Honesty is good!
The link below provides a heart warming story and cuts to the heart of truthfulness especially as we live in a world that is obsessed with winning at all costs even to the point of deceit and lies.
If you find no time or consideration for morality then look no further. However, if you believe as I do that rules are there for the sake of impartiality that all might receive equality then this story will appeal to you honesty is good
Graham
Climate change - yeah, right!
So, you have been led to believe by climate change kooks that the planet needs to be saved from the excesses of the environmental terrorists like me, eh?
Well, it appears the scientists that once promoted this junk science are now scurrying away like the proverbial rats deserting the sinking ship.
Check this out Middle class remorse
Graham
Islam is spreading like the plague yet we are constantly being reassured that there is nothing to worry about, it’s a “religion of peace”.
Think again complacent one. Check out what Dr Michael Yousef says.
Did you take notice? Are you now ready to listen to what many have been saying about this insidious religion?
If not then don’t start bleating when the take over is complete. Well, maybe you might bleat and whine but you won’t for long because you will be silenced – by the sword.
Graham
The young first century preacher, Timothy gained his knowledge of salvation from the Holy Scriptures through possession of faith in Christ Jesus (II Timothy 3:15). He was following his mother and grandmother’s advice from childhood and in later years was under the apostle Paul’s instruction to follow that pattern of sound words (II Timothy 1:13) that when committed to is able to save one’s soul (James 1:21). Now, what was true for this young man is also true for you and me for according to Jesus these sound words will endure as truth until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).
The Koine Greek [original language of the New Testament] word translated as “pattern” or “form” in II Timothy 1:13 is hupotupōsis. Strong’s dictionary definition says this is a compound word meaning typification after a sketch or to imitate a pattern. To illustrate one might use the strike of a type face onto a piece of paper and find the exact image of the type replicated on that piece of paper. Further to this the word translated “sound” in II Timothy 1:13 is hugiainō which Strong’s defines as something that is true or incorrupt.
Only from the word of God can one receive assurance that following such one can be saved (Acts 4:12). Except you follow the pattern of sound words through faith in Christ Jesus, remember your faith can only come about by hearing and applying Christ’s word (Romans 10:17), you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven as your eternal home. That means if you follow a man’s interpretation such as is presented by various denominations and cults claiming to be Christian, then you will not go to heaven – end of story. Why do I say this? Because denominational Christianity and cults are sectarian and are condemned in scripture (cf., I Corinthians 1:10ff; 4:6, Galatians 1:6-9).
Hear the apostle’s plea: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (II Corinthians 13:5). Paul is saying that your obligation is to make sure you are saved by self examination of proof; that is, not taking the word of confirmation from others such as the so-called pastor, preacher, father or minister etc. Further, he says that unless you are in Christ i.e. saved by being baptised in water according to the sound words found in these sample of verses: Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; I Corinthians 12;13; Galatians 3:27; Titus 3;5; I Peter 3:21, then you are no more than a “reprobate” i.e. unapproved, worthless, rejected, castaway soul.
Come out from among them and be added to the only church Jesus built and paid for with His blood – church of Christ
Graham Walker
Often we hear people talk about having God “on their side.” Certainly the idea is comforting and reassuring. However, does God look at Himself as being “on our side,” even if we are His faithful children? In one way He does, in the sense that He has promised to be with us in our lives as Christians (Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5-6). One of the richest blessings the Christian has is that of the abiding presence of God and His constant help.
There is another sense, however, in which it would be presumptuous to view God as being “on our side.” In the days just before the conquest of the city of Jericho, Joshua looked up and saw a man standing near him with a sword in his hand.
Obviously startled and momentarily unguarded, Joshua asked him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?” The soldier answered, “No, but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come” (Joshua 5:13-14). The commander of God’s army was on God’s side. Whatever else that meeting did for Joshua, it certainly reminded him that God was not in his army, but that he was fighting for God’s cause.
It is possible for people to approach God with the idea of trying to force Him (or at best, to make Him appear) to be on their side of some issue or dispute. What begs to be understood, however, is that God is not there to line up with us on our side of some human cause; rather, we need to make His cause our cause. We might imagine Him to say, “I’m not joining your team–you need to join mine.”
The question to ask regarding any situation, dispute, doctrine, practice, organization, or personal agenda is not “Whose side is God on?” but rather, “Who is on the Lord’s side?” (Exodus 32:26).
Author unknown
Want to know how you can truly have God on your side? Go to www.timarucofc.org.nz
So, you say it is "hate speech", huh!
Against the backdrop of the ninth anniversary of what is commonly called “9/11” in the USA and the on and off again book burning of the Qur’an by Terry Jones, Gainesville, FL Dove World Outreach, much has been said about Mr Jones’ supposed hate speech. Even the editor of the Timaru Herald could not resist putting his two cents worth in by calling such an action as crossing the line “into hate speech” (10/9/2010). I guess the dear editor, like the rest of the western world, is perplexed as to the reason why such an individual would want to take such action even though Jones and the church he ministers to planted signs stating “Islam is of the Devil”. Perplexed because they cannot figure why Jones would be so Islamaphobic, the new buzz word sweeping the religiously ignorant. After all, Islam is a religion of peace according to both the current and the previous USA President’s opinion. Many pseudo-christians concur such as Roman Catholics, Anglicans, and Methodists etc who have made statements or whose rhetoric is laced with similar such thoughts. One only need view some of the pin heads on Fox News such as Bill O’Rielly, Glen Beck, Juan Williams, Bernie Goldberg, Ann Coulter et al issue the standard media release that Islam is a religion of peace and it is only the fundamental fanatics which are the non-peaceful nuts. Now that is supposed to be a conservative news and commentary media outlet which means the other outlets in the USA, UK, Europe, dear old aunty Television New Zealand and TV 3 are just unread liberal twits when they gush all over at what Rudyard Kipling called the “thuggee cult”. Oh, and just before you rip me to shreds regarding some terms and claims made here, let me point out that “pinhead” is a term frequently used by Bill O’Rielly, the most famous of Fox News commentators when pointing out someone who does not conform to standards set by him and Fox News owner the pseudo-christian Rupert Murdoch. I also realise that both the media and politicians are walking a nervous diplomatic tight rope not wanting to inflame the nuts that run the Islamic fanatics bent on jihad and fatwa’s but come on, give us a break, when you know something is wrong then at least have the fortitude and conviction to stand up and say so. I will give Terry Jones this; he at least is willing to speak his convictions. He may be wrong, Bible wise, [for the holy rollers i.e. Pentecostals of which he claims allegiance to dream of the day when Jesus will set up his kingdom on earth and sit ruling on a throne in modern day Jerusalem despite the fact that the kingdom is already here on earth as the church of Christ and He will come again in the clouds and not step foot on earth but destroy it with fire cf Colossians 1:13-18; I Thessalonians 4:16-17; II Peter 3:10-11], but he is no coward.
Now, let me be clear here, I believe Jones is misguided for even suggesting such an action as book burning but I can understand his frustration when he sees and hears many in the USA espousing a weak kneed approach to the ever growing Islamic invasion and its accompanying severely oppressive sharia law. Simply put, Islam is nothing more than a man made religion no older that 600 AD. Just like many cults that have found their way into acceptability it was as a result of the imaginations of a madman. It should have gone no further than the musings of one man except thugs and bullies could see an opportunity to seize power and corruption and when you map the course of this horrifically oppressive religion then one can see what I mean. The leaders of this scourge rule by fear and intimidation which is exactly what the Qur’an demands.
Mohammad was a man who could not read or write yet invented Islam and the Qur’an claiming supernatural inspiration as the source. His followers wrote down what he had memorized yet he himself was unsure whether it was from God or a jinn; that is, an evil spirit, hence the reason I say he was a madman.
Sir Norman Anderson, Cambridge, and University of Cairo, who is considered to be a renowned authority on Islamic studies, said, “Muhammad suffered in early life from fits…was prone to dreams… cruel and vindictive to his enemies: he would stoop to assassination; and he was undeniably sensual.”
May I suggest this behaviour is thus borne out in his speeches and epitomised in the following: Sura 4:93 “Slay them wherever you find them” and Sura 5:55 “O, true believers, take not the Jews and the Christians for your friends. They cannot be trusted. They are defiled – filth.” Yes, you read it right; this is the supposed peaceful Islamic creed.
Now that doesn’t sound like a religion of “peace” the term that is currently all the vogue in the liberal led media and among politicians who want us to believe it is. Instead of calling the likes of Terry Jones a monger of hate speech, perhaps if they were to undertake a proper reading of the Qur’an it would reveal who the real hate mongers are. Compared with the New Testament and its message of love thy neighbour as you would yourself (Matthew 22:39) or love your enemies leaving vengeance for wrong doing to God (Romans 12:16-21), the Qur’an reads just as Terry Jones says, “of the Devil” with hundreds of passages inciting followers to rule and subjugate by the sword rather than by love. I reason that is why the sectarian forces of Islam such as the Sunnis, Taliban, and Al-Qaeda etc think the way they do because they take the Qur’an literally and follow their spiritual leader, Mohamed in all that he says to do. The rest of Islam can be likened to those who follow only because they fear for their lives if they do not at least mouth it. Certainly that is the case in hard line countries such as Iran and Afghanistan. The true meaning of Islam is “submission” for if you submit you will have peace otherwise you will be sure to face sharia and possibly death. Here is a sombre note directed at the liberal element in western society that feel we should not fear Islam, you ought to think again, especially if your liberal ways involve say homosexuality, adultery, drinking etc – your life will be taken from you under the oppressive sharia law.
Hate speech is such an emotive term that is often misapplied, usually by those who are offended by their opponents’ position to their way of life, whether it be political or moral. Such people have little regard for reason, for such opposition is rarely researched or studied in an objective sense. Personal opinion overrides sound hermeneutic reasoning. An example of this can be found regarding the Bible’s opposition to homosexuality. Those claiming such opposition is blatant hate speech when used by committed by Bible believers will often rush to print off Romans 1:26-27 or I Corinthians 6:9 that condemns homosexual behaviour as unnatural and a preventer of eternal life in heaven and then announce in the loudest possible terms that the author of such is an unloving, homophobic chauvinist and if anyone, today, including yours truly, dare use such to condemn homosexuality that person is equally full of hate speech. It does not rationally occur to such people that their ranting also implies God as being a hate speech proponent as well because the author of these two letters to the church of Christ in the first century was inspired by God the Holy Spirit (II Peter 1:21) [and yeah, I know, this title of entity grates on the nerve of the cultists such as JW’s but I care not for your perversion] in order that men may “believe in [Jesus] through their word” (John 17:20). And yes, some of those people supposedly want God to save them – ha! The non-believer at least have the excuse of ignorance [not that ignorance is going to save them in the end according to Acts 17:30-31; II Thessalonians 1:7-9] but those who claim the Bible is their way of life and godliness are nothing but pseudo-christians for in their stupidity, for they have zeal for God but not in accordance with true Bible knowledge (Romans 10:2).
The bottom line is this: those that stand up and announce Islam to be a false religion because it is based on the whims of a man and not on the logically, provable God of the Bible are not hate speech harbingers but are merely telling it as this God wants it exposed as (cf Ephesians 5:11).
Now, perhaps the atheistic, pseudo-christian denomination, agnostic et al run media and pseudo-christian politicians will understand that Islam is of the Devil after all – but, then again, I am not going to bank my money on that one.
Graham
The principle of restoration is as old as the hills. Someone might restore a piece of antique furniture which is to say “bring back to former place or condition or use, re-establish” (Oxford Dictionary). You could say that as you looked upon that piece of furniture there would be no difference between the time of its origin and the present day. In order for the restoration to be completely authentic there must be an original plan, pattern or blueprint to guide and direct in the process. Don’t let the doubters convince you that it can’t be done; because it can. These doubters might say the materials or ingredients are not available today for true restoration meaning you need to use a suitable substitute. However, it would not be a true restoration if a substitution were implemented. For example, a 17th century table stripped of its dilapidated protective finish would not be truly restored by applying an epoxy resin for such a finish was not available to the original cabinet maker. All the old techniques and materials are available today albeit not readily available, but nothing is impossible for the truly conscientious. So it is for those seeking to restore the condition of the church belonging to Jesus Christ.
This leads me to think about how many people get to a stage in life or perhaps go through a stage in life whereby they want to discover God. They genuinely and sincerely want to find out what God wants them to do in life in order to be pleasing to Him. Now, before I continue, I am not talking about the god of the Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or the thousand or so gods that seem to exist in the minds of some. I am talking of the God of the Bible Who says He is unique in that He is one and only God in the sense of unity. This God is three individual identities that make up the “Godhead” (Romans 1:20). There is God the Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4), God the Son Jesus Christ (John 20:28) and God the Father (John 1:1). To the cultist that cannot come to grips with this concept and therefore denies the above then all I can suggest is restudy, for sound hermeneutics proves conclusively the Genesis Elohim is one and the same as in John 1;1-3 and Colossians 1:13-20.
Oh, and you might like to consider this, God the Father is in heaven along with the Holy Spirit while Jesus whom Thomas referred to as “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28) was on earth in the presence of the disciples. Three separate beings in two separate places yet all referred to as God according to the references I have given. Something to think about, eh!
So what is one to aim for in order to please the God of the Bible? For it becomes apparent from reading the Bible from beginning to end that there are three distinct groups of people spoken of within its pages. Which group is it that one is to emulate if one is to please God?
The first group being the “fathers” referred to by scholars as the Patriarchs is found in Genesis 1 through Exodus 20 which tells how some heads of families such as Noah, Job, and Abraham had direct communication with God about what they should do in order to obey God (cf. Hebrews 1:1). Then came along Moses who was selected by God to receive the law written on tablets of stone that would exclusively govern the Hebrew race of people, according to Deuteronomy 5:2-3, toward a predetermined point in time at which God would send His Son Jesus Christ to be born in human form and walk and talk among men in order to sympathise with man’s plight and take their place to suffer the penalty of sin which was due them (Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 2:17-18). Such events culminated at the cross on Calvary’s hill thereby ushering in a new group of people called Christians (Acts 11:26). It is this last group that man must belong to in order to execute the will of the Father in heaven (Matthew 7:21) and are to “listen” to Jesus (Mark 9:7) as God now gives instructions exclusively through Him and His apostles (Hebrews 1:2; John 16:13; cf Matthew 28:20 “even to the end of the age”), for the first two groups had laws that have since been abolished at the death of Jesus on the cross according to Ephesians 2:15, Colossians 2:14 and Hebrews 1:2. What characterises these people first called Christians at Antioch (Acts 11:26) is their obedience (Mathew 7:21) to the way they are saved, the way they are organised and the way they worship. In fact these people were derogatorily known as “belonging to the Way” (Acts 9:2) in the first century. It is not long before one sees “the Way” as people who make up the ekklesia i.e. the called out aka the church. The church that Jesus said He would “build” (Matthew 16:18) and pay for with His blood (Acts 20:28). This church is made up of the saved that were “added” (Acts 2:41, 47). It is this church that must be restored if one is to enjoy the privilege of the heavenly home.
This church is identified by its characteristics in a not too dissimilar fashion that one identifies the origins of an antique piece of furniture or a classic motor vehicle. Either project of restoration requires study and research of designer, time and place of manufacture. The plan might be easily obtained forensically and matched to what is commonly known. For instance paint sample analysed will lead to the correct colour and composition in order to repaint to restoration standards. Remember to restore the vehicle means to follow the original pattern, but if one were to digress from that pattern and use, for example, paint from another model and year, then one would be merely reforming it; making an amendment but it would not be restored as it was first made in the beginning.
So, where do you go in order to research and study the design of this restored church? Let me say; only the Bible contains the pattern for the church, “for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Look at the time and place of the original church, i.e. first century, specifically the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem (Acts 2). In Acts you will see what is required to be added to this church – repent and be baptised (Acts 2:38). So, if a church says all you need to do to be saved is to ask Jesus into your heart and pray a manmade prayer, you will know that is a substitution meaning it is not the restored church of the Bible.
Worship God consisting of “breaking of bread” i.e. communion of the Lord’s death upon the cross as instituted by Jesus in Matthew 26:26-29, “prayer”, “apostles’ teaching” on the first day of the week i.e. Sunday as Pentecost always, without exception occurred on the first day of the week as it was the 50th day after the Passover. So, if a church says that they worship God on Saturday as do the Adventists then you will know that is a substitution meaning it is not the restored church Jesus the designer, builder and owner would not be pleased with.
Look, if you are genuinely interested in the restored church of the Bible which exists in your community then go to www.timarucoc.org.nz and read an article or two, follow some links I have provided, do your research and get back to the restored church of the Bible. Take care that you give those man-made institutions a wide berth that is, of course, if you want to go home to heaven.
Graham
Accept no substitute
As I read last Saturday’s paper I was moved to think about the influence upon the killers of a young man are reportedly up for their parole hearings at various tim
Killer's Intersection
es this year. Much of the article deals with one of the six equally young men who on a warm February night in 2008, fuelled by a belly full of alcoholic beverages, kicked and stomped Wayne Bray into a coma. Wayne would eventually die from injuries received that fateful night some four days later in Timaru Hospital. One of his killers, now 20 year old, Ashley Moffat is said to be dealing with the consequences of his terrible actions with a great deal of distress and so he should, for he is partly responsible for directly snuffing out the life of an innocent man.
What got me thinking though, were not so much the actions of these hooligan killers, who were obviously out of their right mind but the actions of those indirectly responsible for this senseless “manslaughter”. These people are the manufacturers and the distributors of the drug consumed by these youths that night. Were these faceless scumbags held accountable by the justice system of New Zealand? In a word, no! We need to ask, Why not? Surely, if they were not supplying this mind altering substance then these young men would have been able to think clearly of the consequence of such actions and would see that to pursue such madness would be to go against some semblance of morality they had instilled in them by parents, school teachers etc.
Of course the wine, spirit and beer manufacturers and distributors stand at arm’s length regarding responsibility claiming it is up to the individual to exercise restraint. However, they are quick to rush to the highest court in the land i.e. the NZ Government and lobby hard should their profits be challenged by individuals and the communities’ whose outrage of recent months has been to voice an increasing tide of opposition to the easy ability of youth to access alcohol from these immoral manufacturers and distributors.
Seeing as the majority of winebibbers and the people’s representatives have dropped the ball regarding this issue we are left with how the final authority of the universe views the subject of indirect responsibility. We need not dwell on whether God approves of imbibing mind altering drugs such as alcohol beverages, for He is clear such an intoxified state is a hell bound sinful action. The writer of Proverbs points out the wisdom of a king’s mother who tells him that in order to reign effectively over those of whom he is responsible, he must not consume alcohol (Proverbs 31:4-6). God says through Paul that drunkards will not go to heaven (I Corinthians 6:10; Galatians 5:21). God also says, to be drunk on alcohol is to be dead of life (Ephesians 4:18). Oh, and before you drag out of context John 2:1-10 where Jesus turns the water into wine and thereby giving one licence from Christ to drink alcohol, consider this: would Christ, the author of morality Whose very word is against drunkenness, not be a hypocrite for contributing to increasing drunkenness by producing more alcohol? Perish the thought. And before we move on, don’t be tempted to rearrange I Timothy 5:23 where Paul says to a young man to mix some wine to the water, for to do so is to ignore the purpose behind the apostle’s advice which is to aid gastric illness that Timothy was suffering from. A remedy that was common in those days when one researches Hippocrates, Plutarch, and Pliny etc. Want to find out more? Go to: www.christiancourier.com and type: “drinking”, “social drinking”, “drunkenness”, “alcohol” etc
So then, let us dwell on those verses in the Bible that talk of indirect responsibility. You have probably heard of a “stumbling block”. It is literally or figuratively an obstacle that causes someone to trip and fall. The Levitical code prohibited placing such a thing before the blind (Leviticus 19:14). Mature Christians were to be mindful of the young in the faith that they do not make their younger brethren stumble as a result of their greater knowledge. An example of this can be found in Romans 14:1-13 where one is not absolved of personal responsibility but equally those who know better ought not, by his knowledge, cause a weaker soul to become discouraged by way of that greater knowledge which could become an overwhelming burden of apostasy, noted as an obstacle or a stumbling block in this instance.
Extrapolate that out to the wider community, for Christ has authority over all man-kind whether they agree or not (Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:2), God will judge the actions of the alcohol industry with the view to reap vengeance for causing people to stumble by using the mind altering drug they pedal.
Sure, many of those within this industry do not give God a second thought, even going so far as to mock Him in various advertisement campaigns. However, there are many peddlers of this destructive liquid who believe in the God of the Bible, albeit through the false teachings of denominations and cults. Notwithstanding, how many, I wonder, work for breweries, vineyards, pubs and restaurants, supermarkets, liquor outlets, work behind the bar at the golf club, RSA, etc? And I somehow wonder if all of these mentioned were to know just what God has in store for them for causing such affliction (cf., II Thessalonians 1:6-9), then would they fear enough to cease and desist from such association? I am certainly not going to hold my breath on that one.
God declares that all men everywhere should repent for He has set aside a day when all will be judged according to their actions in this life (Acts 17:30-310). I would sure hate to be caught for or contributing to the profiteering from the misery of the likes of Wayne Bray and his kin, for it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31).
Graham
I thought I would Google the world’s most popular church blogs the other day and what do you know, all I could find was fancy story tellers, some of whom would fit well in and around the wacky backy sniffing hippies of the 60’s and others sound like they are trying to sell you life insurance that behind the scenes contains more fish hooks than Captain Phil Harris’ fishing boat on Deadliest Catch.
Most all talk of this “emerging church” waffle which is strange, for when you define “emerging” one denotes that which is up and coming, rising, budding, promising etc. That is why I say strange because nothing could be further from the truth at least as far as the objective truth of the Bible is concerned. Rather than emerging, the true church has already emerged and has been around for nigh on 2000 years.
Now I am talking about the church; not some church conjured up in the minds of theologians or kings of the 16th Century onward such as Calvin’s reformed Roman Catholic, King Henry VIII’s Church of England, John and Charles Wesley’s Methodist, John Smyth’s Baptist, John Booth’s Salvation Army or the myriad of cults and holiness movements such as Assembly of God, New Life etc. No, I am talking of the church of Christ, you know, the church Jesus said He would build and die for (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28). The church of singular nature that the apostles spoke of; that is, the church Jesus is head of and where one must be added if one is saved (Colossians 1:18; Acts 2:41, 47).
Now this does make the manner of this so-called emerging church which these thousands of bloggers speak of seem somewhat bewildering which really begs the question as to what and where be the real church of the Bible. So the question ought to be asked: Where is that church and can I find this church written in the Bible? After all, when Jesus severely rebuked the “father of lies” regarding his erroneous thoughts about Christ and His ministry, He said, each time, “It is written” (Matthew 4:1-11) which means the source of our inquiry must be written down.
So, unless it is written or bears:
Don’t be fooled by the popular bloggosphere mob who waffle on like some new age hippie wannabes, or those smooth of speech out of some seminary for they do not lend authenticity to their claims of practicing Christians in the true sense of the noun. In fact you could call them emerging all right; emerging as another form of lie.
Check out the true church at www.timarucofc.org.nz but beware your sensitiveness may very well be wounded. Just remember, before you get all hot under the collar over what I have written here and rush to print, cascading me with subjective vitriol with phrases such as “how dare you judge me like that” or “where is the love and forbearance” – fools despise wisdom and pride goes before destruction (Proverbs1:7; 16:18).
Graham
Ok, so I’m a golfing addict. I not only play or some might say attempt to play golf but I love to Google every aspect of the game, buy magazines and yes, dare I say it, I watch it on TV to my wife’s tolerant bemusement. So it will come as no surprise that I will use Dustin Johnson’s recent gaffe at the final round of the August 2010 PGA Championship played at Whistling Straits, Kohler, Wisconsin to illustrate the blunder that many so-called Christians make when it comes to the rules of Christianity found exclusively in the New Testament of the Bible.
So, “What happened at Whistling Straits?” I hear those of you who are not the slightest bit interested in the sport of dimple ball bashing dare ask. Well, Dustin Johnson, one of the many young guns of golf trying to dethrone the philandering king of golf, Tiger Eldrick Woods drove the ball off the 18th tee too far right where it ended up in a sand trap. Before playing the second shot to the green he grounded the club in the sand. Now, every golfer worth his or her hard earned handicap knows unequivocally that to ground the club in a sand trap or hazard before striking the ball is penalised by adding strokes to the final result of the round. But even should you not have enough handicap worth speaking of you should take care to read the local rules which in this instance the PGA posted in the clubhouse, locker room and on every tee box that players should keep in mind all sand in or outside the ropes is deemed to be a sand trap and will incur a two stroke penalty if your club head touches the said sand. Mr Johnson admitted in an interview, after the game, that he “should have looked at the rules sheet a little harder”. A commentator, Jeff Sluman, said “ultimately the player is responsible to know the rules of golf and the rules of the golf course”. Absolutely right! Dustin Johnson was extremely gracious about the whole matter even though he finished the Championship tied for first but relegated to fifth because of the two stroke penalty thereby missing his chance to play off for outright first with Martin Kaymer and Bubba Watson. His acceptance was one of total resignation because the rules are simply non negotiable in golf.
The rules for Christianity play out in much the same manner. Oh, before I go on, I hear the bleating of the liberal element who say Christianity is not about rules or law. Sorry, but just two verses among many will prove otherwise. The first is John 14:15 “If you love Me you will keep My commandments”. Jesus is not talking here about keeping the Law of Moses but He says “My commandments” which in the context of His instructions to the apostles would be given by the Holy Spirit. Commands, as any service man or woman will tell you denote obligation and from what I Corinthians 9:21 and Galatians 6:2 say the obligation is to the “law of Christ” because just as Moses was a law giver who gave commands to Israel so, too, was the mission of the King and High Priest of Christianity to hand down law with its respective commandments. Secondly, bear this in mind, John wrote to Christians in the latter half of the first century and reminded them that the practice of sin is “lawlessness” that no Christian should be involved in, for “no one who abides in Jesus sins” (I John 3:3-6). Notice, sins are defined as lawlessness meaning there must be a law to abide in if there is to be lawlessness.
So getting back to the rules for Christianity; men, everywhere, and that includes you reading this, would do well to understand that just as the PGA saw fit to post the sand trap rules so all players could see and know them, too, these rules of Christianity have been posted for nigh on 2000 years now in the form of the world’s continued number one best seller, the Bible. There is not a country on earth that has not been preached to the message of salvation. No one can legitimately say they were not given a chance to know, after all, by the time Paul wrote to the church in Colosse in c. 60 AD, all creation were in possession of the saving message (Colossians 1:23). God is not going to bend the rules just because of a person’s oversight anymore than the rules officials of the PGA could turn a blind eye to Dustin Johnson’s faux pas. Think about it for a minute. What justice is there to be had if that were to happen? What about all those who are now languishing in torment for the same reason of not reading the rules. Would that not show ambiguous partially? It sure would, for that is exactly the reason the rules officials had to require the two shot penalty on Mr Johnson because in 2004 they imposed that exact same penalty on one Stuart Appleby for exactly the same reason. It is called impartiality, justice, consistency etc. Imagine the up roar from Apples, as he is affectionately known, had the PGA turned a blind eye to Mr Johnson’s mistake and rightly so, many would agree.
The bottom line is this: don’t make the Whistling Straits blunder of not reading the rules concerning your eternal salvation of which God has made abundantly clear you need to action if you want to go to heaven. You ask, “What are the rules?” Well, take a nosey at http://www.timarucofc.org.nz for more insight to the rules concerning salvation but beware, it is, as Bill O’Reilly is fond of saying, a “no spin zone” of truth; therefore, what you read probably will conflict with that which you have been led to believe.
Graham Walker
Antipodean59's Blog 