A Different Kind Of Post
This is different from my other PsalmsOfJohn.com posts in that it’s more an opinion piece about the world and its history in my 73 year lifetime, than it is about Jesus and how blessed all Christians are to be included with Him in His Kingdom.
I was inspired to write about The Kingdom of Heaven,
then felt very strongly to write this too as a companion piece. I am a
volunteer for two conservative politicians, members of our State and Federal
Parliaments; my positions on many matters are carefully thought out and
represent me as a septuagenarian husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather
and Christian. But.
Trish, my lovely wife of 35 years, says that when I start
talking current affairs and world history I just rattle on with all my pet
stuff. So, if you don't like history, or if you disagree with my approach or my
conclusions, or if you find it all boring, then please 'click' onto something
else .. you are very welcome to not
read it. I don't really want to seem controversial or boring ..
I find it painful to watch the news (because I feel that not
much of it has value as news, and that much of what is presented is terribly
biased). I see the world we live in as being in a mess with most in authority
focusing on side issues:
§ The wealth of the world is being concentrated
into a tiny minority (between 1% and 8% of the world's people (depending how you count it), and this is quickly growing worse. Democracy is supposed to
work in the opposite direction!
§ Middle class people almost everywhere are losing
their economic stability and position; their ability to buy houses, educate
their children, have adequate health care and retire comfortably. Most of the
unions which used to protect the workers have had their teeth pulled and are
largely ineffective, those remaining strong tend to lean far to the left and
cause damage to their societies.
§ Criminals, particularly in the drugs,
arms-dealing and slavery industries, seem to have almost total immunity from
detection and prosecution.
§ The finance industry is still being run by the
same group of known criminals who caused the Financial Crisis of 2008, when
millions and millions of people lost 25% or more of their pension funds and
worse. These executives and administrators are supported from the highest levels of their
governments. They make millions, even billions, while ordinary people are no
longer able to reliably save for retirement. We are warned that similar crashes
are now likely to occur from time-to-time.
§ Terrorism is increasing throughout the world
despite big efforts by western nations, where previously-impossible-to-imagine reductions
in civil liberties are being implemented.
§ There are now millions and millions of refugees (many of whom are really economic migrants),
mostly from Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Many are fleeing through
countries where they could find refuge, to totally different cultures in Europe
and the West, that most plan never to
assimilate into, and where they know there is generosity of heart and lots of
money. Until recently, people immigrating to a new country willingly became
culturally aligned with it (without losing their unique ethnic flavour). Often
now the immigrants want to re-make the society they've moved to, to be like
where they're from.
§ We see potential destruction of the traditional
family with a father, mother and children; these social changes are coming to
more and more countries and are always
accompanied with losses of freedom-of-speech and freedom-of-religion (despite
promises to the contrary).
§ World-wide, there are continuing increases In
Anti-Semitism and Anti-Christian rhetoric, persecution and violence, these events are rarely
reported, and the perpetrators almost never prosecuted.
§ Widespread and pervasive political correctness
seems to dominate the media (and they have the microphones, cameras and
printing presses!) where lies are spoken as truth and those who disagree are
ridiculed, excluded from debate and, increasingly, are being criminalised. Now
is a time where people are sent to jail for having a belief, or speaking
objective truth; it's like Soviet Russia and East Germany in the 1950s and 60s!
And it's here in our lovely Western, erstwhile Christian countries. This is
utterly anti-God-of-the-Bible!
Note:
As I was working on this piece our Prime Minister was
deposed and replaced by one of his senior ministers. It was a knife-in-the-back
takeover, which even some journalists regard as disgraceful. This happened in a
conservative Australian Government! I feel completely gutted and am still
unsure about how I should respond.
You can see why Trish gets tired of my talking about this.
It's all so depressing. She's been hearing me for years as my understanding
becomes clearer. But praise Jesus who has already come to save us, and to bring
healing, joy and fullness to our lives! He’s the author and finisher of our faith, the source of our certain hope in the future.
Me As A Child
When I was at school we did lots of British history,
and Commonwealth history too because we are in the British Commonwealth. I
quickly learned that kings and lords, dukes, barons, earls and squires had
almost limitless authority and were tough, hard men; many had gained their
lands and position by violence or craftiness, or their father or grandfather
did. They spent most of the year in their fiefdom looking after their
properties and fortunes with no-one looking over their shoulder. They could
tell the parents of a young person that their child must come and work here
or there; or that they must marry
such and such a person, regardless of the young person's feelings. At will they
could order young men into their military forces. Tough, hard men; willful,
greedy.
My early church memories were coloured by these history
lessons; all the scriptures which talk of "King" and "Lord"
reminded me of English kings and lords .. tough, hard men. It took a while and
a few miracles and deep expressions of love from Christian people before I
could see that Jesus' Kingdom is radically different from all the others!
Heroes In Battle
Another thing. My Dad was a war hero in World War II. He and
two of his brothers went off to fight. My Dad was a navigator on bombers, so he
guided his pilot to the place to be bombed and he pulled the bomb release
trigger (we have one of these amongst his treasures). After many bomb runs his airplane came down in France. The crew were all captured by the Germans and were
being sent off to POW camp when he saw an opportunity and escaped, running flat
out through the local French crowd. The French Underground helped him get back
to England; it took many months, he had to learn the language fluently and fit
in where-ever he was. Dad observed some German installations which he
ultimately reported to the Allied Command; this proved to be very valuable for
the planning of the invasion of France and saved many, many lives. Dad was
given an MBE medal by King George, a very high honour.
Hope Crushed
When John Kennedy was President of the USA he brought fresh
and massive hope to the world, especially among my (then) younger generation.
His assassination was like a huge sand-bag falling on all our heads. What is
now known as a cover-up over his death was strongly suspected then and we felt
a devastating loss of confidence in the world leaders who were left, who let
this happen, and who had previously presided over so many terrible world
events. We believed that JFK was going to get the world moving forward in a
more fair and honest way.
History today may look on those Kennedy years with a
jaundiced eye, (we now know things which we did not know then, and today's
morality is much different). Our perceived reality was that the two big world
wars and the Great Depression were over and the countries most affected by the
second conflict were recovering well, even booming. Science, which was learned
during the wars, was being applied in industry with many new materials and
products. Economic theories in vogue in Western governments (really, the
opposite of today’s supply-side economics and globalisation), were aiding the
expansion of those countries and their middle classes. Free or affordable
education was available to virtually everybody, and there were heaps of jobs.
Young people could persue the career of their choice, (where now, many kids seem
to study what is most available to them, then take whatever job they can get);
I see vastly less job satisfaction among workers today, and greater burnout and unemployment.
Character
Just a couple of generations ago, character in a person was
regarded as one of his or her greatest assets. When you applied for a job or a
University place you would get a character reference from the most important
person you knew; this made a real difference in your application.
When leaders proved to be of weak or of poor character, (mostly by taking what was not theirs, or lying, or cheating, or taking bribes, or by sexual misbehaviour), they would resign from their position, embarrassed; they were recognised as having failed because they showed poor character, that they could not live to a high standard.
When leaders proved to be of weak or of poor character, (mostly by taking what was not theirs, or lying, or cheating, or taking bribes, or by sexual misbehaviour), they would resign from their position, embarrassed; they were recognised as having failed because they showed poor character, that they could not live to a high standard.
Now people say, "O that's my private life, it has
nothing to do with my work". Not true. We are now largely governed and
managed by people who believe that greed is good, and power at any cost is
good; an iPad in one hand and a dagger in the other! Morality in business and
government has fallen low, (and in sport too).
Times Of Change
My parents' generation did things differently than their
parents, and were thought to be quite radical. But my wartime-babies-generation picked up and flew with so many new ideas;
these were largely fueled by the concepts of teen-agers being a separate
socio-economic group, and the arrival of the birth control pill. The
(fast-growing) advertising industry discovered that teens and young adults had
their own tastes and spending power; this opened up huge new markets which were
dictated by ever-changing fashions and trends. The introduction of the birth
control pill (which was probably intended for married women), meant that
suddenly there was unprecedented sexual freedom for singles. All this was world
changing for us, in every way.
Earthly Kingdoms
Our earthly kingdoms looked pretty good in those times of
rising affluence, education and social freedom. The Church meantime was bogged
down with middle- and upper-class (often hypocritical) expressions of morality
and behaviour from two and three generations previously; its leadership presented a lifeless picture of church life, and they clearly disapproved of young people's freedom with money, with their clothes and
fashions, with their music and dance, and especially with their sexuality!
We strongly felt this disapproval! My perception as a young person then, and now as an older Christian family man, is that the Church largely dropped the ball since the early 20th Century. Christians are to be salt and light in their communities; I did not learn this until the 1980s (Matthew 5:13-14).
We strongly felt this disapproval! My perception as a young person then, and now as an older Christian family man, is that the Church largely dropped the ball since the early 20th Century. Christians are to be salt and light in their communities; I did not learn this until the 1980s (Matthew 5:13-14).
Many scientists are also in such a place of denial about this, they do not recognise the spiritual world at all. For decades many, many denominations and independent Churches seem to have been inward-looking, just going their own way; this despite Jesus’ strong admonition for us to be in unity (John 17:23) and to look outwards.
And too, the failure of churches to deal with pedophilia and other sexual sins among their ministers and leaders is an ongoing international disgrace, today many people hold the church in disrepute, or regard us as totally irrelevant.
Today
Now the world seems to all want to follow in the lifestyles
of entertainers, sports stars and celebrities; the media encourage this at
every turn. Much of the church has followed the world and has become corporate,
highly focused on money and success, with glossy presentations indistinguishable
from media events and entirely led from the front, with a growing awe of
celebrity.
At the same time governments now seem to limit their interest to finances,
entertainment, sports, celebrities, and wars; but not much to us, the ordinary
people, us folk.
Good News
Not withstanding all this bad news, Jesus’
church is growing, in some countries it’s growing very fast (particularly in Iran , China Australia,
Hallelujah! Praise Jesus.
"[Jesus'] divine power has granted to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to
his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and
very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the
divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because
of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your
faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control,
and self-control with perseverance, and perseverance with godliness, and
godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if
these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective
or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 1:3-8).
Praise Jesus that He always brings hope. Amen
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Amen.
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