Daily Meditation

Understanding Christ’s New Role

Ligonier Ministries

Imagine an earthly situation where the heir-apparent to the throne meets with his closest friends on the eve of his own coronation. The new king’s friends would hardly desire that the king skip his own coronation. There is no greater benefit to the new king’s friends than that he ascends to the throne.

When Jesus left this world, He was not departing in exile. He was leaving for His coronation. He was passing from humiliation to exaltation. The extraordinary benefit in this for every Christian is that he can live in the full assurance that at this very moment the highest political office in the universe is being held by King Jesus. His term of office is forever. No revolution, no rebellion, no bloody coup can wrest Him from the throne. The Lord Christ omnipotent reigns.

The “where” partially explains the “why.” There is more to be added, though. The king serves in a dual capacity. He is not an ordinary monarch. At the same time He reigns as King, He serves His subjects as their Great High Priest. The King kneels before His own throne in supplication for His people. In addition to the session there is also intercession. Jesus’ throne is linked to the heavenly Holy of Holies. Daily, He makes intercession for you. 

Coram Deo

Think on this glorious truth: In His new position, Jesus faithfully intercedes for you at the right hand of the Father.

Passages for Further Study

Luke 24:50–52

Bad Smells Keep Hanging Around

Can Someone Please Get To the Bottom Of All This

It would appear that the NZ First leader, Winston Peters is a serial offender when it comes to (other people's) money.  

Here is the latest, according to Stuff:

Almost half a million dollars in political donations appear to have been hidden inside a secret slush fund controlled by a coterie of Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters' trusted advisers.

The secretive New Zealand First Foundation collected donations from wealthy donors and used the money to finance election campaigns, pay for an MP's legal advice, advertising, fund a $5000 day at the Wellington races and even pay an IRD bill.

A New Zealand First spokesperson said on Monday the foundation had been in existence across several election cycles. "There has never been any suggestion that it is anything other than lawful," she said.  Records uncovered in a Stuff investigation show a complex web that appears to be designed to hide donations to the NZ First Party via The New Zealand First Foundation.

Hiding donations is a big no-no.

Hypocrisy Versus Integrity

Gallio Cared for None of These Things

Douglas Wilson
Blog&Mablog

Introduction

In an earlier NQN post, I said that to be a gay Christian was to be a hypocrite, by definition. What could be the basis for saying things like that? The guy who says that he is a gay Christian, although committed to remaining celibate, is a hypocrite? And he is a hypocrite because he doesn’t formulate it precisely the way I said he should, which is to say that he is a Christian who experiences gay temptations? Right. Exactly so.

In short, a gay Christian is a hypocrite while a Christian with gay temptations is not? Correct. Aside from the problems associated with the history of the word gay, that summary is a good enough. 

For some this is an inside baseball debate between American League fans and National League fans debating the value of a designated hitter. But it is not that kind of debate at all.

Or take a scriptural example. The casual observer might be forgiven if he thought to himself that everybody might want to adopt the posture of Gallio. “But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters” (Acts 18:15). Deal me out, in other words.

And this is why you can’t. This is why you have to deal with this issue honestly. Those who do not deal with it honestly will not inherit the kingdom of heaven (1 Cor. 6:98-11; Gal. 5:19-21).

What the Issue is Not

The issue is not whether there can be such a thing as a besetting sin, or a recurring sin, or remaining sin that travels in predictable patterns. Christians are never to be dismissed as hypocrites simply because of a struggle with remaining sin.

Daily Meditation

Accepting the Atonement of the Cross

Ligonier Ministries

The apostle Paul wasn’t even present at the crucifixion of Christ, yet he declared that this act was an act of cosmic and supernatural proportions. This was a real drama of theological redemption. Here the curse of God’s law was visited on a man who bore the sins of His people. For Paul, the crucifixion was the pivotal point of all history. Paul was not satisfied to give an account of the event. While affirming the historicity of the crucifixion, Paul added the apostolic interpretation of the meaning of the event. He set forth propositions about the death of Christ.

The issue before the church is this: Is the apostolic propositional interpretation of the cross correct or not? Is Paul’s view merely a first-century Jewish scholar’s speculation on the matter, or is it a view inspired by God Himself?

What difference does it make? This is not a trifling matter or a pedantic point of Christian doctrine. Here nothing less than salvation is at stake. To reject the biblical view of atonement is to reject the atonement itself. To reject the atonement is to reject Christ. To reject Christ is to perish in your sin.

Please let us not soften this with an appeasing dance. Let us be clear. Those teachers in the church who deny that the death of Christ was a supernatural act of atonement are simply not Christians. They are enemies of Christ who trample Jesus underfoot and crucify Him afresh. 

Coram Deo

Make this declaration: “Heavenly Father, I accept without reservation the supernatural atonement of Jesus Christ on the cross.”

Passages for Further Study

Galatians 6:14
John 3:16–17

False Religion

Australian Lawmakers Reject China’s Demand 

Will Not ‘Repent’ for Criticism of Chinese Communist Party

Simon Kent
Breitbart News

Two members of Australia’s conservative coalition government have rejected Beijing’s demand they “repent” for their criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.  They said Saturday they will never back down from “standing up for Australian sovereignty, our values, our interests, and standing up for people who can’t stand up for themselves.”

Outspoken Liberal politicians Andrew Hastie and James Paterson were due to take part in a study tour to China next month, but when the tour operator called the Chinese embassy to arrange their visas, it was told the pair was “unwelcome at this time”.

Both politicians have been constant critics of China’s authoritarian state, particularly its human rights record and alleged interference in Australia’s political system.

Beware What You Wish For

Policing By Consent


Dr Eric Crampton
Insights Newsletter


New Zealand’s basic bargain around firearms ownership and policing always seemed rather sensible. It was very much a feature of New Zealand’s general “Outside of the Asylum” approach to policy.

Background checks on potential firearm owners limit access to firearms in the interest of public safety. The police then have no need to be routinely armed. It seems a far more sensible approach than America’s, where a heavily armed public has increasingly led to a militarised police force.

New Zealand’s bargain seems to be breaking down with an increasingly armed police force coinciding with far tighter restrictions on civilian firearm ownership. It puts at risk basic principles of good policing dating back to London’s Metropolitan Police Force in 1829.

New Zealand is one of the few countries that has maintained an unarmed constabulary. Police Commissioner Mike Bush put things well in 2009 after a rare shooting of a police officer led to calls for arming the police. He described our unarmed constabulary as a unique and cherished feature of New Zealand policing, and warned that routine arming of police would make community policing considerably more difficult.

The fundamental relationship between police officers and members of the public changes when one of them has a sidearm at the ready. The trial of roving squads of armed police ready in case of armed incidents has already led to their use in more routine stops.

Daily Meditation

Witnessing His Glory

Ligonier Ministries

The book of James has an unusual sentence construction that links the word glory with the name of Jesus: “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality” (James 2:1). In this verse the words “Lord of glory” have alternate renditions. Some translations read, “Our glorious Lord.” Still another possible translation reads, “Jesus Christ, who is the glory.”

B. B. Warfield, in his book The Lord of Glory, says,  that Jesus was the glory of God, the shekinah. According to the Old Testament, the shekinah was the visible manifestation of the invisible God. The shekinah was a radiant cloud or brilliant light within a cloud that signaled the immediate presence of God. For Jesus to be identified with the shekinah was to be equated with the presence of God Himself. In Jesus we see the full manifestation of the majesty of God.

That the New Testament writers ascribed glory to Jesus was a clear indication of their confession of His full deity. Glory, in the sense it is used with reference to Jesus, is a divine attribute. It is the glory of God that He refuses to share with any man.

Coram Deo

The angels sang “Glory to God” at Christ’s birth. The heavenly elders give glory to God around His throne. Why don’t you follow their example and give God glory today in every circumstance of your life?

Passages for Further Study

John 1:14
Psalm 104:31
Psalm 138:5

Oh, Dear. What a Shame. Nevermind.

Democrats Concede Their Impeachment Argument Is Failing

Blame the Obtuse Ignorance of the Republican Voter

David Marcus
The Federalist


CNN reports that in a private meeting this week, top Democrats conceded that the polls on impeachment were unlikely to shift, and that their basic message is failing to break through for huge swaths of Americans. This is very close to admitting that their ultimate goal, of removing president Trump from office will not be achieved.

The reason this would mean game over for the removal effort is that only a significant uptick for impeachment in polling, especially among Republicans who have been rock solid in support of Trump, could lead to GOP votes to convict in the senate. This may sound cynical, but why should Republican senators defy the wishes of the vast majority of their voters based on the Democrats’ vague and shifting arguments?

Even more telling than the concession that polls won’t be moving is the admission their messaging is failing. This can only really mean one of two things. Either Adam Schiff and his inquiry have failed to prove Trump engaged in impeachable and removal offenses or the 44 percent of Americans who oppose impeachment are too stupid, or brainwashed to accept the case for impeaching Trump.

It’s pretty clear which of these two things Democrats think is going on.

Kenya Far More Advanced and Sophisticated Than Western Nations

Kenyans Strongly Rebuke UN Agency

"Do Not Use Africa as a Backdrop to Promote Abortion"

By Lisa Correnti
NAIROBI, November 15 (C-Fam)

The UN population agency’s plans to host a government conference on “sexual and reproductive health” in Kenya backfired this week, as Kenyans fought back attempts to export Western sexual norms in Africa.

The UN Population Fund’s Nairobi Summit was greeted by pro-life street protests and accusations of neocolonialism. The Kenyan legislature forbade UNFPA access to the chamber of Parliament and Members pledged to amend a foreign NGO law to restrict the promotion of anti-family and anti-life programs.

Far from providing the optic that Africans embrace abortion, LGBT rights, and comprehensive sexuality education, the Nairobi Summit galvanized resistance to UN sexual norms. Kenyan government officials, faith leaders, and pro-family organizations emerged as a formidable opponent to the powerful and well-funded UN agency.

Daily Meditation

Reflecting His Image

Ligonier Ministries

What can be said of Christ’s being the “express image of His person”? Are not we all created in the image of God and does not this reference merely speak of Jesus as the perfect man, the one in whom the image of God has not been besmirched or corrupted? I think the text means more than that.

Philip Hughes says this: “The Greek word translated ‘the very stamp bearer’ means an engraved character or the impress made by a die or a seal, as for example, on a coin; and the Greek word translated ‘nature’ denotes the very essence of God. The principal idea intended is that of exact correspondence. This correspondence involves not only an identity of the essence of the Son with that of the Father but more particularly a true and trustworthy revelation or representation of the Father by the Son.”

We remember the request made to Jesus by Philip when he said, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8). We need to meditate upon the response of Jesus in John 14:9–11. He who would taste the fullness of the sweetness of Christ and perceive the total measure of His excellence must be willing to make the pursuit of the knowledge of Him the main and chief business of life. Such pursuits must not be hindered by sentimentality or reason. 

Coram Deo

Pray this prayer: “Dear God, reveal to me the depth and riches of the nature of Your Son, Jesus.”

Passages for Further Study

John 14:9–11

The Slow and Certain Ruin of Schools

The Proposals For Tomorrow's Schools

Briar Lipson
Insights Newsletter 15 November, 2019


If someone threatened to burn down your house but instead left an unsavoury on your lawn, you might well find yourself feeling grateful. You might even feel more empathy towards your assailant’s complaint.

Many school boards will be feeling this way following Tuesday’s announcement about Tomorrow’s Schools. Boards are to retain control of most school matters (excluding enrolments and some aspects of property). The proposed new Crown entities – Education Hubs – have also been dropped in favour of a ministry overhaul.

However, while trimmed and tidied since the taskforce’s original report, the government’s proposals are not without thorns. Buried in a section innocuously titled ‘Learners at the Centre’, the government sets out a legislative amendment which, if permitted, will lead to the slow and certain ruin of school.

At present, the primary objective of boards of trustees is “to ensure that every student at the school is able to attain his or her highest possible standard in educational achievement”. Boards have secondary objectives too, like ensuring their school is a safe place that caters to students with differing needs. However, the order and clarity are important. For an undertaking as vital and complex as education, having a clear primary objective matters.

However, the government is proposing to erase the distinction between the primary and secondary objectives.

Australian Bush Fires A Man-Made Catastrophe

Too Much Fuel Causes Extreme Bush Fires, Not Climate Change

Jo Nova

What was Australia’s Environment Minister thinking?

Melissa Price succumbs to pagan witchcraft: 

“There’s no doubt that there’s many people who have suffered over this summer. We talk about the Victorian bushfires; (in) my home state of Western Australia we’ve also got fires there,” [Melissa Price] told Sky News this morning. “There’s no doubt that climate change is having an impact on us. There’s no denying that.”

Western Australia, State Map.


Let’s look at her home state. After 67 years of fire management in the giant, hot, dry state of WA, the trend is clear — the more prescribed area we burn, the less wildfire does.  In the graph below the prescribed burns declined for forty years and wildfires increased for thirty. After the Dwellingup Fire in 1961 the state ramped up the preventative burns, and reduced wildfires.

Daily Meditation

Plumbing the Depths of His Person

Ligonier Ministries

When we consider Jesus as the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Logos who became incarnate, we note instantly that in any attempt to plumb the depths of His person we are stepping into the deep waters of the nature of God Himself. In Hebrews 1:3, the author describes Christ as “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person.”

Imagine someone who not only reflects the glory of God as Moses did after his encounter with God on Mount Sinai, but who actually is the very brightness of the divine glory. The biblical concept of divine glory is reiterated again and again in the Old Testament. Nothing can be likened to that glory that belongs to the divine essence and which He has placed above the heavens. This is the glory manifest in the theophany of the shekinah, the radiant cloud that displays the pure effulgence of His being. This is the glory of the One who dwells in light inaccessible, who is a consuming fire. This is the glory that blinded Saul on the road to Damascus. 

Coram Deo

Jesus has given His glory to you as a gift. Read John 17.

Passages for Further Study

Hebrews 1:1–4

A Necessary and Welcome Move

Checks and Balances

We are pleased to see that a formal process will be put in place to review criminal convictions in New Zealand which are subsequently seen as being shonky.  Our small country lost a vital judicial safeguard, cross-check, and balance when rights of appeal to the Privy Council in the UK were removed.  

Now a review of suspect judicial decisions will be available. 

An important safety valve has been added to New Zealand’s criminal justice system with the third reading of the Criminal Cases Review Commission Bill today.

The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) will investigate claimed miscarriages of justice.

“We’ve seen how our justice system can very occasionally get things spectacularly wrong, even with rights of appeals, and there needs to be a chance for the innocent on the right grounds to seek a final review of their case. The CCRC is an important mechanism to enhance the independence, timeliness, quality and fairness of investigations into miscarriages of justice,” Justice Minister Andrew Little says.  “If the Commission finds there is a miscarriage they will refer the case back to the Court of Appeal to reconsider whether the convictions should stand or fall.  

It will be interesting to see who will sit on the Commission and whether it will have sufficient information gathering powers.

See No Evil; Hear No Evil

Read Grace's Story, Then Tell Me 

Is Marijuana Destroying Our Country . . . Or Not

Peter Hitchens
Daily Mail


You probably shuddered when you read about the terrible thing which happened to a young trainee doctor, Grace Spence Green. Her body was smashed when a man jumped off a 120ft-high shopping centre and landed on her. But did you wonder why it even happened? Marijuana was why it happened.

When will we ever learn just how much damage the unrestrained use of marijuana is doing to our society? When will we ever do anything about it, as wiser countries do?

I make no apologies for coming back to this subject, as I remain amazed by the growing support of ignorant politicians and media for the legalisation of this terrifying poison. If they get their way it will take us straight into a nightmare version of the third world, with all the misery but without all the sunshine.

You yourselves may have seen the symptoms, and you will have been appalled by them – but you may not have connected them with their actual cause, because so many media outlets do not report the vital details.

There are many striking things about the case of Ms Green.

Daily Meditation

Comprehending the Course of History

Ligonier Ministries

What is striking in this history is the manifest hand of providence in the work of redemption. God is a God of long-range planning. He does not succumb to the all-too-human tendency toward immediate gratification and short-term goals.

God sees the end from the beginning and rules the course of history, moving it inexorably toward its appointed destiny. In the affairs of the life of Abraham, God was providentially directing history toward David’s kingship and far beyond to the kingship of Christ.

The genealogies show that the first advent of Christ was not an afterthought in God’s mind, a sudden quick-fix remedy for a world run amok. Rather, it displays a marvelous drama of redemption that God ordained before the foundation of the world and gradually but surely brought to pass in the footnotes of history.

All who rejoice in the first advent are comforted by the certainty of the promised second advent. We, as twenty-first-century Christians, live in an interim period—the time between two advents that define, condition, and redeem the meaning of our lives.

Coram Deo

Focus your thoughts on the second advent of Jesus Christ by reading Matthew 24.

Passages for Further Study

Psalm 77:15
Psalm 77:12
Psalm 90:2

Bill English Will Be Proved Right

Why I Oppose the End of Life Choice Bill, in Plain English

Bill English
Stuff

Later today, our MPs will cast their final vote on the End of Life Choice Bill. It all comes down to deciding whether the bill, with its changes, will ultimately deliver what it says.

My position on euthanasia is well known. I have spoken many times about why I am opposed in principle. But to my former colleagues I say, even if you agree in principle, this is not the bill to deliver euthanasia and assisted suicide to New Zealanders.

This bill, if it passes, will make New Zealand a less safe place for the old, the vulnerable, the depressed and the disabled, and here are five reasons why.

Firstly, it does not provide real protection from coercion. Talk to any doctor and they will tell you it is virtually impossible to detect subtle emotional coercion, and even overt coercion, at the best of times. Yet many people will be "signed off" by medical practitioners with little or no understanding of the patient's family or social history, let alone medical history. The law requires doctors only to "do their best" – hardly an adequate measure of robust clinical care standards.

Secondly, I know that many MPs will be finely tuned to the "hard cases". However, for all the talk about narrowing the legislation down, this bill is much broader than the new Victorian law, as well as those states in the United States where only assisted suicide is available. We know that, when euthanasia is included, the numbers accessing it are at least 10 times greater. This bill is "overkill" – if the argument was really about the hard cases, then it would be a much tighter bill.

More Good News From the US

Mitch McConnell Pulls Funding Bill Containing Shaheen Pro-Abortion Amendment


Dr  Susan Berry
Breitbart News

Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) withdrew an overseas spending bill last week that would have provided $665 million for “family planning and reproductive health care” overseas and funds for the pro-abortion U.N. Population Fund.

C-Fam and the Eagle Forum reported McConnell withdrew the State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) bill after New Hampshire Democrat Sen. Jeanne Shaheen inserted an amendment into the bill to provide support to groups that promote abortions overseas – a move that would have clearly undermined the Trump administration’s pro-life policies.

A coalition of 44 national pro-life leaders sent a letter in October to McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) voicing their vehement opposition to the Shaheen amendment.  Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), chairman of the Senate pro-life caucus, joined with these leaders in asking McConnell to amend the bill before it advanced.  “It’s our duty to protect the most vulnerable in our society,” Daines said, according to C-Fam. “I am deeply concerned about how this amendment undermines pro-life policies abroad and I will continue to work to defeat it.”

SFOPs was part of the Bipartisan Budget Agreement reached by Congress and the White House in July. The agreement clearly stipulated, “[T]here will be no poison pills, additional new riders…unless agreed to on a bipartisan basis by the four leaders with the approval of the President.”

C-Fam reported Shaheen’s longstanding attempts to force American taxpayers to fund promoting abortion overseas:

Daily Meditation

Tracing the Genealogy of Jesus

Ligonier Ministries

At first glance, the beginning of Matthew is a less-than-exciting literary starting point of the New Testament. It is a list of “begats” tracing Jesus’ lineage back to Abraham.

What this beginning lacks in literary punch it makes up for in theological significance. Among other things, the genealogical tables of the New Testament place the gospel squarely on the plane of history. Jesus was born “in the fullness of time”—His ministry is defined and interpreted against the background of Old Testament history.

The New Testament provides two genealogical tables for Jesus, one by Matthew and one by Luke. These tables differ at significant points. Matthew was writing for a Jewish audience and Luke for a Gentile audience. Matthew was concerned to show that Jesus legally descended from David and was therefore a descendant of Judah to whom the messianic kingship was promised. Matthew treats the legal descent of Jesus and limits the lists to three groupings of fourteen generations, allowing himself to make omissions.

Luke follows the natural descent with greater detail. He takes the list back to Adam, as it was a central theme in his Gospel to set forth the universality of the gospel. Jesus is indeed the Son of Abraham and the Son of David, but He is also the new Adam who comes to redeem not only Israel but men and women from every tribe and nation.

Coram Deo

Who is Jesus to you?

Passages for Further Study

Matthew 1:16
Galatians 4:4
Ephesians 1:10