“Bumper year for car sales,” is a very interesting article in one of our local papers, Northern News , January 21, 2015.

Quotes from the article:

“Our love affair with motor vehicles was strong in 2014, …”

“Are cars your whole life?”

“‘We now have the largest number of cars in this country, ever. Our figures indicate that there are now 5.7 passenger vehicles for every 10 people.'”

A question:

Is it true that at certain times around Auckland the cars are almost bumper to bumper?

Summer is the time for the bikes

There are lots of places to go from KAITAIA!

“For generations to come,” it says in the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) pamphlet called “Recreational Fishing Rules,” I picked up yesterday at the store in Pukenui. Whenever I hear the word “generations,” I am wide awake, because I am very much interested in our children and their children after them.

RECREATIONAL FISHING RULES MATTER

“Children”

Fishing rules surely have to do with the next generation. If we don’t keep fisheries sustainable, stick to the rules and fish responsibly, there will be no fish for the generations to come.

But let us move from the worldly, the physical, to the spiritual. We don’t only have a body, but also a soul and a spirit.

GOD’S COMMANDMENTS MATTER

God’s commandments are to be taught to the next generation that the next generation may fear the LORD.

The commandments of the LORD are to be on our hearts. We are to impress them on our children. We are to talk about them when we sit at home and when we walk along the road, when we lie down and when we get up. We are to tie them as symbols on our hands and bind them on our foreheads. We are to write them on the doorframes of our houses and our gates.

The MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries) pamphlet tells us also how to report poaching and suspicious or illegal activity.

I believe that if we would be more diligent in teaching the observance of God’s commandments, there would be less poaching and illegal activity.

“This is Our Place” is where you find photos depicting the Far North’s special places in our local paper. The following is a picture I took and it appeared in The Northland Age on Thursday, January 22, 2015:

At the Beach in AHIPARA

“The Amplified Bible”

“There are lots of books telling you how how to manage when you retire. What most people want is one that tells them how to manage in the meantime.” (Coffee News, Vol 166:3)

There IS a book that tells you how to manage now. That book is the Bible, also called “THE BOOK OF BOOKS” or the “GOOD BOOK”.

The Author of the BIBLE is the Holy Spirit, and once you know the Author of the Bible, the Bible becomes alive for you!

The Bible tells you not only how to manage in the meantime, but also how to manage when you retire. And remember also that some people never reach the retirement age.

“Fishing is one of New Zealand’s most popular outdoor activities,” begins the Ministry of Primary Industry (MPI) pamphlet.

I have done recreational fishing in Germany and in Opononi in New Zealand when our kids were little.

Recreational fishing from the Pukenui wharf is popular and I watched there people fishing today.

Fishing from the Wharf in Pukenui

That actually reminded me again of my kind of fishing and I began to talk to someone who came along with a little dog pulling some kind of large ring. The dog pulled the ring on the ground in order not to get lost. I ended up telling the owner of the dog about what the Lord Jesus Christ had done in my life and is still doing in my life.

Later on also in Pukenui I talked to two more friends who know the Lord Jesus Christ. It is encouraging and it is a joy to talk to our friends who know the Lord, but the greatest joy enters our hearts when we witness to people we meet anywhere. Please read what it says in Acts 1:8.

 In Matthew 4:19 (Mark 1:17) we read:

“‘COME, FOLLOW ME,’ JESUS SAID, ‘AND I WILL MAKE YOU FISHERS OF MEN.'”

At the Beach

Should I be surprised or should I not be surprised?

That is the question, I am asking myself today and I want to tell you why I am asking that question.

Today is Sunday, January 18, 2015.

Let us remember that, because it is important.

Today when entering The Warehouse  here in Kaitaia, I saw a table with a beautiful table cloth on it and the table was decorated with flashing Christmas lights. The table was full of big posters telling me about The Warehouse Christmas Club.

From the table I picked up also a card which tells me the seven things I need to know in order to join The Warehouse Christmas Club. “Make saving for Christmas easy with The Warehouse Christmas Club” is written at the top of the card. Direct Debit forms are also available to make top-ups easier.

We have only one Christmas a year and the next Christmas is almost one year away, but I am not surprised about the table at the entrance to The Warehouse.

But I am surprised how ill prepared we are for “the day of death.”

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 8:8:

“No man has power over the wind to contain it; so no man has power over the day of his death.”

We know when we have Christmas again, but we do not know the day of our death.

“Where are you going to spend eternity?” is the title of a tract you find on our Coffee table.