FATHER’S DAY at Postie Plus Kaitaia

FATHER’S DAY

This day is hard to miss. Business people will tell you in their windows alright, when Father’s day is! You can buy “Denim Jeans for Dad” on Father’s Day for only $49.99 $ 10.00 off it says in the shop window.

I have never known my father. I had never the opportunity to send him a card on Father’s day or give him a phone call. All I know about my father is from photos and what my mother told me about him. Once she told me that he went with me to find a special kind of beetle. When we came back we brought one home in a match box. Sometimes I imagine that I remember when that happened. But in fact I do not.

My father died in the second world war. He belonged to the crew of a tank. Maybe his grave is somewhere in Czechoslovakia. I don’t know for sure where he is buried and I don’t think his name is engraved in one of the monuments you find in towns.

It is sad to grow up without a dad and a proper home. But there is something that is even sadder and that is not to acknowledge our Father who is in Heaven and not to know about our home in heaven. As I write it is the second day of September 2007 and it is Father’s Day. It is also my spiritual birthday, because 49 years ago I got to know my heavenly father through the Lord Jesus Christ as I placed my faith in Him.

At that time I did not understand very much. But today I know that God the father is holy and that we are sinners. We all have to die because of our disobedience. We need a substitute. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is without sin, is our substitute. He died in our stead. When we repent of our sins he accepts us and when we die we enter into our eternal home in heaven which he is preparing now for us.

My heavenly father continues to lead and guide me through his Word, the Bible.

Can you rejoice with me that you also have a father in heaven who is leading you until your pilgrimage on earth is over?

READ Matthew 6:9-15 IN THE BIBLE.

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There is a lot of talk about the future and there is also written a lot about the future. Only yesterday I picked up a very interesting folded leaflet with cartoons here in town. It says there the FUTURE can be bright for you too. On the other side it talks about changing attitudes and changing lives.

It goes on to say that domestic violence is wrong. Don’t put up with this: Words are as cruel as fists. Don’t bully your children. Controlling money is wrong. On the next page it talks about the Rights-There is a safe place to stay. The police can help. The law is on your side. Help is a phone call away.

Let’s break the cycle is another headline. You have a right to be save. Do you need support? You can change. Crisis Contacts are given. Other contacts are given. And on top of that you can write your local contacts on the leaflet yourself.

That is all very well!

Only one contact, the most important contact, is left out. And of course there is a really good safe place to stay! The cycle surely needs to be broken The FUTURE can be bright for all of us. But there is only one way. –John 14:6– Our lives can change by calling out for help to the living God and repenting of our sins.

Long ago I read that there is a phone number, not in the phone book, but in the Bible, namely Psalm 50:15. Easy to remember. It says there:

…., and call upon me in the day of trouble;

I will deliver you,

and you will honour me.

I have called that number. I know it works. It works for me. It will work for you too, if you come with all your heart.

wd

The more we are letting go, the more the Lord can give us.

But it is difficult to let go!

When we came back from Thailand at the end of 1979 we had so much stuff that we had to transport some of our belongings by boat in a 40 gallon drum. When the drum arrived at the Auckland harbour I was notified to pick the drum up.

When the custom official took everything out of the drum he came to a Nordmende Radio from Germany. When he demanded tax for the radio I said,” One thing is for sure, I am not paying tax for that radio. I have used the radio many many years in Thailand and it is partly broken, FM does not work any more.”

But he was adament and wanted tax for it. Then I told him blandly,” I am not going to pay tax for that old and broken radio. You can have it or you can throw it here into the water. You have my permission to do so.”

When he saw that I was serious he handed the radio over without me paying anything for it.

Are we willing to let go?

wd

I am in a big bookshop and above the bookshelves filled with the books for sale I see several posters with the following words on them “Fiction Authors A to Z Fiction” And above is written “I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.” Montisquieu

I have experienced that myself also especially with books I was really interested in. I know the authors of a number of books personally and I am especially interested in the books they have written.

That is just at the moment the case because I am reading a book written by a lady who lives here in the same town where I live. In that book she relates her experiences she has had as a missionary in Africa. In fact she has been working there on that continent for many years and in two countries. Very interesting reading indeed.

The best book however to read when one is distressed is the Bible , the Word of the Living God. There is power in the Word of God. There are so many precious promises in the Bible. Of course you can only understand the Bible properly when you know the author personally, namely the Holy Spirit.

There is one promise in the Bible that deals with distress and this promise is also widely known. It is a portion of the Word of God in the book of Philippians. The apostle Paul is writing to the Christians in the town of Philippi in his letter in chapter four in verse 6: Philippians 4:6 ( press on the verse)

What a wonderful promise!

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It was in Whangaparaoa at the Plaza, at the Pacific Plaza. I love that place. What was Woolworth once upon a time is now Foodtown. In the bakery I discovered German Black Forest cake. I love that cake, bought a piece and was going to eat it straight away after paying of course. But I did not have a fork to eat it with. I mentioned that to the lady who sold me the cake. She said,” Forks are for sale over there!” “Yes,” I said,” I know, but then I have to buy a whole packet and I need only one.” ” I get you one,” she said without hesitation.

I walked out of foodtown fully occupied with thinking about her kindness and dreaming about it but at the same time groping for the $ 5,00 note in my back pocket for payment. I had left the shop already ( must have been ten steps passed the checkout)  when I remembered that I had forgotten to pay.

Back I went to the checkout and laughingly I told about my mishap and said,” I could have kept on walking without paying. But I would have had a sleepless night because of my bad conscience. You must loose a lot of stuff.” They agreed. “But we are doing our best watching for thieves”, was the reply. They thanked me for coming back. I finsihed off by saying,” We all need more of the Fear of the Lord!” Ecclesiastes 12:13

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The leaflet came with our last phone -bill from Telecom, and on it was written ‘Keeping you in touch with tomorrow today’. That is all very well.

A leaflet from a Bank says ‘ Thinking about tomorrow? Have a chat with Monique today.’ Monique is an Investment advisor and you can talk to her about planning a comfortable retirement.
But let us see what the Bible, the word of God, has to say about our tomorrow. As you probably know the Bible has two main-parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. Let us first see what is written in the O.T., in the book of Proverbs. By the way, the Bible is actually a library. There are 39 books in the O.T. and 27 books in the N.T. The book of Proverbs says in Proverbs 27:1 (click on the address and read!)

But what does the New Testament say? There is a book called James and in James 4:13 -14 (click on the address and read!) We should actually continue to read the verses to the end of chapter four. Why don’t you find a Bible and do that right now? Do not boast about tomorrow. There may not be a tomorrow for you. Or for me. There are still people dying every day. They are listed every day in the newspaper. Of course, we do not know what will happen tomorrow. We are taking ourselves so seriously and we are thinking that we are important. The Bible says , that we are MIST, that appears for a little while and then vanishes. And that is true. The Bible is true.

I have actually read the rest of chapter four for myself just now and have decided to finish this story with those powerful words from the Word of God,”Instead you ought to say, if it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that. As it is you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone then, who knows the good he is to do and doesn’t do it sins.”

Somebody wrote to us before last Christmas,”See you both at Christmas time.” It never came to pass because he died on Christmas Day and we only came in time for the funeral.

wd

Between one of the doors into Lynn Mall and McDonald’s in Auckland you can see a monument and on that monument you find the following writing: LEST WE FORGET

In memory of those who served and gave their lives.

When I was reading that today I was straight away thinking: LEST WE FORGET

IN MEMORY OF HIM WHO SERVED AND GAVE HIS LIFE!

I am thinking of course about the life of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

It is all very well to think about the people who died in the wars. I also lost my father in the second world war. I never knew him. Never met him. I have no memories of him. In fact I don’t even know where he died. Probably it was Czechoslovakia. May be it was not. Who knows?

So far as I am aware his name is not written on one of those monuments.

O K , we should not forget our dead soldiers who died in battle. But if we should forget, there are not too great consequences. There are also many like me who grew up without a father. It is sad to grow up without a father; but if you have to, you have to. I had to.

But if we forget the Lord Jesus Christ and what he has done for us there are eternal consequences. We are all living forever, either with the Lord in heaven or without him.

Because in order to stand before God, the Father, we need the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, because we are all sinners. As we are, we cannot stand before God, the father.

On top of that, when the Lord Jesus Christ becomes our personal Saviour, God becomes our heavenly Father and looks after us. From my own experience I can say that it  is so good to be able to say, “My Father in heaven.”

wd

On the leaflet I picked up today was written ‘NZBLOOD’ with a drop of blood dripping from the letter N. It continued ‘Give someone a gift of life…..Give Blood At…. ‘ and then the place.

In this case it was the Kaitaia Children’s Complex. And then the exact time. (Day, Date and Hour)

I get from this that blood is a gift of life. Blood is life.

Some more important Facts on Blood

Each donation is able to help up to three people- blood donors are literally life savers. There is no substitute for human blood-healthy donors are the only source of supply.

The Bible in the Old Testament (Leviticus 17:11) says also,” For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”

You ask now,”Why is blood necessary to make atonement (At onement, harmony)?”

God demands blood because he said to Adam,” for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17 at the end-first book of the Bible) Then sin came into the world and brought death in. The word of God must be kept. The Bible says that the life of the flesh is in the blood. And when God demands blood in other words he demands life.

We have sinned and come short of the glory of God. It says so in Romans 3:23,”….for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,…” I must die for my sins or find some substitute to die in my stead. Only Christ was without sin, and therefore he could be my substitute. God loved us so much that he gave his only begotten son to die for us. Thank God for His love.

The Lord Jesus Christ died for me; and because he died for me, I love him. Because he died for me, I will serve him. He robbed death of its sting. He robbed the grave of its victory.

In sending His son to this earth God could be just and justify the ungodly.

Praise God!

It happens almost automatically that I look into the shop windows. It happened again today. The shopwindow was the window of a pharmacy. There was a poster and on the poster it said: ALL YOU NEED IS LEMSIP MAX

It carried on like this: Cold and flu with decongestant capsules.

Headaches and fever/Blocked and runny Nose/Body pains and Aches/Sore Throat/Non -drowsy

Very interesting, I thought. Where had I read that before ? All you need is….. I think it was some time ago where they are selling the New Zealand Herald. I went straight to the place here in town where they are selling the paper. But I could not find All you need is the Herald. All I read was There is a lot more to it. Whatever it may be, all you need is a catchphrase! Most of the time.

I told you a little bit more about Lemsip. But I don’t need to tell you what is written in the newspapers. You have read that probably this morning yourself or you are still going to read about it. More bad news than good news for sure. And then I remembered that I had heard that before. All you need…………….

It was in the heart of London many years ago. The house was in SE London in Upper Norwood and it happened in the house number 19 on Highland Road. I was there to brush up my english. The reason why I remember so well is probably that that was a very interesting and exciting time for me in he UK.

The Telephone booth was right at the door of the main entrance and when I passed the booth one day I heard a voice coming from the booth without eavesdropping saying All you need is Jesus. Yes , it was a Mission house and somebody rang for help.The voice in the booth I recognized as the voice of an old missionary who had been in Congo for 40 years and who had seen revival there. We need many things, but most of all we need the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour. That is really Good News!

In order to stand before God, the Father, we need the righteousness of Jesus. Otherwise we cannot stand before God and everybody will stand before God, the Father one of these days.

Many years ago in Germany, when I was a young Christian we had the Janz Team doing evangelistic outreaches all over the country and one message from Leo Janz was Saviour or Judge? Will God be your Saviour or your Judge one of these days?

Come, and believe in the Lord and escape eternal punishment.

wd

I cannot forget the little note I read many years ago on board the good ship “Tui” in Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. It said that the diver called Mr Harper lost his life diving for treasures off the Three Kings Islands in the north of New Zealand.

Kelly Tarlton’s “Tui” is a museum of shipwrecks and treasures salvaged from shipwrecks are there displayed for tourists and anybody who wants to see them. Aboard the tall ship at Waitangi is also a cafe and restaurant called the “Wheelhouse”.

The steamer, “Elingamite” ( 2585 tons) was lost off the Three Kings Islands in November of 1902. The treasures salvaged from the “Elingamite”are also displayed there. But diver, E. J. Harper, died on January 23rd 1907, after diving for coins. He began to have “deep water pains” and after the third dive on that day he complained about chest pains and collapsed and died. He gave his life for the sake of earthly treasures. What a tragedy.

His life reminds us first of all of the brevity and uncertainty of this life. The Bible tells us plainly that ” it is appointed unto man once to die and after that judgment”. We are also reminded that earthly riches will not prepare us for eternity. Jesus himself asked the question,” What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). The death of Mr Harper brings to mind another death- that of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death was so different. He did not die for earthly treasures that will soon pass away. He died for you and me. By his death he paid the penalty for our sins which separate us from God. By his resurrection He lives to be our Saviour.Through accepting Him into our lives we can be prepared for death and eternity.

As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ I ask myself the question, ” How am I using my life?” Am using it for His eternal purposes? Am I obedient to His commands as found in the Bible? Am I willing to pour out my life for other people? How far am I willing to dive down for eternal treasures- precious lost souls? Obeying God and allowing his love to control us may lead us to places that we find uncomfortable and where we do not want to go.

May the Lord help us to do what he wants us to do and to go where he wants us to go. Some Christians have given their lives for Him. They will be rewarded with eternal treasures in Heaven. How “deep” are we willing to go?

wd