E to matou Matua i te rangi,
Kia tapu tou ingoa.
Kia tae mai tou rangatiratanga.
Kia meatia tau e pai ai ki runga ki te whenua,
kia rite ano ki to te rangi.
Homai ki a matou aianei he taro ma matou mo tenei ra.
Murua o matou hara, me matou hoki e muru nei
i o te hunga e hara ana ki a matou.
Aua hoki matou e kawea kia whakawaia;
engari whakaorangia matou i te kino.
Nou hoki te rangatira-tanga, te kaha, me te kororia,
Ake, ake, ake.
Amine.
This article comes from the Intercessors for New Zealand – Pray for the Nation, September 2013 newsletter. IFNZ is headed up by Brian Caughley, who offered closing prayer at the NZCN Unsung Heroes Awards recently held in Wellington.
It would appear that a huge majority of Christians do not read the Bible each day, let alone read a reasonable portion of Scripture daily or study God’s Word regularly. If you watch an hour of TV at night, during that hour you will probably watch 15-20 minutes of advertisements. In 15-20 minutes you can easily read about 4 chapters of the Bible!
So how come many Christians are “too busy” to read the Bible, study it and apply it, while they have time to watch TV and TV ads? If we don’t read God’s Word and listen to His voice speaking to us, how can we call ourselves Christians – His followers or disciples? It is no wonder that there is such confusion in the church about so many issues (e.g., moral issues) and that the church often appears as worldly as the unbelieving world around us.
Please pray that all true Christians will return to reading and studying God’s Word, listening to His voice and obeying Him. Pray that churches which are not preaching and teaching God’s Word, and those which openly contradict what God has said in His Word, will repent and turn back to Him and His ways!
This is urgent and serious! If the world sees no difference between us and them, why should they become Christians? Untold harm is done by parts of the “church” which are apostate (or almost so – if that is possible!) “The time has come for judgement to begin with the Household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the Gospel of God?” (1 Peter 4:17).
We need to see God’s judgement as a positive thing – God’s desire to bring us back to righteousness and blessing, instead of going down the path of evil and, ultimately, destruction. Pray for the Church! Pray for all Christians! Pray for our society and the nation!
May God have mercy on us, and restore us through our repentance and our turning back to Him and His ways!
Intercessors for New Zealand was started by Brian Caughley in January 1972, after receiving a word from God to call Christians to “Pray for the Nation”.
IFNZ specifically aims to encourage prayer, and present Bible teaching, which exhorts Christians to pray regularly and specifically for their nation – for revival and evangelism, the Church, the Government and the Nation.
Wow, what a statement. I didn’t know what to think when I saw the title of the video clip that one of NZCN’s Secularism discussion panel members circulated, but I’m glad I watched it.
On 9 August, 2013, The NY Times shared the story of Kip Jacob’s church in Portland, Oregon and the amazing partnership they’ve had with Roosevelt High School. “Help from Evangelicals (Without Evangelizing)“ The Times called it. The initial paragraph reads:
PORTLAND, Ore. — Four summers ago, on her first day as an administrator at Roosevelt High School here, Charlene Williams heard that the Christians were coming. Some members of an evangelical church were supposed to be painting hallways, repairing bleachers, that sort of thing. The prospect of such help, in the fervently liberal and secular microclimate of Portland, did not exactly fill her with joy.
Following is a 6:31 minute sizzle reel of the documentary made about the project.
Qideas.com filmed an interview with Kip Jacobs, pastor at SouthLake Church, about this project. Click here to watch the story of what happens when a mostly white, affluent suburban church shows up at the doorsteps of an urban high school with a desire to work together. Through his experience, Jacob challenges churches to get involved with their neighbourhood schools and invest in their renewal.
After watching these videos, I followed the link on Qideas.org to a follow-up story. In this clip, The presenter interviews two friends, Tom Krattenmaker, who is a regular contributor to USA Today, and Kevin Palau, president of the Luis Palau Association, as they discuss how God is moving in Portland, what dynamics are at play that movements in other cities might resemble and urge us to prepare for future cultural shifts.
Other videos about this particular project in Portland can be found on the BeUndivided YouTube channel. Their website, which is full of resources and ideas, can be accessed here.
What do you think? Is it better than prayer in schools? What can we take from this and apply to our culture, here in Aotearoa?
Please leave your thoughts and comments below and share this link with others. Challenge your Christian friends to think about what role they can take while living in a secular society. We look forward to the discussions!
Blessings,
Gayann
Gayann and her husband, Stephen, have provided web design and email communication support to NZCN since 2006. She has home schooled their two children for the past nine years, but was ‘made redundant’ at the start of 2013. Since then, she has taken a more active role with NZCN.
Last week, we posted an essay by EAUK’s Danny Webster titled One Way Christians Can Respond to Secularism. In his essay, Danny described how the churches of Southampton partnered with local government when the council asked for their help. Fantastic.
