Tauranga Bay is in the North of New Zealand at the East Coast and I call it THE DREAMING PLACE.

Tauranga Bay, Northland, New Zealand

Tauranga Bay, Northland, New Zealand

‘”Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.'” – Matthew 10:32

In the NZ Baptist (February 2013) Murray Robertson is writing about the decline of the movement of the Baptist Churches in New Zealand.

In an article called “Vision for the Lost or Lost Vision?” by Major Harold Hill in the WAR CRY (23 February 2013) I am reading about the fading vision of the Salvation Army in the West.

“An early-days Salvationist was an uncomfortable person with whom to share a railway compartment. You would be ear-bashed on the subject of salvation. Today, many of us are more anxious to demonstrate our inoffensive normality,” says Major Harold Hill in the article.

But there are still Baptist Churches that are “swimming against the tide” and grow and Murray Robertson  says this about them: “The thing that struck me most of all about the group was their obvious sense of joy in speaking to others about the gospel. Even those who didn’t see themselves as evangelists spoke about this.”

PERSONAL EVANGELISM  is the answer to Church Growth.

My Pulpit is the World. Not long ago I talked to German speaking young men in a restaurant here. I had one business card left in my pocket and gave it to one of them.

“‘But whoever disowns me  before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.” – Matthew 10:33

The words “humble” and “proud” are on my mind. And I will tell you  why they are on my mind at the present time.

When you enter the ASB Bank Limited here in Kaitaia / NZ at the present time,  you see on the left side a big poster with picture. On the poster is written in very big letters:

“BE NOT SO HUMBLE.

BE PROUD.”

In smaller print it says:

“Every success, no matter how great

or small, is a big deal. Succeed on.”

Here at home I took my Bible and looked up the words “humble” and “proud” in the concordance. ( A concordance is included in my Bible.) I was now really interested to find out what the Bible says about being “humble” and being “proud”. This is what I found out:

The Bible does not only say “Be … humble …”, the Bible says “Be completely humble and gentle; …” You can read that in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians in Ephesians 4:2. The Bible has a lot to say about being “humble”, but here is a verse I really like: “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, ….” Peter says that in First Peter 5:5.

And what about being proud?

The apostle Paul says in Romans 12:16 “Do not be proud, …” James says in James 4:6 that “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'” and Peter says also in First Peter 5:5 that “‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.'” And not only that “The Lord detests all the proud of heart.”  Read Proverbs 16:5 

What are we going to do now? I continue to do what the Bible says!

“A list of things to do before you die. Comes from the term ‘kicked the bucket'”. URBAN DICTIONARY

KICK THE BUCKET Slang to die. COLLINS ENGLISH DICTIONARY

THE BUCKET AT THE WELL

“Remember your Creator

Ecclesiastes 12:6

earnestly now,

1.  before the silver cord of life is snapped apart, or

2.  the golden bowl is broken, or

3. the pitcher is broken at the fountain,or

4.  the wheel broken at the cistern [and the whole circulatory system of the blood ceases to function], THE BIBLE (The Amplified Bible)

“I always ask people what is on their list, and many people reply that they’ve never thought about it. But what could be more important than identifying what you want to do in life?”

 With “list” here a bucket list is meant and I am reading all that in the magazine called GOOD READING December 2011 / January 2012 on the pages 24 and 25. ( I found the magazine in our library.)

“I was searching for myself through travel,” I am reading there also.

Let me say first of all that I have a “list”, but I must also say that I have never searched for myself.

I have searched for the meaning to life.

There is a wonderful promise in Jeremiah 29:13,14, where the Lord says: “‘You will seek me and find me  when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the LORD, …” 

I was seeking with all my heart and found the Lord. Actually the Lord found me! That was long ago and from then on my goal in life was to do what the Lord wanted me to do. Straight away I had the desire and I still have the desire to tell others about what the Lord has done for me. I did that in Germany, as a missionary in Thailand (WEC*), as a missionary in Kaikohe (UMM*) and  now in Kaitaia (Retired). 

But back to the magazine called GOOD READING mentioned already.

There it says also, “People now email me, not only congratulating me  for things that I’ve done, but also to share  their own list of goals.”

My  GOAL is to please the Lord Jesus Christ and my GOAL is the salvation of my soul.

Please read Second Corinthians 5:9 and First Peter 1:9 .

In First Peter 1:9 we read:

” …, FOR YOU ARE RECEIVING THE GOAL OF YOUR FAITH, THE SALVATION OF YOUR SOUL.”

*WEC is short for a Missionary Society and UMM the same.