
So, I shrunk my Windows drive on this laptop and loaded Kubuntu Linux because I quite like writing in LibreOffice which is the default Linux office suite. I also like the disconnection from Google Drive and Microsoft Onedrive while saving my work to the hard drive on this machine. It is so peaceful.
I’ve been trying the audio bible function on You Version lately. I find it really easy to listen to and to cover quite a few chapters at a time. It is much easier to close listen than to close read. I have tried the New King James, the New Living Translation and New American Standard 2020. The New King James has a really poetic sounding narrator which is by far the coolest. The New Living Translation is very good at unpacking concepts while the New American Standard is by far the clearest translation and potentially the least inaccurate.
I have found using the audio feature the clearest method of comparing the bible versions that I have ever been able to use. I wholeheartedly encourage anyone who wants to dig deeply into the scriptures to consider using the You Version bible app and give it a shot. A really easy and relaxing method of following the themes in the bible with much greater clarity. It works well beside conventional bible reading methods as well.
I was talking to a non Christian friend at work the other day. He was talking about another man who works at the school and relating his discussion with the man about Trump and the Middle East. It turns out that the other man was a Christian and described the actions of Trump and Iran in Christian terms to my friend.
My friend said that the other man had said that the end of this situation would see the return of Jesus Christ. My friend said if the man had of had the time he would have tried to convert him to Christianity. I didn’t expand on the conversation with him as he had already made up his mind about becoming a Christian or not.
I was impressed with the Christian for making a good attempt to lead my friend to Christ through a discussion of global current events. This all highlights the opportunity to share the gospel with folk through the evolving world situation. Opportunities arise wherever we are.
I must admit I tend to be much more subtle with sharing my faith with my colleagues and I usually only mention the odd bible verse that might apply to a discussion of children’s behavior. An example is that scripture used in Judges about every man doing what was right in his own eyes. This applies so well to many of the youngsters in schools these days.
This all underlines the opportunities that are available to us to witness to friends and colleagues in one form or another. I know I am always looking to share when a possibility shows up and I can add faith to the discussion in a fluid manner.
I guess the extension of this conversation is the world we live in on a daily basis. A world which contains the literal, and living, nation of Israel. An Israel which God has gathered from the nations of the Earth. A world where Islam opposes Judaism and Christianity globally. A world where America and Europe are fledglings of the beast empire to come. A day preceding the coming Day of the Lord and the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. A time of great judgment and the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
To conclude: Now is the day of your salvation. Now is the time to hear the gospel and to make a decision for citizenship in the eternal Kingdom of God. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes on Him shall not perish but will inherit eternal life. For He sent His Son not to condemn the world but to save it. For it is also written that there is none righteous not even one and all have sinned, all fallen short of the glory of God. For the wages of our sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.
So, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and to receive the Holy Spirit. For I am certain that there is no other name under heaven by which you much be saved. For faith is given to you as a gift and salvation cannot be earned by any action of man but only through the shed blood and broken body of Jesus Christ who crucified for the sins of mankind and those for whom it is given by the Father to be saved. Those who believe on the only begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ. This is my paraphrase of some important bible verses.
Relevance
This website is a discussion blog for current events and issues raised by other interested Christians.
Sunday, May 24, 2026
Blog 5 - May 2026
Wednesday, April 15, 2026
Blog Four - April 2026
The Weather
Writing this blog in the middle of Cyclone Vaianu. At the time of writing it is raining moderately with some gusts of high wind. Ultimately, Rotorua got off lightly with 79mm of rain, a few power outages and tree falls. We had some disagreement in the whanau about how the authorities handled this storm. Did they over react and what constitutes a catastrophic weather event.
There was a bit of angst, but I don’t think that is unexpected given that we have had several strong tropical weather events over the last six months that have brought dangerous amounts of wind and rain to the regions. These storms have caused large amounts of damage, taking lives and leaving an almost continuous aftermath of repair and reconstruction of infrastructure.
You can say what you like, but whether this is human driven climate change or the enactment of Christ Jesus’ words from Matthew Twenty Four. These are not the weather events we used to know. A front would come through and deposit between fifteen and forty millimetres of rainfall. Enough to grow the grass for the next few weeks and keep things ticking over.
Now, we get frequent tropical humidity and the sky seems to drip moisture. Most of the systems that come through are capable of anomalies like tornadoes and frequently dump torrential rain in confined areas causing localised damage in a very unpredictable manner. Whatever, is going on the weather isn’t what it was. The worst part of all this is that it seems to be the new normal.
Iran
Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu have concluded their attacks on Iran for the moment. Many argue about the value of what the action has achieved. As is so often the case pushing an air superiority campaign often has it’s limits. Iran has had a long time to consider what an allied military action would look like and have put together a decentralised control structure and infrastructure that has shown considerable endurance.
If Israeli and American strategists were as godly as many claim they would know that Persia are an actor in the army which comes against Israel in the Tribulation time (Ezekiel 38:5). Therefore, their actions may limit Iran but ultimately only God can eliminate the threat to Israel that they represent.
According to prophecy, America and the two other super powers are removed to facilitate the rise of the Beast Power (Ezekiel 38,39 and Revelation 16:12). Israel are dominated by that power and the abomination of desolation is performed by the Beast in the yet to be built Third Temple. However, God uses a remnant from Israel to take the gospel to the world one last time and then Jesus returns to establish the Kingdom of God (Matthew 24 and Revelation 7).
How the super powers are removed is open to question. I would imagine America is neutralised by the coalition of Russian and Chinese forces probably through nuclear war. Russia I suspect are considerably depleted by the conflict and China are left the conquerors until they are removed without human intervention (Revelation 8: 8-11 and Revelation 9:15).
The Times
We live in a time where Christians who understand something of bible prophecy would be amazed to see the actors described by the prophets moving into position like chess pieces on a the world stage. I find that seeing prophecy in action makes me feel that there is no longer any point in discussing it in articles like this. The evidence is there for all to see as events play out and lead to the conclusion of this age as the prophecies describe. I have wondered whether I should just let it all play out and switch to sharing the gospel instead.
However, there are still things to say and points to be made. For instance, people have strong opinions about our politicians. Mr Trump is an example of this and people seem to love him or hate him. Most have forgotten his first term and see the actions that he is taking now as those of a crazed old man.
My memories of his first term were that he said and did controversial things which led people to either double down and support him or to condemn him outright. His actions did cause division and lead at that time to near civil war. For his second term he had made plans to control this situation.
As soon as he came to power, he mobilised the national guard in Antifa strong hold states to prevent insurrection. In the second term he has seemed to act without any confusion and has taken decisive actions against Venezuela and Iran and also internally with his many executive orders. As he did in his first term he has challenged allies and enemies alike with a narrative that has caused them to think and act in ways that they have not needed to before.
He uses one tactic very effectively which is to call a specific ally, or enemy, out on a certain point and then allow them to contribute to the narrative. The issue is usually resolved by the ally, or enemy, taking a certain action or by them negotiating with Trump and backing down, as in the dialogue over Greenland. He is also very strong in bringing other parties to the table as he has done with the Iran cease fire. In that situation Pakistan has moved to negotiate the military phase of the action to a rapid conclusion.
Whatever, you think about Trump as a person. He is the President of the United States and has won the position twice with large majorities. He is going to leave a legacy and has made some strong points for the immediate future. Europe have been cautioned that it is time to prepare to defend themselves as the United States moves to confront Russia and China by itself. The message here is simple, Europe may not always have the USA there to protect them in the future as war between the super powers may result in the demise of one or more of them.
The Narrative
In our time one of the most used headlines is ‘The Narrative.’ It is the dialogue of our daily news and constitutes the main discourse. The issues that everyone should know about and believe. One example of this is the idea that American presidents are senile, elderly billionaire plutocrats. Both Joe Biden and Donald Trump fit into this narrative and it has allowed both the news media, and social media, to attack them without mercy in a way which would not have been tolerated in the past.
In my view this is a very dangerous tool. The narrative has always been there but the powers that control the narrative now have refined its use to specifically control what people think about important issues. Cancel culture has been employed in recent years as our society has been motivated to isolate citizens who express views which do not reflect the opinions of the narrative. The problem is that the narrative is portrayed as the view of the majority but we only have the news media and social media’s opinions to back this claim.
My opinion is that it is important that we do not allow the narrative to control our thinking. We need to find the information and make decisions for ourselves about what we think. It is also necessary to be careful about what we reveal about our decisions on those matters. Save it for the polling booth as it were. I know that in New Zealand that there is a silent majority that keep their opinions to themselves about a good many things.
The Gospel
As a Christian I would simply say that this. The Son of God, Jesus Christ, came to pay the price for the sins of as many as will believe. Salvation is a matter of faith and the gospel is reflected in a few simple verses: John 3:16; Acts 2:38 and Romans 6:23
The rest is up to you.
Wednesday, March 4, 2026
Blog Three – March 2026

It never ceases to surprise me how seasons come and seasons go. Some are seasons of testing and others are seasons of blessing. Some are both although you quite often don’t realise that until the season passes. I find that this is the price of age and wisdom.
Often our times of test involve the people we are close too. Rubbing along with others can be a challenge, particularly when they don’t seem to see any issue with what they are doing and we can see the impact their actions are having on those around them. It is often hard to know what to do? The simple solutions of life are often not appropriate and even talking it out with them can be ineffective if they are not good at self monitoring. My main solution down the years has been to lift my cares to the Lord in prayer and many better Christians than I, have suggested that time spent on our knees is the best solution to every trial in life. Prayer is the way to seek God’s help and has the added benefit of growing the amount of time we spend in communion with God and of growing our proximity to God.
It intrigues me that as an old man now I still look at the things I did as youngster and seek to do them in old age as well. Things like riding bikes and trying my hand at sports like golf or shooting still tempt the heart even though I’m well and truly over the hill. The old joints are shot and the balance isn’t what it was anymore. Fishing is another thing that I often long after but I just don’t seem to have the time. Who knows though perhaps I will have another season to return to some of those long lost pursuits. I suspect that it may have to wait until I cross over to the kingdom for now though.
Way back in 1977 a man called Don Stanton wrote a book called Mystery 666 about bible prophecy in the End Times. He was sure that the End Times were happening in the 1970’s and ‘80’s and that the tribulation period of seven years would happen back then after which the Lord Jesus was going to return and the kingdom of God would be established. Time passed and as has often happened in the past his projections were a bit out.
I was very keen on Don Stanton’s books, as were very many people at the time. He belonged to a group of Christian thinkers called Dispensationalists who look toward a period of judgment called the Seventieth Week of Daniel which will last for seven years and after which Jesus will return. Hazard to say that it will be a rough time and the bible says that were that time not shortened no flesh would survive (Matthew 24).
There are a number of bible passages that relate to this event such as Daniel chapter 9 and Ezekiel chapters 38. It may be that Don Stanton wasn’t so far out and that the prophecy is beginning to be fulfilled at the present. Recent events where the United States and Israel are now making war on Iran may be the beginning of the hostilities that usher a coalition of middle eastern and other nations into being that is described in Ezekiel 38 as bring a great army that attacks Israel. It might also foment a third world war which would bring a world government into existence by removing the super powers and allowing a global coalition of equals to form. Sadly this would happen in the time of judgment and not be the instrument of deliverance people would be hoping for. To sum up these may well be momentous times and as Christians we need to be watchful and focused on sharing the gospel. This is also a time when there will be a great harvest of souls for the Lord.
An issue related to sharing bible prophecy is that of becoming too negative about these kinds of issues. I know that I tend to spend too much dwelling on world events and that others can find this upsetting. I can only suggest that it is a matter of planning to live life for a hundred years but being prepared to face the Lord at any moment. Seek God, pray and strive to share the gospel but be present for the people in your life. Fill their lives with happy occasions, joyful celebrations and daily expressions of love. Most of all let those who know you experience Christ through you and let your footsteps be those of Christ Jesus himself as the Spirit reveals His nature in you. I guess what I’m saying is “Chill out bro…”
See you all next month.
Love B.
Saturday, February 7, 2026
Blog 2 - 2026
Blog Two - February 1st 2026
The same applies to those leading New Zealand at the moment. The Coalition is powering along making changes in the hope of restoring the New Zealand that used to be? The reality is they are working within a system that is implementing another agenda altogether, again within reason. Education is an example of this.
Last year the government brought out a curriculum update and issued new texts to support it. This has only had one year of operation and a new even more austere update has been rolled out which smacks of nineteenth century Prussian educational dogma. We will make our children a product of the state. Will teach them all what they need to know. Part of this is teaching the same content at the same time every day in every school. Don’t get me wrong, there are benefits of this type of system but it is not the type of system that we Kiwi’s would choose for ourselves. Far too constricted and proscribed.
Christianity is another area that has been undergoing changes in this modern world and has arrived in an odd state of equilibrium. When I grew up the Christian church was strong and virtually everyone, whether a church goer or not, held to christian values. Doing the right thing, bringing up your children in a family with a mum and a dad and with love and discipline in equal measure.
With the advent of secular culture and the focus on godless evolution enshrined in pseudo science. Honestly, you don’t have to go to far into this nonsense to realise that nothing begats nothing and the complexity of life around us, from the cell on up, screams at the top of it lungs “There is a God!” However, the church has dissolved from the inside out and only the cults are left. Adventism, Calvinism and Pentecostalism have inherited the mantle that used to belong to simple bible and gospel based Christianity.
So how does this all fit together. Well when we talk of politics or education or, the Church we are really talking about systems. For me as an older person the systems I grew up with and which seemed to work have changed and in my opinion don’t work so well anymore. I have a feeling that as a kiwi in my sixties this isn’t my world anymore. It belongs to the younger generation. I fear for my children and their children.
Particularly, when you add activist driven biculturalism, rampant immigration and the impacts of one in one hundred year weather events every few months. The systems they are changing and not for the good. One way or another, this little country isn’t the way it was and as change comes in so does the age old question. “Is this my country anymore?”
We have governments that seem to be hell bent on global elitist chaos. We have free education and health systems in deliberate decline. This with the implication that education and health will only be for the wealthy in the future. This goes for the insurance industry as well, as even insuring your house is no longer a given when it used to be a government guarantee.
The church is no longer what it was and in many ways doesn’t do the job of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ anymore. Which is what it is there for. Of course, God has got this and there will be a remnant working in the background and following the great commission. There always has been a group of dedicated Christians obeying Christ.
Matthew 28 verses 19 and 20: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As an older person I guess these are the types of thoughts are very common. As you pass the age having a real impact on life the world seems to pass you by. However, these are real issues of concern for the next generation. As I mentioned before I worry for them as they face them. The implications of those issues could be life changing.
Monday, January 12, 2026
Blog 1 - 2026
What I’m Thinking - Jan '26...
Hear we are at January 13 already. I was thinking I might start a blog about some of the things I’ve been thinking about lately. One of the current news issues at the moment is, if we were to try to put a name to it, “Who is Donald Trump and what do we do with him?”
He recently abducted the Venezuelan president and his administration is saying strange things about taking over Greenland. Europe are up in arms, nothing new there but: What is this Donald Trump fellow up to? I mean the United States does radical stuff all the time. They operate all over the world but usually their missions are shrouded in secrecy. Trump is just such a talker, it must drive the CIA, FBI, NSA and all the other acronyms crazy.
You know Trump is not a traditional conservative, right? As a Kiwi I would cite men like Sir Keith Holyoak, Sir John Marshall and Sir Brian Tallboys as being traditional conservatives. Men who held no nonsense values and favored a hard working life where everyone had equal opportunity. Something like that in any case. No, Mr Trump is a billionaire oligarch like Mr Putin and his friends which is why they get on so well. I’m fairly sure that when they look at you and me they see a herd of cattle or a flock of Emus or something of that ilk. What I’m saying is that they pretend to like us to control us but don’t see us being equal to them.
So how do we assimilate this information. I guess we’ll just have to passively wait and see what happens. The bible tells us that God installs our leaders to keep order and achieve His objectives, paraphrase but you get my meaning. You know what I think anyway. I believe these are the last days of the Church Age and Jesus will return soon but first a time destruction known as the Time of Jacob’s Trouble. Never a dull moment.
Benjamin Netanyahu
So, I recently wrote a few supportive comments about Benjamin Netanyahu on Face-book and encountered a bit of opposition from the alien invasion lunatic fringe muttering about brown haired blue eyed Jesus and a killing children will get you into hell. You know open minded well informed kind of thinking. Interestingly, I was searching up Palestinian DNA the other day to see if they were descended from the Philistines. The blurb said they weren’t but the results might be fudged. However, one article said that the Philistines are thought to have been descended from a European tribe. The Palestinians are genetically similar to middle eastern Jews and Arabs. So the reason they hate Israel; Simply Palestine is Islam and they hate Israel; even though many of the Palestinians could be the same race as the Israelis’. Hard to credit.
As to Ben Netanyahu. Although he is not against Israel being involved in the global economy he is a strong nationalist and a loyal Israeli whilst being at the same time probably the most capable leader Modern Israel has ever known. I believe he is God’s man for the time. Ultimately though, God can defend Israel and he will do so. Therefore we need have no fear, for Israel is here to stay. Despite what all of naysayers and other disenfranchised folk have to say about it. I rather liked this post from face book: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=ben%20netayahu%20amos
Getting Old
I turned sixty five recently and I can tell you that aging is a bit of a concern. You suddenly realise that you may have to retire soon and that the financial ramifications of that are significant. I also seem to be facing hearing which is going into a decline to add to my sight which while being better than 20 – 20 is becoming increasingly long sighted so, I’m blind out to around one meter.
I had a hip replacement some years ago and the fact that the new hip doesn’t match the existing one in gait results in stress on my knee joints and back which leave me in a world of pain. Ligament damage in my left leg causes me to drag myself upstairs with my arms which is causing nerve damage between my shoulders. It all seems to be down hill from here. Oh well, never mind.
Computing
I decided to get back into using Linux just because you have to use the command line a bit more than just clicking install. I started with Neon and Kubuntu two distros by KDE, one of the Linux organisations. I wasn’t that pleased with them this time round and so replaced them with another distro call Arch Linux. Arch is more of a skilled user unit and you have to know what you’re doing to use it, or so I’m assured. I find that there is so much information on the Internet these days you can cut and paste commands and solve problems that someone who knows has fixed before you. You just need to be a bit discerning. I like Linux because it does challenge me and keep my mind active so, it is a part of my anti Alzheimers initiative.
The Weather this Month
The fires are raging in Australia and have been happening in Kiwi-land, as well, over the last months despite what has seemed like a very wet season here. My sister lives in Australia and is in the fire zone so it has been a tense business waiting on the outcomes of alerts and the need to have bags packed and being ready to move. Speaking of fire risk, there is a paddock of rank grass beside our property which isn’t being controlled effectively at the moment.
There is a subdivision up the road from us and a storm water system was needed so the powers that be went to work and after two years had created two large dams and an equally large spillway. The spillway area is being grazed but for some reason the area beside our place is being left fallow. It is covered in rank grass, at the moment, and is a fire hazard. One of the problems with a move away from capitalism is that the signals which cause people to produce more either don’t happen or are ignored in the supposed best interest of something else. Possibly what is happening here… ?
MMP – One Party State
A case in point is the land surrounding Lake Rotorua and the other lakes. This land is under grazing control meaning you can only have a certain number of animals per hectare on that country, The result is a general lack of grazing control and productivity of those farms going through the floor. The land is going to waste. People talk about communism by stealth but when the state controls how land is used at the expense of the economy doesn’t that imply that the government is now more closely aligned to socialism than capitalism. My question is when did this take place. When we changed to MMP did we unknowingly sign onto a one party state. Where political parties are now just sects of the same one party system ??? Is this system socialist?
That’s it…
So, that’s some of the things that are on my mind at the moment. Probably the only thing left for me to mention is “What we are here to do in this life.” I don’t think a lot of people really give a much thought to what they are here for. Most seem to think its about being successful and becoming somebody, or getting your family into a better situation where they are no longer dependent on creating enough wealth to survive.
I am afraid there are over eight billion other people on the Earth who share your aspirations and then we move into the area of social responsibility. Creating a decent level of wealth not just for your family but for everyone. But is this what our existence is really all about? Life is so arbitrary. One minute you’re doing great and then a cancer diagnosis or a car accident and things either change or, suddenly this life is over. Just like that!
Its no great secret that I am a Christian. I believe this life is a temporal and a temporary thing. It is more like a test than a competition. We’re not competing with those around us to be most successful but God is testing us to see if we will seek Him. You see, He wants a people for His own possession, a people who will choose Him and who would want to reign with Him forever.
In that vein, when our first parents disobeyed God and broke their connection to Him. He planned to become a man himself and to take the sins of the world on Himself. Jesus Christ bore our sins on the Cross and shed His blood as the sacrifice for our sins. So that we can believe on Him and receive eternal life. So that we can repent and be baptised in His name for the remission of sins and to receive the Holy Spirit.
You see, if you confess your sins, God is faithful to forgive your sins and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness. Thus, this life is about choosing God or rejecting Him. About, becoming his special people or choosing to forego eternity and to endure the second death. It’s up to you, but it’s not about getting wealthy in the assets of this world rather it is about storing up wealth in the life to come by choosing to obey the one living God, Yahweh Elohim.
There ya go...
Monday, July 20, 2015
Do You Have a Hope of Salvation...
To me I look at this situation from a certain perspective. I have faith that there is God and that he so loved us that he gave his only son, Jesus Christ, that who ever believes on him will receive eternal life. It makes no difference what anyone says to me I will always believe this to be true. I believe in the trinity: The father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I believe in God and I dare to say that I have a hope of Salvation.
The devil is the prince of this world and he will attack everything that God says or does in an effort to cast doubt upon it and to discredit it. He is very thorough and will leave nothing undone in his effort to prevent the majority of humanity from finding the truth about God and finding salvation.
If you would search history to find proof of the truth of the holy scriptures and the promises of God you will most likely find much to cause you concern and doubt. There are myriads of similar but substantially different texts that will cause you to be uncertain about the truth of God's word. But these are as ancient as the Torah and the writings of the New Testament and impossible to verify other than the fact that they exist.
The bottom line is that you have to have faith if you are to believe in God. Whatever you think about the voracity of the scriptures there basic tenants that will always hold true.
- Man is separated from God by sin.
- To be spared from the judgement of the law (ten commandments), for that sin. You must meet the conditions of the law.
- Man in the flesh cannot set himself free from sin.
- God addressed man's sin debt by sending his own son to live a life of sinless perfection and as a sacrifice to pay that sin debt.
- To believe God in this matter is to have faith in God and his promises.
- To have entered into an agreement with God and asked his forgiveness for your sins by believing on his only Son, Jesus Christ, This is to have gained a hope of Salvation.
Friday, July 13, 2012
Awareness...
However, something that I have become aware of more recently is that everyday life is much like those significant spiritual attacks. Items that God warns us about in the scriptures and which can become idols. TV shows, the Internet, Sport, anything that distracts us from the path that God intends us to follow maybe an event where the enemy is actively leading us from the way. It only takes a minute and we are off the true path and on our way up a side road. The enemy is attempting to neutralise us as Christians and Believers. All day, every day and in every way that he can so as to minimise the the impact we have on the world and maximise the impact the world has on us.
We need to seek God to cover us, our families and other believers to:
Make Straight the Way;
Make Clear the Path;
Make Plain the Instructions.
So that we are in no doubt as to what His will is for us each day and we know exactly what we are doing as Christians. Aware of our place in God's great work which is the battle against the Satan.
Let our Body;
Our Soul;
Our Spirit.
Be continually and forever at the disposal of the our Lord the Almighty and His only Son Jesus Christ. Let the Holy Spirit indwell each of us revealing Christ in us and empowering each of us to take up the full armor of God to defeat the enemy.


