Never once does he feel fear. Never once does he doubt his father is beside him, ready to help once more.
Monthly Archives: September 2021
Ageing in Australia
We cannot address the systemic issues in aged care without learning to celebrate ageing, value older people and recognise that relationships are central to flourishing as we age.
Oh God, help us to remember them
The people in our community who are not famous, attractive, well-connected or ‘useful’ in our pragmatic, cold and calculating economy are a gift to us. They bring grace when we least expect it but often when we most need it.
Ep 209: Why bother with God?
Is God an outdated concept today?
Australian War Hunger
Can AUKUS and an Australian fleet of nuclear subs give us the ‘Peace and safety’ we hope for?
Tho’s Story
Evangelist and worker Tho tells his story of becoming a Christian
Time for Truth: The Ninth Commandment – Part 01
Time for Truth: The Ninth Commandment – Part 01
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour — Exodus 20:16
It is as old as the Garden of Eden, familiar as weeds in the field, common as colds in the winter. Yet, it is also a great evil that has spread faster than Covid on a cruise ship. What is this pernicious thing? We know it as ‘bearing false witness’ or, in short, ‘lying.’ It is the subject of the ninth commandment. While the command seems to be narrow – abstaining from false witness – it actually applies to the entire gamut of the falsehood industry.
The Bible has some very strong things to say when it comes to lying vs. truth. While it goes back to the beginning of human history, lying today has entered into an enlarged and dangerous phase.
We live in a corrupt culture that rejects objective and absolute truth for ‘framing,’ ‘narrative,’ ‘perception,’ and ‘relativism.’ Postmodernism, which represents a radical form of relativism, rejects the certainty of absolute truth. Everyone has their ‘personal truth.’ In a narrow way, they may have a point: Two people can be sitting in the same room. One person says they are ‘hot’ and the other ‘cold.’ Who is telling the truth? Both of them.
Yet, danger lurks beneath. One of postmodernism’s key phrases is ‘perception is reality.’ A person’s perception has replaced truth as the gauge of reality. If the person feels, ‘rejected,’ then they are ‘rejected,’ no matter how much those around them show love. If they think they can fly, who are you to tell them otherwise as they are climbing their way to the top of the skyscraper to jump off? Perception can be stubbornly moody and subjective, blinding a person from real truth. Such attitudes are an incubator for lies and deception. We need to ween people from ‘perception as reality’ to ‘truth is reality,’ but how? More about that later.
Yet, does the law of gravity apply equally to two people who jump off the cliff? If the speeding car crashes into a wall, do all passengers face the prospect of injury or death? Can two people enjoy the same sunshine at the same time and place? Or the same rain?
The Bible is clear: God’s Word is permanent, eternal, universal, and true (John 17:17). While there may be differences of interpretation on some aspects of theology (e.g. pre-tribulation vs. post-tribulation rapture), there should be no disagreement on the fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith, like those listed in Hebrews 6:1-2.
A society that rejects absolute and objective truth, especially God’s, is a sitting target for a pandemic of lies, deception, and delusion. Cultural Marxism, which has zero fidelity to truth or the western constitutional order, seeks to deceive, divide, and conquer. They tell us that mathematics is ‘racist.’ William Shakespeare, the finest playwright of all time, and Beethoven, the finest composer of all time, are denounced as ‘white supremacists,’ as is objective truth itself. The American Medical Association recommends that we delete the line item ‘Sex’ from birth certificates. Why? Because we can’t tell the gender of a new-born by genitalia alone. We can tell the gender of the animal world but now in the 21st Century we can’t on newly born humans? Furthermore, statements by people who are experts and credible in their field are being censored as ‘misinformation’ by ‘fact checkers’ (really, ‘truth-smashers) in positions of big tech power.
Here is some insight from the New Testament. Listen to this warning in 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 (KJV):
Even him (antichrist), whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Did you notice? In the very last days before the return of Christ, there will be:
1. Signs and lying wonders;
2. Wicked deception of unrighteousness;
3. Lacking a ‘love of the truth’ that precludes them from salvation;
4. A spirit of strong delusion will happen to them so that they believe a lie;
5. Condemnation follows after those who refuse to believe the truth but enjoy unrighteousness.
Today, the battle for truth has spilled over into areas that, at least in some cases, were once reliable and credible bastions of veracity. In the ‘spirit of wokery,’ the media, education, judiciary, science, and medicine are more guided by politics and narrative than on bedrock truth. This distortion leads to delusion, which can be very dangerous indeed – akin to drunk driving.
Next time, we will look at the deeper spiritual cause of deception and begin to learn how to respond in the truth.
TO BE CONTINUED
AFGHANISTAN: TIME TO WATCH & PRAY
AFGHANISTAN: TIME TO WATCH & PRAY
Afghanistan maybe half-way around the world – and seemingly on another planet – but the fact is that it matters. Since 2001 it has been a prime focal point of the western world. Responsible citizens need to know what’s happening and then respond accordingly.
After twenty years of war, engagement, and ‘nation-building,’ America and its NATO allies withdrew from Afghanistan on August 31, 2021.
We were told that now is the time.
Intelligence agencies said it would take eighteen months for Kabul to fall to the Taliban.
Only in July 2021, Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the Afghan security forces had the capacity to sufficiently defend themselves. They were US/NATO-trained, possessed eighty billions of dollars worth of high quality US weaponry, and inherited two air bases in Bagram and Kandahar.
Joe Biden said that the Afghan army had 300,000 troops, highly armed, versus 75,000 Taliban. ’There is going to be no circumstance in which you are going to see people being lifted off the roof of an embassy of the United States from Afghanistan’ and, ‘I trust the capacity of the Afghan military.’
Thus, the White House affirmed there was ‘No chance – none’ of repeating the disgraceful scene from Saigon 1975. That’s when people scampered up a ladder to a waiting helicopter on the top of the US embassy to escape the advance of the victorious communist North Vietnamese as they swept into power. It is a photo that haunts America to this day.
Yet, on August 15, 2021, while America troops were still in the country, the Taliban walked into Kabul. Earlier that day, Afghani President Ashraf Ghani fled into exile. He knew what was coming. America only had 2,500 personnel in Afghanistan when the White House announced the withdrawal; then sent 7,000 troops in to supervise it. Call it the ‘Kabul calamity’ and it spells trouble to America and the world.
Kabul collapsed into the waiting arms of the fundamentalist Islamist group called the Taliban. Disturbing scenes from Kabul Airport, the last stronghold of US presence, where desperate Afghanis were crowding at the gate to escape the advancing Taliban. More distressing, the ‘objects’ that fell from the sky were people who clung to the undercarriage of the departing plane, only to lose their grip and fall to their deaths. Or people and children trampled to death because of the crowds. Or, the tragic double-suicide bomber from ISIS-K at the gate of Kabul Airport, killing two-hundred plus, including thirteen US service members.
The Taliban (meaning ‘student’) are now in-charge of Afghanistan. They were in power once before. During their previous administration from 1996-2001, they were known for a strict, puritanical adherence to Islam, some even say a medieval version. They were particularly remembered for their opposition to girls getting educated and blowing up the two 50 metre high Bamiyan Buddhas, 1,500 years old, carved on the side of the mountain, in 2001. Reports from that period included whipping, stoning, torture, beheadings, rapes, forced marriages, girls denied schooling and work, and a return to pre-modern living.
The country will be called the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
Twenty years in exile has made the Taliban stronger, more determined, and supposedly more media savvy. Messages sent out include: Afghanistan will not become a terrorist haven; woman will be respected; no retribution will come to those who worked for the Allies. Sounds good. However, will that be the case? One astute expert said that the Taliban leadership may or may not have control of the various factions under its banner. The transition to full power will be bumpy and some groups are already executing ‘collaborators’ and tossing their bodies into mass graves – with or without the permission of the central authorities.
But it gets worse: the Taliban takeover gave global jihadism a major boost. Thousands of jihadi prisoners in Afghanistan have been released. Would-be jihadists from around the world maybe coming for training and support – a terrorist reunion – like they did before 9-11. Now, the Taliban has the billions of dollars of American equipment at their disposal (of course, the question is, will they know how to use them? Or how will they get them serviced and repaired?).
Can the West fight back? Yes, it can, but will be much harder, since there is no presence in the country and the neighbours aren’t friendly. Like the rise of ISIS and al Qaeda, jihadists want to export their holy war globally and establish a caliphate with Jerusalem as its capital.
China, ever ambitious, will step in and build its new ‘silk road’ westward via Afghanistan, probably through their ‘Belt and Road Initiative.’ They will gain access to Afghanistan’s resources, including the indispensable rare earth reserves, of which China has much of its own, already.
America’s final withdrawal was August 31st because that’s what the Taliban demanded – did you get that, the US took orders and complied with the Taliban?! Later, the White House declared the withdrawal ‘extraordinarily successful.’ Left behind were thousands of Afghanis who worked for the Allied Forces who rightly feared retribution and were promised help and visas by their western partners. An indeterminate amount of Americans and green card holders were also left behind, including a group of foreign exchange students.
Then there is the small but growing indigenous Afghani Christian population, many of them converts from Islam. The Taliban told them we know who you are and we are coming to get you. One Christian told his/her global friends that they would be ‘seeing Jesus’ within the next two weeks. According to Evangelist Robby Dawkins, who works with Afghan believers, that the church is strong and in no way will it be extinguished – though that does not mean the absence of suffering. The poorly planned, rapid troop withdrawal while civilians remained, meant that innocent people were left behind to face a dire fate.
So what went wrong? Plenty. In short, Afghanistan is less a unified nation than an assemblage of different tribal groups under one mountainous roof. Educational levels are very low, the economy depends on foreign-aid and growing poppies for heroin. The US-backed Afghan army, well equipped as they were, could have kept fighting if they had US military back-up. That was no longer possible after a full withdrawal. The Taliban and China were very clear in what they want but the US and the West were confused. That lack of clarity undermined the withdrawal. The US military leadership has become highly politicised and monetised, where for some of the top brass a military career is a means of getting rich than a call to national service. ’Woke warriors’ worried more about ‘white rage’ than ‘Taliban rage.’ Patriotism and national pride were decried, history revised and scorned, and democracy is more of an alliance between the permanent political class, media, and big tech. How can you win an external war when you have a war within?
Daniel Greenfield, an investigative journalist for Frontpage Magazine made these comments:
Afghanistan isn’t a country. It’s a stone age Brigadoon of quarrelling tribes, ethnic groups, Islamic denominations, and warlords manned by young men with old Russian and American rifles. Unlike the fiction of a democratic Afghanistan, that is something they will die for.
And in the coming years you will see some of those same soldiers who laid down their guns fighting and dying for tribes and warlords, even fighting the Taliban, in the real endless war.
The forever war isn’t something we invented after 9/11:Afghanistan has always been at war.[1]
In other words, this isolated landlocked nation is in the forever war and the world powers cannot leave it alone. Out goes the West and in comes China, for now.
It is time to watch and pray for Afghanistan, especially in the areas of protection, provision, and peace:
Pray for peace and stability for the nation;
Pray for America’s civilian and military leadership for wisdom, accountability, and the right priorities;
Pray for those who want to leave to be able to do;
Pray for Afghan refugees, near and far, for protection & nurture;
Pray for the Afghan government to do what is right in God’s sight;
Pray for those foreign and Christian workers who chose to remain and serve;
Pray that the worldwide church unite in prayer for the Body of Christ in Afghanistan, that God will put his hand of protection, provision, peace, joy, and strength upon them.
Amen.
[1] Daniel Greenfield, Afghanistan Didn’t Fall: It Never Existed – Front-page Magazine, August 17, 2021. https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/2021/08/one-thing-we-never-understood-about-afghanistan-daniel-greenfield/
Now the Good News: Churches Fight Back & Win
Fight Back & Win
Are you feeling pressurised, harassed, and battle weary? Join the club. Many are experiencing these very same things. And no wonder … since the start of the decade, there has been an exceptionally intense spiritual atmosphere in the world. Covid-19, lockdowns, BLM riots, a disputed election, Afghanistan withdrawal, are all symptoms of this great unseen spiritual battle.
In our recent editions of Issachar, we focused on the extremely concerning situation in Canada regarding Covid-19 restrictions. Pastors were being arrested and jailed, while fifty plus churches (some/many of them indigenous), were being burned or vandalised.
This month, we focus on some good news. It is how churches, particularly in the United States, have valiantly and fearlessly fought against unjust Covid-19 restrictions. Often, these edicts were unevenly applied to churches, while letting leftist protestors and secular businesses have a long leash. Restrictions were meant to be ‘temporary’ but had the nasty habit of going longer than planned. Stiff penalties were applied.
Here are three victories to report. Take heart:
Victory in Washington, DC
Capitol Hill Baptist Church (CHBC) sued the District of Columbia for unfair Covid-19 restrictions. They were forbidden to have more than 100 people at a gathering, even if it was outdoors, with everyone socially distance and wearing face masks. The fines were pegged at $1,000 per violation. Even during the lethal Spanish flu pandemic of a century ago the church was only closed three Sundays.
We are told that DC has ‘notoriously liberal / progressivist judges’ who would be unsympathetic to anything Christian. That may or may not be the case but someone was praying hard because in October 2020 DC District Judge Trevor McFadden sided with the church. DC’s rules were deemed a substantial burden in the church’s ‘free exercise of religion.’ In addition, the United States Supreme Court (SCOTUS) ruled on ‘freedom of assembly;’ DC’s unfair guidelines violated the American Constitution’s First Amendment rights. With all this in mind, the restrictions were lifted. Municipalities and county’s across the United States will have to think twice before stopping church services, especially when they allow secular businesses and ‘essential services’ relative freedom.
Nine months later the city of Washington, DC agreed to pay the church’s legal fees of $220,000. First Liberty Institute, which exists to protect religious freedom, assisted CHBC in their case. Hiram Sasser, executivegeneral counsel for First Liberty Institute, said, ‘The church is relieved and grateful that this ordeal is behind them. Government officials need to know that illegal restrictions on First Amendment rights are intolerable and costly.’
Two Victories in Los Angeles
Like DC, California is a deep blue state that subscribes to a secular leftist progressive agenda. This explains why churches there suffered extra pressure. Yet, even here, two significant churches took the local authorities and State of California to court for its unfair regulations against church gatherings.
The first was Grace Community Church; John MacArthur, 82, is the senior pastor. Pastor MacArthur is a noted Bible teacher with syndicated radio and television programs. He valiantly stood against the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and State of California in its lopsided restrictions and high penalties. Both the county and the state agreed to pay Grace Community Church $800,000 in total.
The second church was Harvest Rock Church with Che Ahn as senior pastor. Along with a second church, Che Ahn decided to sue the State of California for unfair restrictions and prohibitive fines. The pastor recalled that Harvest Rock was initially compliant with lockdown because it was understood the measure to be a temporary one. Yet, when he saw Governor Gavin Newsom encouraging left-wing protestors by saying, ‘Keep doing it; God bless you.’ They wore no masks, there was no social distancing, yet Newsom promised to protect protestors from legal retribution. All the while the churches were ordered shut.
The governor’s two-standards approach caused the church to launch the suit. After all Newsom imposed a ‘no-worship’ ban while simultaneously encouraging the protestors / riots. Of course, Newsom’s well-publicised violation of his own Covid restrictions spawned a recall vote.
The legal battle was steep and difficult. Che Ahn was threatened with a year’s jail sentence. Some of his church members left. He lost a legal battle at the liberal, San Francisco based ninth circuit court. Finally, his case went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
With the new conservative majority in the nation’s highest court, there have been a few wins. SCOTUS basically upheld the First Amendment clause, and regarding California said churches cannot be legally closed, though some Covid restrictions can be temporarily imposed. This can also apply for all churches in all states – after all, it is a SCOTUS ruling. On top of it all, Newsom and the State of California were ordered to pay Harvest Rock’s legal fees of $1.35 million.
A major reason for these church victories is because the United States, under the First Amendment, has robust religious freedom guarantees. Britain has some as well; Canada has the Charter of Rights that is meant to provide protections, too. In Australia, there are no laws protecting religious freedom. It’s time to rectify this situation – let your federal member of Parliament know your feelings.
NOTE: We believe in praying and obeying government authorities and the police, bearing in mind the principles of Romans 13. Yet, there may come times when the government does an ‘overreach’ that clearly contradicts God’s word. Acts 5:29 says it is better to obey God than man. May we have the wisdom and discernment to know which principle applies and the courage to carry it out.
The Hardworking Servant Messiah: Why Study the Gospel of Mark? Part 02
SUMMARY OF MARK
In the first part of Mark, there is an emphasis on service and power. Jesus is shown to have authority over sin, sickness, and demonic power; healings abounded and the crowds swelled as a result.
Then comes the second part of Mark. If the disciples were unclear about His true identity, it became strongly apparent when Peter confessed Jesus as Messiah (Son of David, Son of God) at Caesarea Philippi. This was followed by the transfiguration, where eternity touched earth on that holy mountain. They also were informed that Jesus’ destiny was to suffer, die, and rise from the dead. In fact, there were frequent mention of suffering as part of the price of discipleship (3:21-22,30; 8:34-38; 10:30,33-34,45; 13:8,11-13). Suffering brings purification and perfection, which also leads to enlargement and promotion.
Should Mark 16:9-20 Be in the Bible?
An on-going controversy involves the last twelve verses of the Gospel of Mark. The Greek manuscript called Textus Receptus, which was used in Luther’s German Bible, the King James Version, and Modern English Version, includes these verses.
The NIV uses an eclectic Nestle-Aland/United Bible Societies’ Greek New Testament, sometimes called ‘Critical Text.’ In its footnote for Mark 16, is says: ‘The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.’Basically, they are questioning the inclusion of these verses in the Biblical text.
If the inference that these verses are not from Mark and/or part of inspired Scripture is correct, it creates problems.
1. Tampering: God’s Word can be corrupted.
2. Doubt-building: If Mark 16 is not legitimately included, what other parts of the Bible are suspect? The purpose of Scripture is to help build faith (Romans 10:17). Such comments can undermine faith.
3. Divine inability: The message this sends is – God is not able to preserve or protect His Word.
4. Addition/Subtraction: There is censure and penalties for ‘adding’ or ‘subtracting’ from God’s Word (Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19). If these verses were not Holy Spirit-inspired, then someone (or ones) will be in serious trouble with the Lord.
Donald Stamps in the Full Life Study Bible, which uses the NIV, says on Page 1512 that vv. 9-20 are omitted (perhaps removed) from two of the oldest Greek manuscripts, they do appear in other old manuscripts, as well as in the majority of Greek manuscripts from all over the ancient world. Many scholars conclude, therefore, that any reading attested to by the majority of ancient manuscripts is likely to be part of the original writing of the Biblical author. Thus, Stamps concludes, Verses 9-20 should thus be considered part of the inspired Word of God.
David W. Daniels in Answers to Your Bible Version Questions, page 117 says, ‘Mark 16:9-20 should be in the Bible, since it is found in almost every Bible manuscript of Mark in existence (emphasis mine) … Wherever you look, the evidence, including Alexandrian manuscripts, is over 99% in favour of keeping the words of God in Mark 16:9-20 … Out of 620 manuscripts that contain Mark’s gospel only two omit the last 12 verses.’
Finis Dake in the Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible New Testament page 55, builds the case that Mark 16:9-20 is part of the original manuscript. He, too, states that their are 618 manuscripts that contain Mark and only two (we know them as Codex Sinaitic and Codex Vaticanus) do not. He adds that the Syriac, Gothic, Egyptian, Armenian, and Georgian versions contain Mark 16:9-20. The Latin version has 8,000 manuscripts in existence, copied from Jerome’s Vulgate 382 AD (who had access to the Greek New Testaments of his day). The Vulgate has these verses and so did the 2nd Century Vetus Itala, from which it was a revision. Like the Septuagint, the Vulgate served the church for centuries all the way to the Reformation.
The Church Fathers give testimony about Mark 16. There are 100 writers older than the oldest Greek Manuscripts and 200 more between 300 to 600 AD. All these church fathers attest to the originality of Mark 16:9-20. Vaticanus has a blank space where they verses could have been (before being removed). Also, Codex Vaticanus has missing Genesis 1-46; Psalm 105-137; Hebrews 9:14-13:25; all of 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Revelation. Why don’t the critics of Mark 16:9-20 say that these other portions should be left out as well?
Doctrines taught in Mark 16:9-20 are taught elsewhere in the New Testament:
1. Post resurrection appearances: Mark 16:9-14 is in John 21:14 and elsewhere;
2. The Great Commission: Mark 16:15 is in Matthew 28:19-20; Luke 24:47-53; Acts 1:1-8;
3. Power in Preaching:Mark 16:16 is in John 3:16-20; I Corinthians 1:18-21;
4. Preaching with signs and wonders: Mark 16:17-18 are in Matthew 10:1-8; 17:20; Mark 9:23; 11:22-4; Luke 10:19; John 14:12;
5. Ascension of Christ: Mark 16:19 is in Luke 24:49-53; Acts 1:9-11
6. Word of God, duly preached, confirmed by signs: Mark 16:20 with signs Mark 16:17-18 is in Hebrews 2:3-4; Acts 2:43; 5:16.
One need not wrestle or lose sleep over these verses. In light of the above comments, my recommendation is take them as from the mouth of God. They will not lead you astray.
TO BE CONTINUED