The Deil’s No’ A’ Bad

This article was originally to be titled ‘Helen Must
Go’. But, having just enjoyed lunch with her – at her
expense – some degree of compromise has crept in. More
about us and our elected leader later. [Ed’s note for the
benefit of our international readers: Helen Clarke is the Prime
Minister of NZ.]

First, let’s explain the title to those of you who live
north of Dunedin. (We’re writing this on holiday somewhere
in the South Island, hence the touch of local colour.) The
proverb ‘The Deil’s no’ a’
bad’ is a lowland Scots saying that translates into
standard Sassenach as ‘The Devil isn’t all
bad’. Now, for all you heresy-hunters out there, we
would suggest that’s a pretty fair translation of 2 Corinthians 11:14
‘Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light’.

That means that the Evil One uses any technique – even
goodness – to do his dirty work. If dangling an attractive
bit of bait before some potential victim – say, the odd bit
of supernatural skill that will lead to the poor sucker’s
damnation - Lucifer is content with the trade-off.

And if pleading that a key factor in his master plan is in a
Good Cause to divert gullible Christians from what God has
actually said, then Beelzebub will chuckle all the way to the
Bottomless Pit.

What are we saying?

Simply this... Remember that massive tsunami? Remember the
gruesome forensic work, identifying victims? Wouldn’t it
have been infinitely easier if each decomposing corpse had
already been implanted, while alive, with an electronic ID that
broadcast the owner’s individual number to the teams of
welfare workers?

Can you see how easy it would be for Satan to launch a media
campaign for a universal ID based on problems arising out of that
one incident?

And before you get all sentimental and start going on about
‘think of what it would have meant for families of the
victims’ – simply remember that God has very clearly
said that an injected ID number is out-of-bounds to believers.
Those who take it go to the Lake of Fire. No ifs, buts or
maybes.

We get asked by the wrigglers and Houdinis if it would be okay
to take an implant ‘just to help my family during the
Tribulation – then cut it out at the last moment’. On
the practical side: have you ever actually tried cutting out
something from among all those nerves and tendons in your hand or
from among the tangle of capillaries in your forehead. Sure, it
can be done. But!

And the mere act of taking the forbidden implant might easily
harden your heart beyond all possibility of repentance. After all
– Pharaoh wasn’t all bad. He knew that
losing a million or so slaves to Moses and some unknown God in
the desert spelt ruin for the Egyptian economy.

So although Dr. Kevin Warwick may have sickened many
thoughtful people by being able to manipulate the movements of
his wife’s arm simply by the power of his thought –
via an implant that reaches deep into the brain, yet he has won
public approval and (more importantly) research sponsorship by
being able to control a prosthetic hand and a motorised
wheelchair by the same technique.

‘It’s good; it’s good’ cries public
opinion, driven by the media. ‘It’s a forbidden area
when it involves ID’, warns the Bible.

It may be a pain in the butt to have to obey God. There may be
distinct disadvantages to obeying God. There may be real
financial, social, and whatever-else-is-important-right-now
losses when you obey God...

...but, hey! Don’t tell Him; just bite the bullet.
Because there’s a sneaky little clause in the Handbook that
goes: ‘Disobedience is as the sin of witchcraft’.
Which means that He deals with you as if you were lucky thirteen
in your friendly neighbourhood coven. No kidding!

So – the Bible says ‘don’t take the
Mark’, and ‘those who do, go to Hell’. And
that means if something appears with an injectable
electronic number linked to buying and selling, you say a firm
no and warn others to do ditto.

Look – there’s a funny little technique that
denominations and independent groups use as a come-hither to lure
folk away from their existing ‘spiritual home’. They
make out they have some fancy doctrine or emphasis that all the
older mickey mouse outfits don’t have. It started with the
Catholic wrenching of ‘Easter’ from the God-ordained
Passover (‘better wrong with the moon than right with the
Jews’), and has been used with variations to this very
day.

We knew a minister who built quite a large and undiscerning
following on the catchphrase ‘We’ve ruptured the
Rapture’. It impressed the socks off the scripturally
ignorant.

But if you hadn’t noticed – it looks as if
we’re squarely in the countdown to the return of the
Messiah, and we need to be prepared. Don’t tell us the Man
of Sin hasn’t been revealed yet. Daniel gave enough hints.
John wrote guardedly but clearly in his epistles and Revelation
about the Emperor of Rome. And – with the most minimal
makeover of all time – he’s still the Man of Sin, the
Son of Perdition, the Antichrist, today. Want his address? 1a St
Peter’s Square, Vatican City, Rome, Italy.

And the bottom line is that we must be ready – and we
must prepare our friends and neighbours. Yes, they may roll on
the floor laughing. That won’t matter when they’re
ready for the Lord’s return. Nor will it matter when
you stand in front of Him and He says something about
being glad you didn’t deny Him before men.

Which leads us smoothly back to the big-name dropping at the
beginning. We’d written a piece for the New Zealand on-line
encyclopaedia, which led to an invite to the PM’s launch at
Te Papa, with freebie lunch after. No, we didn’t get to
tell our leader what’s been on our minds, but we spilled
all to a couple of security guards, which was okay.

Helen is an impressively able woman. But her standards are her
own. That is not good. For her or the country. We don’t
care tuppence for her politics – our vote is for sale to
anyone who’ll double our pension. But if the folk at the
top don’t know God’s version of right and wrong
– and God’s timeline for enforcing it – then
the job of telling folk begins and ends with you and us.

Scared? Apathetic? Bogged by your own problems? Committed to
an organisation with a different agenda? Or just straight
sceptical? Tell the Lord. And tell Him you need – really
need those five qualities that make up a real marriage. And are
therefore utterly vital in our relationship with Him.

Not surprisingly, the first quality is passion.

So, too, is the second. Passion.

Any guesses about the last three?

Passion. Passion. Passion.

Think about it sometime soon.

To contact George & Eileen: PO Box 946, Whangarei Ph/fax
(09) 438 3211