesus ziehen, … immerfort zum Himmel reisen, …” Das ist ein Lied von Sigismund von Birken, 1626-1681.

c.  “Himmelan geht unsere Bahn; wir sind Gaeste nur auf Erden, …” Benjamin Schmolck, der von 1672-1737 lebte, gab uns das Lied.

d.  “Mein Leben ist ein Pilgrimstand; ich reise nach dem Vaterland, …” Friedrich Adolph Lampe dichtete das Lied.

e.  “Selig sind, die Heimweh haben in dieser kalten, fremden Welt, …” Das ist ein Lied, das ich eigentlich gerne habe. Es ist von Meta Heusser- Schweizer.

Diese Lieder gehoeren der pilgernden Gemeinde und sprechen von dem Pilgerstand der Gemeinde Jesu.

Ich gehoere zu den Menschen, die Gaeste in dieser Welt sind und den Himmel als Vaterland haben. Ich gehoere zu den Menschen, die Heimweh haben in dieser kalten, fremden Welt.

Du weisst, zu welchen Menschen du gehoerst.

Coffee

It seems to me that I see more people with paper coffee cups on the street here in Kaitaia than with cigarettes.