While pondering and contemplating and meditating today, it occurred to me that one of the greatest ‘stumbling blocks’ to confessing faith in the Christian Gospel is the absolutely erroneous assumption by the average bible rejecting lost soul that is the idea that the God of the Bible hates them…because they are sinners… and wants to send them to damnation.
This is a very powerful misrepresentation of the truth!
The Truth is the exact opposite… God Loves them *despite the fact* that they are sinners…and *does not want* them to be Damned!
That is why He sent Christ.
Bruce drinking Waikato Draught and Joy (My future wife) at a friends 21st.
About 1995
Below is my hastily written goodbye to my long time friend Bruce Christopher Davies, who took his own life 4-3-18.
Bruce was a fully fledged Hard-man Engineering Rebel Bogan… He had a colorful existence… Cars, Bikes, Beer, Woman, and Song.
Hard work and Hard Rock.
In the end it all took its toll…
He will be missed by his Mates, and Family.
This Blog post is to pay Tribute to this Awesome dude… my fabulous friend with a Big Heart.. loved by many.. and for those who never got to pay their respects to Bruce with his unexpected passing.
Please leave comments and photos below.
Bruce and friends at Hamilton Jay day about 2007.
***************************************
My tale of Bruce Davies.
By Tim Wikiriwhi
Spoken at his Funeral.(Edited)
9-3-18
This story of Bruce Davies … My Story…starts at New Haven engineering, Judea Tauranga in 1987, when I had just moved down from West Auckland a week after finishing my Engineering apprenticeship…
I had a small Bedford housebus that I drove, and parked up at my mums place in Gate pa.
I was 18, and I wanted to live in Tauranga as from visiting my mother who was living there… the Bay of Plenty appeared to be a paradise!
Plenty of Hot friendly girls, sunshine and beaches!
Just one great big Holiday park!
I was not in Tauranga long before I started looking for work as an engineer.
Being an Auckland Westy, when I met the Bay of Plenty Bogan Bruce Davies who was working at New Haven Structural Engineers … we were a cultural perfect fit… though I was a Christian… we had the same Westy Bogan values … and we hit it off immediately.
Not only that… we had had similar upbringings… not known our Fathers… being raised in a single parent house by our mothers, etc
New Haven was a Structural Fabrication Workshop and We were Building Tanks and structures for the Waihi Goldmine.
Bruce was a great engineer… a great welder and fabricator… a hard man.
Heavy Fabrication Engineering is a real mans job… Not afraid to get dirty… We took pride in being Hard.
He was also a great farmer.
As a New Guy… sitting in the New Haven smoko room full of workers and the Boss, Bruce loudly asks me… “Do you smoke Pot?”
I was shocked!
As a 19 year old Westy… OF Course I smoked pot! Yet we Westies were *secret squirrel* about such things at our Jobs… around ‘Nomies’/ trendies/etc… so I was like trying to wisper… bro keep it down!
Yet it was only a matter of days before I was smoking weed with Bruce outside his mums place in my bus… and drinking Waikato Draught Beer… two things that would become synonymous with our friendship that would last 30 years.
We would under age Drink Waikato ( Legal drinking age was 20 back then) and play pool at the Otumotai Trust hotel..with Bruce’s mates Al, Mark, and Guy… the five of us looked like black peas from the same pod… all would wear black Levis, black tee shirts, black jerseys, black beanies, and all were about the same height and all had shaggy long un-kept hair… and we were suspicious of anyone who did not look like us!
One day I rolled into the Trust Hotel car park in my bus and Bruce said to the boys… here comes ‘the blowfly’… referring to my green and black bus… and after that my nickname was Blowfly!
Thanks mate… it was a classic nickname… one that makes you cringe.
Me and my Bus.
1987.
I had my 21st party at Bruce’s and Nicky’s pad in Thompsons track Katikati… in a farmhouse where he was milking and farming.
I then moved back to Auckland for a few years with a pretty Tauranga Girl (Carol) and we soon had a Daughter (Melissa) … yet having got used to the Tauranga pace … the Auckland Rat race sucked and so we moved back to Tauranga… And I was soon working with Brucie again in Structural Engineering… for a company called Metal Trend… this is when my Son Jamie was born.
(Carol and I would separate a few years later… yet we are friends now)
Bruce had an affinity with cats.
He was a cool Cat! and he certainly had nine lives. He wreaked at least 50% of the vehicles he ever owned…
Bruce had his orange ginger cat ‘Russell’ who was Bruce’s best mate… “the greatest cat in the world” according to Bruce. He nick named Russell ‘Patrol leader’… Russell was always on patrol… and they spent many years together… even after Bruces great love Nicky left him for his [other] best friend.
Bruce and Cats went together.
Bruce found Joy (My Wife), Mine, and our sons grey cat Floyd as a tiny Kitten in the gutter outside the Te Rapa Pub Hamilton…One dark winter rainy nite… and brought him home to our place as at the time he was staying with us after going through another tuff break up with another lady…
And Bruce as many of you probably already know… had his last cat named ‘Tuesday’ with him in the car… and they passed way together. Tuseday is buried on site in the upper reaches of the Cormandal peninsula.
Floyd My Cat… who owes his life to Bruce.
Bruce was a romantic soul, yet like so many of us everytime he fell in love… it was followed by a painful break up… and these were the low points in his life.
I remember how happy Bruce was when he and Amanda had Michael… Bruce was a proud Father and it was devastating when He had a messy break up with Amanda, and it was virtually impossible for Bruce to maintain any contact with Michael… too painful to deal with the situation, and when Amanda moved to Australia that definitely was a barrier too far for Bruce, and Like me he would have been hoping that at some time when Mike had grown up… that they would make contact again … sadly Bruce took a heavy downturn… and now this will never happen.
Michael… You have my sincere apologies on Bruces behalf… he was a great Guy… yet he was a person who… in the end…did not like or function well according to the rules conservative society demands…
I hope you and I get a chance to talk about your old man so you get to know him better.
As the decades past we had countless good times … partying… smoking weed… and hanging out.
I got my first tattoos with Bruce at his house on a Kiwifruit orchard up Omanawa road (lower Kaimai ranges) … from a flatmate who was planning to become a tattoo artist and needed some suckers to practice on!
Bruce got a Ledzeplin wizard holding up a lantern on his arm, and the big Scorpion on his back and shoulder… Bruce was a Scorpio.
Now though some folk will not approve of this yet… as I have already mentioned smoking weed was a major recreational past time for Bruce and I.
I got busted by the police *twice* with Bruce over the years.
Both these times are quite amusing to look back on, yet I would become a staunch Libertarian activist for the decriminalisation of Cannabis… and Bruce being a Mate would help me with setting up Libertarianz party stands at Jay days etc… he would take the pics of me speaking, etc… and some of my best quality photos I have of Bruce are Libertarian activism pics… Both of us were now living in Hamilton Waikato (District).
The war on drugs is very oppressive for fringe-dwellers like Bruce… and myself… people who don’t want to conform to the sheepish standards that pass as ‘normal/ conservative’…
We Libertarians despise how oppressive the ‘Mob rule’ of our Nanny state democracy is, and defiantly ‘Live like its legal’… and because of righteous activism and world trends… cannabis will soon be legal here in New Zealand… as it has become in many countries around the world.
In 2002 Bruce would be the Best man at Joy and my wedding at Mc Clarens falls in the Kaimai hills above Tauranga.
It was an honor to have him as my best man.
Though I have been fortunate to have had more than one ‘Best mate’… Bruce earned the right to stand beside me on my most important day, in front of most of my other friends and family.
He rose to the occasion and was a great support…. The after party being the best party of my life… and he was a big part of that… we used his stereo for the Soundz, and he was a big help cleaning up in the days that followed.
About twenty years ago Bruce and I had another painful shock.
Bruces life long friend Mark Crosby… one of our tight Posse… killed himself in a car in a reserve on the Matamata side of the Kaimais.
I got the call from Bruce about it…. And every since then I had a fear… a premonition… that Bruce was harbouring thoughts that this was a legitimate option he had for himself.
And this has proved to be the case.
I must ask you all not to follow Bruces example!
It was a very Bad idea… Death will come calling for us soon enough and when someone takes their life… they take away any chance for Providence to shine again in their lives… The Sun will rise again if only you endure… Hold on and have faith… Don’t let the world break your spirit!
Find something that fills your life with value and meaning… I have my Christian faith…
Bruce had at least another 20 years of quality life… so many good things he will now miss… and because of what he did..we… the ones that loved him and appreciated him… will miss out too.
Now I am going to close this on a sad note.
About the time that Joy and I were expecting our son Roman, Bruce and I had a falling out… and I decided to stop visiting him and focus on my new responsibility as a Dad.
I was hoping Bruce would turn up one day and we would talk things through and get things settled and we would carry on as normal… I lost contact with him when he moved… yet always hoping… sadly the years quickly ticked by… and Bruce never showed.
I am very sad that we never managed to get it sorted.
I am angry that he chose to pass away without trying….
And I carry Guilt that I did not act upon my thoughts several years ago to track him down and sort it out.
I am sorry my friend for not being there when you needed me… not being there to tell you to get your shit together like I did many times before.
I hope you forgive me.
I hope you are in a better place… maybe with Mark, and Pat, and your Mum.
Good bye Mate… and thanks for everything.
Tim Wikiriwhi
9-3-18
With consent of Bruce’s family , We… his friends took Bruce the day before his funeral up into the hills overlooking Raglan, and gave him his ‘last rites’ Bogan style.
We Celebrated his life…. we had our last Beers with him, our last games of Pool… and spent all night laughing and telling hard case yarns about our Bro.
Girls turned up and wept over his coffin, and we transported him in style in a Holden Panel wagon with Triumph Bonneville Escort.
He was dressed in a Black Beanie, Shades, Pink Floyd Dark side of the Moon tee shirt, Blue Jeans and Black Army Boots.
We played his friend Paul Goughs’ Original ‘K9 Convention’ song… absolutely Unique… Rockin… and a track Bruce loved.
I know a lot of people will be bummed out they did not get the chance to see him off… things happened so quickly.
We hope all his mates approve of our send off… It was done in the best Bruce style.
Thanks to everyone who made it to pay their respects, and help make it worthy.
Special thanks to Brucies People in the Waikato.
And there will be a commemoration for Bruce in one years time somewhere appropriate with the idea of perhaps spreading his ashes, and this will be another opportunity for Bruce’s friends to pay their respects.
Maybe McClarens falls… first weekend in March… as Bruce was a part of The Kaimai community and so many of us had great times with Bruce in the Hills there.
Please check this post for updates.
Heaps more Photos of Bruce’s Celebration and Funeral go to my Facebook page … could not fit them into this post Here
I have been wanting to do a Blogpost on Objective Truths vs Subjective whims for a long time, yet like so many super important topics… I have procrastinated out of fear of not doing these subjects justice.
Esp in relation to my Belief in the Objective reality of Hell… despite not liking the doctrine at all… and wishing it were not true.
I esp want to talk about how a keynote of a Subjective whimsical thinker is that they refuse to believe in anything they find repugnant… esp if admitting ‘their’ possibility will have implications for themselves that they do not want to deal with.
Fear and loathing.
They are like the Ostrich who seeks to hide from any scary reality by putting their heads in a hole in the ground.
There are *many unpleasant realities* and any rational Cosmology/ belief system must be strong enough to encompass these dark truths.
‘The Problem of Evil’ ‘Theodicy’ being one of the greatest of all Theological/ philosophical topics that challenges the faith of many in Divine Providence and goodness, and many think the Doctrine of hell is likewise a fatal proof against the Goodness of the Lord God of the Bible.
Tonight after work I came across the ‘Meme/post’ (At Top) by one Matthew Joseph on a Facebook Group I belong to called ‘Psychedelics and Philosophy’, and as you can see the question Matt put forward perfectly dovetails with these topics, and without saying too much in this introduction… I hope that intelligent readers will be able to follow my rationale as it flows in the dialogue… despite the fact that during the ‘debate’ comments get inserted in.
It is a raw ‘real world’ conversation… not a fabricated dialogue designed by a clever writer to display their philosophical eloquence… its a battle of words between two antagonists… a bible hater vs myself… a King Jame Bible believer.
I will however just make a few quick points before I post the dialogue.
1. From what I have already said above you can see what motive I had for entering on a discussion of the question posed by Matt. It was not as he says… that I was ‘assuming’ some sort of personal attack, but that my initial comment (which is important because I maintain it’s position throughout the whole dialogue and my later comments are all in context of it) was a sincere attempt to draw attention to ‘Why some people believe heinous things’.. and that it is far more dangerous to assume that all heinous things ought to be automatically and subjectively disbelieved.
2. I admit to making some bold assumptions from the get go… as to why Matt may have posted this question… assumptions founded upon years dialogue, study, etc… and from the reaction that swiftly followed my original comment It becomes clear that my assumptions were perfectly correct.
Matt *Is precisely the sort of person I suspected*… yet still it was not my original intention to get into a bun fight… though once the first bun was thrown at me… I was more than ready to retaliate in kind!
3. With these things in mind I hope by the time any reader traverses this dialogue that they will see that Matts final assertion my arguments are all ‘Non sequitur’ is simply another denial of the fact that I was on point the whole time…
My ongoing comments must be taken *In context* of his comments… He fails to appreciate how he himself fills in the sequence of my reasoning… justifies my progressive assumptions, and makes full vindication of my original comment.
Thus I assert it was Matt who started the petty nastiness… Matt immediately responded in a derogatory manner… debasing the conversation by calling me a ‘Jack ass’… hoping to shut me down… not because he could rebut me… but because he did not like my original moot defending belief in the Bible and hell.
I assert that Matt said almost nothing that equates to a rational argument, and that at all points he displayed the Subjectivity of a God hating sinner… a lost soul who does not want to contemplate the possibility of facing Divine judgement and hell, and in fact he has nothing of substance to offer on the topic of belief.
He only wants to believe things that are non-threatening… non-challenging to his modus opperandi… and esp dont lay moral weights upon his back.
Matt is a Hater of The God of the Bible… and thinks Christians are Freaks.
Atheists like to make their own rules.
Even though their world view is ultimately nihilistic… morally sterile and devoid of value they still like to think of themselves as ‘Good people’…and that they are the ‘defenders of truth’, etc.. so they claim to sit on the Lofty Ground and pour righteous indignation down upon the religious.
It’s all Absurd and inconsistent hypocrisy with their own professed beliefs… yet very necessary for their self delusion.
Matt asserts that I went for his throat from the get go.
Yet still He has given me his permission to include his name and though one of his friends jumps in… he says little of substance and I have left his name in there too.
The whole dialogue is Screen shots… verbatim… Pettiness and all.
I assume only 3 mad people will read it in full… yet I intend to use this conversation in the future debates and discussions.
Now the debate is over, and I dont hold any ill feelings, and it is not my intention to use this blog post in malice against him, and in fact I offer an Olive branch to him and will post him the link to this blogpost and have already invited him to make critisisms and defend himself in the comments.
I hope that he will re-consider my arguments.
I dont want him to go to hell.
I dont want *anyone* to go to hell!
Yet I wont deny its objective reality because it was taught by Christ and is in the Divine Revelation… The King James Bible.
One of my most heavy burdens is watching as my friends and family…one by one… enter eternity Rubbishing Christ and assuming Hell and Judgement are not awaiting them.
It breaks my heart when they make it clear that they do not even wish to discuss this topic with me.
That Hell is real is why Christ gave his life on the Cross!
And To prevent people going to hell is not achieved by denying it’s existence… but by preaching the gospel of Gods Grace!
Preaching The Cross.
Matt will not know that I was once an Militant Atheist myself… so I appreciate how *alien* the spiritual truths of the Bible appear to the Natural man… the Materialist.
It has been argued by atheists that Jesus was immoral because he preached about hell, and that to their thinking eternal damnation in torment is too horrific an idea to be expounded by any Good person.
I admit it is a truly horrific proposition and I understand why even many Christians today try to do God a favour by denying the doctrine of hell… saying it is false teaching… bad interpretation, etc.
They want to removed hell because of the obstacle to faith it represents.. and they wish to escape the burden of arguing that God is moral to eternally Damn sinners … that is a hard thing to sell!
, yet I Choose to trust the Bible, and I argue that irrespective of my personal feelings… that *If hell is an objective reality* then I must Trust that God is Righteous in all his judgments, and that it would be immoral for Christ *not to preach about it*… not to warn sinners they were in danger… and it would be immoral for me to go along with the charade that hell does not exist!
Christians who are swayed against the doctrine of hell because of the difficulties it presents are infact involved in a form of Idol making.
They seek to make an Image of God more pleasing to their subjective desires and vain ideas rather than worshiping the God of the Bible… as he has revealed himself to truly be… including his holiness and abhorrence of sin and evil…
Look at all the vile evil in the world!
Look at the wickedness and perversion of humanity!
With one breath Atheist point at Wars and Tyranny… all the suffering of the weak at the hands of the strong, and accuse God of not caring about evil… yet with their next breath they condemn the Doctrine of Divine judgement!
They say The God of the Bible is outrageously Jealous and angry and that his judgments are too harsh!
Am I the only one who sees the contradiction and hypocrisy of the infidels?
Richard Dawkins pandered to the seething rage of millions of Atheists against God and his judgement, and instead of boldly standing on the scriptures and counter-striking with the Doctrine of the Love, Grace, and mercy of God… many Christians Retreated in the face of such an onslaught… just as they have shamefully done on so many issues vital issues like accepting ‘Evolution’… like accepting that Rationalist position on the Scriptures as merely a human construct full of Myths, and Superstitions.
And when they have removed Hell from their beliefs… they also have removed the greatest moral burden and impetus to preach the Gospel of Salvation to the lost!
God’s Judgement is evidence of the *Moral weight* and *Value* and Meaning he places upon Human life and action.
God takes our existence and activities very seriously!
God has managed to show his mighty wisdom and Both Judge and show mercy!
Remember that God himself is not willing that any should perish, and that he commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners , Christ died for us.
Those that end up in Damnation *choose their fate*… by rejecting Christ and the mercy of God.
So here it is…. “Let he that hath an ear to hear… let them hear”.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
Update: After posting the link to this post to Matt and his friends, he responded with more vitriol and personal insults displaying he is completely incapable of being rational on this topic.
And his friends weighed in too and it is telling that in more that 70 comments that were made… at no point did any of them actually address the content of my argument… and focused on pouring out guile on me personally.
They even wheel in some guy they think is a Philosophical ‘Heavy weight’… yet he proceeds to act as ‘amateur hour’ as the rest!
‘Tim is a Maniac’
‘Tim’s post is too long’
‘Tims writing is shit’… etc etc.
These are the whole tenor of my detractors ‘arguments’ against me… quite pathetic… very telling about their personal spiritual condition.
Of course ‘indifferent’ dialogues of noble and pure thinkers are Myth.
Fantasies invented by philosophers… In the real world most contentious Dialogues are full of ugliness, and so this dialogue fits in well with ‘Keeping it real’.
Anyway here is the discussion … and I will have to add some more of the later comments… I do know it’s ‘quite long’ in today’s short ‘attention span’ culture, yet I think the subject is worth taking time to ponder.
I have just started a New Facebook page with the above title.
Law and order are subjects I am very passionate about, esp because I have suffered from the injustices of Bad Laws enforced by unscrupulous Police… and so I know first hand how Bad Laws wrongfully enforced corrodes an individuals faith in society… causes a hate for society, and mass produces Criminals and Outlaws.
It was a near thing for me yet by the grace of God, he taught me the dynamics of these things, and why I ought to refrain from going down that dark ally… and instead ‘Keep the faith’ in Justice, and work for a more just and enlightened society.
As a Libertarian, not an Anarchist I believe in Just Government, Just Laws, and the Just enforcement of just laws.
Good Government, and Good Police respect the inalienable rights and liberties of Individuals, and their just and limited powers are delegated to them by the people (as Individuals) as an extension of the individuals right to provide for their own defense (Self defense) … yet that is as far as their legitimate function goes.
Good Cops… like Good Government are a boon to society… a Good Cop ought to be a Pillar of Ethics… a person motivated by Compassion and who sees virtue in serving the people… and this is something quite different from a Paid goon who enjoys wielding power under the pretense and pseudo-legitimacy of enforcing the Law… irrespective of *what* the nature of the law is.
If This page pours scorn, ridicule, or outrage upon events and the actions of an officer, department, or Court Ruling, please remember that this page is *Not about Hate*… It is about Justice and reform.
Good Police should be as outraged as I am, when bad police get away with injustice.
A Good cop is a person of the highest Scruple and integrity… He/ she is not in it for the money… or the power.
They will put the rights and liberties of the people they seek to serve ahead of tyrannical Party political agendas… and a Just society ought to have a constitution that embodies these ‘Higher principles’ that trumps Parliamentary whims, and has the authority to Deem The Evil ambitions of Politicians to be corrupt… and therefore void…. and therefore Criminal … and a code of Ethical conduct by which Good Cops can repair in defense of their refusal to enforce Bad laws and Evil Orders.
A Bad cop is a person who has no problems enforcing Evil laws that encroach upon the rights and liberties of the people.
Just as Satan appears as an Angel of Light, Evil Political agendas… and Bad cops always disguise themselves under the garb of Expedience, emergency, or some supposed Lofty Social and ‘Politically Correct’ Ideal.
Bad Cops even use Just Laws as pretense to commit gratuitous violence and oppression… and frame the innocent.
It is a characteristic of Evil to be able to pervert and twist good things to evil ends… and Bad cops do this all the ding dong day!
“He Resisted arrest”… “He went for my Gun”… so I shot him dead…… They know, and even have been trained how to work the system so that they can commit violence and crimes with impunity.
When the Cops are Corrupt… the wheels of society are truly falling off the wagon, and there are few things more destructive to Civil order… few Evils that generate Criminals than when people loose respect for the Law… because the powers that be… and esp the Police are corrupt and oppressive.
A society that does not vigorously expose, and prosecute Dirty Bad cops is on the road to Ruin…
Power Tends to attract the worst personality types, and it corrupts those of weak moral stature, which is a fundamental reason why Legal Powers of Force need to be very very limited, and The Government and Police need to be under constant scrutiny… and held to the highest standards of principle.
Sadly for most of the world the things I have written above are ignored, and so The Reputation of the Police is that of Oppressors… of a violent Criminal Gang within a corrupt system that protects them.
My Page is all about addressing these issues… about pointing out instances of Great police work, and contrasting them against instances when the Police commit crimes against the people.
My ambition for this page is not to propagate lawlessness and contempt for the institution of the Police but the very opposite… to promote Good Laws, To encourage reforms where needed, and be a place where people can discuss these issues… so please Like, Post and share here.
All are welcome.
I confess… and it’s no secret…
I Swear.
It is something that I struggle with.
I dont think it’s ok.
Yet neither do I buy into what Self-righteous freaks suggest that some how… because I swear… that is evidence I’m not a true Christian.
Its called being imperfect.
And there are many people who are PC… dont swear yet have far more malevolence in their hearts… they just dress their hatred and bigotry in more socially acceptable garb … yet it can be even more vile and insidious in it’s intent… yet that is how self-righteous hypocrisy manifests itself.
^ Sadly…There is some truth in this
I admit my shameful short comings… I dont wear a fake cloak of righteousness.
And I do try and live a better life every day… yet it is hard to get swearing out of your system when it is ingrained in your vocabulary of self-expression… there is no ‘Magic’ way to stop… anyone who thinks the Holy Spirit magically stops people from swearing is full of ‘it’.
I try to keep it real… try to remain sincere… and not put on an act… a facade… I am me… and one of the things I loath about *Acting Christians* is their phonie-ness .
I have always struggled with my spiritual walk against the Flesh… I have to trust God’s grace is sufficient for me… the wretch.
“A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.”
Jesus Christ. Luke 6vs45
I am not a Pastor because I am unworthy… I do admire people who are both holy and sincere, and full of grace… not law… yet there is something very wrong with all the messages I hear about being ‘Holy and separate and not like the world’… To me they mostly preach a ‘Fake stereotype’ of what they think *Every Christian* should conform too… as if there is only one pattern… as if we ought to all be alike in every aspect… all like pastors… all absolutely and only committed to the gospel… or else we are being evil and ‘like the world’… yet I can see that this idea is *not what the Bible says*.
The Bible says we are all *different parts of the Body of Christ*… with different jobs to do… different gifts and talents.
Different struggles and missions.
And most of us are not called to be ministers and Pastors.
Our first duty is to take care of our families safety and necessities… and raise our children in faith.
This means we work in the real world… Buy houses… vote in elections…. are concerned about Terrorism… and we raise our children under the grace of God… not under the Law… and under grace we may still watch TV… still cheer for our favorite sports teams… buy a boat and go fishing… etc etc.. ie we enjoy our lives like ordinary people… and so its *not a sin* in many ways to look like ordinary people… because that is what we are… and so I get very annoyed with self righteous zealots who claim unless we appear as zealous as they do, that somehow we are fake Christians… ‘like the world’.
I say they are far more likely to be the fakes!
they have totally missed the boat about being a Christian.
I am a real Christian!
Not Perfect…
A Sinner saved by the grace of God… and trying to incorporate Christian virtues and values in my life… and preaching the gospel when opportunity presents it’self.
It cant be denied that swearing not only offends God, but also ruins/ severely detracts from a Christians testimony… and this brings me grief to know this.
It pains me that some lost souls will turn their ears from my testimony because I swear, and
If my testimony is worthless because I swear then virtually my whole life is worthless… yet I dont believe that.
God only has imperfect Servants with which to delegate his chores!
There are no perfectly holy Christians.
I dont believe the gospel would be better off if I hid my faith until I master my unruly tongue.
I still believe my testimony has value *despite my failings*…
I try to represent the truth that God’s grace is open to ordinary people… ordinary sinners… and that becoming a christian doest not demand a person become a faker… a card board cut out of what *the world thinks Christians are*.
Becoming a Christian does not a perfect person make… it is but the beginning of a new path *and process* of Moral Redemption as we transform from a Lost soul and the thoughts and habits thereof into a ‘born again’ new person patterned on Holiness.
Yet The Old man does not surrender easily!
The less the vile wickedness of the carnal tongue is no joke… no laughing matter…. It is something Alien to God’s Holiness, and is very much an attribute of Satan himself!
An ‘Anarchist Christian’ friend remarked “I think it’s okay to have a potty mouth, just don’t use names of God as expletives.”
I pointed out firstly that… ‘I think’… is not a good yardstick for morality… not objective… and secondly the concept of … ‘I think it’s okay to have a potty mouth’… gets its subjectivity because of Our ‘acclimatization’ to what we conciser ‘normal’… and the excuses and rationalisations we create to pseudo-justify what ‘We think…’ for convenience.
I take responsibility for my predicament with regards to swearing.
It is ingrained in me because of years of habit… of conforming to ‘the norms’ of my peers in the social strata I have lived in… in particular the ‘Bogan Westy culture’ that I embraced as a Teenager, and the ‘Engineering Guild ‘ to which I Joined and work among as an Engineer.
Swearing is endemic in both these Sub cultures.
It is the norm.
And it is acceptable among the *Hard core* who consider themselves to be *The real deal*… rather than the ‘PC Wowzers’ who will never be fully accepted into this ‘elite’.
And though at face value I can see how pompous and silly… and in fact *immoral* these ideas are, it still takes a monumental effort not to think in these terms… It is so deeply ingrained into our *Personal Identity and world view*.
Just questioning these ideas and trying to escape it is looked upon as almost a sign of betrayal!
The problem is that I have bought into this stuff to such a degree that *It feels true to me*… even though when I step back… i know its an evil delusion.
Thus I battle within myself.
I admit my own stubbornly ingrained false values that are in conflict with what I know to be Right and good.
This is the spiritual battle between the Old man… the flesh… and the New Man Born of Faith in Christ.
James 3:1-12 (NKJV) 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude of God.
On the upside I am not the sort of Christian who gets offended by swearing, and even should I eventually win the victory over my own cussing … By God’s Grace I hope never to be a person who takes offence… or hold anyone in contempt for being a swearer.
I will have grace upon them, and will continue to preach Gods grace… may I never become one of those self-righteous and judgmental freaks who cause Christianity to stink because of their over-zealously turns them into contempt filled Pharisees.
I believe this is actually a positive virtue that aids me in what I believe is my God given calling and mission field… which is to share my testimony with Publicans, and Sinners… Bogans and Westies… in other words…. among my own people.
I pray my personal walk improves and my testimony becomes more valuable to God.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Protestant, Dispensationalist, King James Bible believer, Christian Libertarian.
P.S I do need to clarify one more thing… and that is that in a very real sense God has given us a pattern and example to follow and emulate… and that Pattern for the Christian is The Apostle Paul… yet this does not mean we are to *Exactly* emulate him like perfect xerox copies… We ought to emulate his Ideals and values, and follow his doctrines yet this does not mean we will all appear like clones… We should not all become tent makers…. we are not ourselves Apostles!
We are to incorporate Paul’s teachings into our own lives and circumstances… and apply them as we follow what we believe is Gods will and intention for our lives… as individuals… seeking out Gods special purpose for our lives.
This subject is in the very first rank of importance.
In writing this I hope to be able to communicate with both Believers and Unbelievers… which is difficult because the two extremes favour different approaches… one tends to run away when bible verses are deployed… assuming they are about to subjected to a nutty Bible bashing, yet the other tends to think that unless a post has a bible verse every second line that the post is some sort of Satanic plot!
Yet as has become my style, I will speak in plain ‘Natural’ terms as much as possible yet will stitch in scripture as I deem appropriate.
I believe this topic has value both as a means by which both Unbelievers and believers may gain important insights.
The whole theme is very much one of the most essential aspects of the proper relationship of any thoughtful person to the Almighty.
I will talk about how to deal with ‘struggles and issues’ in believing in Gods good character in due course, yet first I must present the basics of why Faith in his good character is essential.
There are many many vitally important reasons why it is *Faith* that puts us in the right relationship with God, and why he has made it the key to our relationship with himself.
One of the most interesting.. and telling facts is that *Faith in Gods Good Character* has always been… and always will be essential… even after/when we are in his very presence and have walked and talked with him simply because of our Limited capacity for knowledge… and his Infinite Divinity.
There will never be a time when we have full understanding of all things about the Almighty, and thus even though we may have a massive understanding… and countless proofs of his Good character… there will always exist a gap between what we know of him… and his full Glory… and thus Faith will always be needed to bridge this gap.
Then for the well versed and philosophically minded it is also understood that ultimately… all our knowledge… even scientific knowledge rests upon unproven assumptions that are accepted by faith!
At the very heart of the History of the Philosophy of science was the foundational ‘articles of faith’ that came directly from monotheism and is why Theists were responsible for the birth of modern science and why they occupy the Chief seats and hold the chief honours for virtually every branch of modern science… as the Founders.
Primarily the impetus to scientific discovery and secular explanations was born of the belief in a single Creator of everything who made the universe and ordered it according to Divine plans that may be rationally understood, and that the universe functions via Fixed Divinely established Laws… that Man may investigate and understand… because these laws are themselves rational and a testament to the truth and rationality of God Almighty.
Facts like this are not open to debate as they stand as Empirical reality… facts of the history of the philosophy of science… rather than on mere hypothetical intellectual ideology and bias.
One of the greatest delusions people like Hitchens, Dawkins, or Tyson have foisted onto the gullible atheist sheeple is the notion that the advance of Science has been synonymous with the advance of atheism… and the discrediting of faith in the Bible.
So far-be-it from being true that Christian faith… is as Atheists present the idea … as being a ploy to suck in the gullible to abdicate their minds and blindly swallow the delusions of religion… these atheists are displaying an abject ignorance of the dynamics and logic that underpins the Christian call to faith.
That *some False Prophets and priests may plot that way is not a justification to say *All Faith is Irrational and for fools*… and in fact to be an Atheist requires a heck of a lot of faith!
Atheists like Dawkins, Hitchens, and Harris display both rank ignorance and patent dishonesty when they fail to acknowledge the debt science owes to Theistic cosmology.. yet of course their entire arguments fall over if they were to admit the truth!
They prefer to sell books like ‘The God delusion’… ‘God is not Great…how religion poisons everything’ etc etc.
And millions of chumps who hunger for any reason not to believe the bible swallow their Atheist delusions by the ship load.
Most of these people have blinders over their eyes and hands over their ears… they cannot be reached via reason… and in fact Spiritual truths are completely alien to them.
This being so any reader who has even reached this paragraph in my post and is honestly contemplating what I am saying… has hope!… as their hearts are not as hard as impregnable stone.. and they are more open to Objective discourse.
The Bible’s call to faith is not only Philosophically profound, it is also beautifully exemplified in its explanations as to how and why the world is the way it is…warts and all.
That Faith has always been… and always will be essential is shown to be true by the Fall of Lucifer… who was not like us in that we have never seen God…. He not only existed, came and went from the very presence of God… he also held the most exalted place in the hierarchy God had established In Heaven… and on the original Pre-Adamite Earth.
Lucifer had it all…. except the worship that was due to God alone.
It was the dark seed of Pride in Lucifer that caused him to feel he was worthy of greater honor than what he received that caused him to hate God… ie he began to question the goodness of God’s character.
Satan Seethed with envy… and was overcome with a delusion that God was treating him unjustly.
And Lucifer began to tell them (The Angels) lies.. and so under the weight of his Cunning…it was a naive lack of faith that allowed him to deceive many of the Angels into rebellion against God… and as Satan later on… also deceive Adam and Eve into disbelieving Gods word.
… yet I will mitigate the fall of the angels and of Adam and Eve in this one sense… ‘They were like Children in their innocence’… apart from the wiles of The Devil… the father of Lies…these matters might never have entered into their minds before Lucifer sowed his own mis-trust in the goodness of God’s character into their hearts… like a disease.
Yet still had they maintained faith in the goodness of God, Satan would never have been able to cause them to sin….
That Trust in God’s Good character and his right to be Lawgiver and Judge is clearly seen in the test and singular law that God gave to Adam with respect to the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.
Adam (and Eve) were free to enjoy the fruits of the Garden except the one in the midst which God deemed to be prohibited… and it is a prima facie demonstration of how Satan works.
Genesis 3 King James Version (KJV)
1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
From the above we see that Satan was able to sow distrust in Eve about God’s Good character by suggesting God was deceitfully withholding good things from them and had lied to them!
Satan said “Ye shall not surely die…” in direct contradiction to Gods word… and instead of trusting in God Good character and right to make binding laws upon them… she was decieved by this ruse… and fell into sin.
^ in those few words we find why Faith between Conscious Moral Free agents and our Creator is essential… even when unlike today… Humans and Angels dont have to have faith in God’s existence because they experienced him empirically!
They walked at talked with him!
In those few words we also find the key modus opperandi of Satan!
If he can get you to question the Good character of God Almighty and get you to think that God’s word cannot be trusted… Satan has you exactly where he wants you… and in such a condition of accusation against God… Against his word… and against his right to be Moral Lawgiver and Judge… it is impossible for you to please God!
You have switched rolls!
You now claim to be the Judge of the Almighty!
You now think *you can decide* whether or not you will be subject to his Laws and Authority!
You doubt the truthfulness of his word.
And that Satan is now ‘the God of this fallen world’ is demonstrated every day by the perverse Global phenomena of Mankind in their arrogance asserting that The Lord is Unjust… that his judgments are unfair and tyrannical… and that Mankind ought to be allowed to write their own rules… if any!
And there is plenty of Material for the children of Satan to continue to employ to ensure the next generations perpetually believe the God of the bible is a moral monster!
And it is Godless Humanity that have turned this world into a cesspool of filth and violence!
The Height of Human vanity, depravity, and delusion knows no bounds!
I will add links to this post that will some degree expand on many of the monumental points that I have touched upon above only briefly, yet without making this post extremely long I wish to tie in all this with some personal dilemmas I myself wrestle with… and how … knowing the dynamics of faith … I choose to deal with them.
The philosophical and explanatory power of the Book of Genesis is so Gigantic as to be a fingerprint of divine truth!
When contemplated with a sober mind it is not surprising that this text has remained one of the Greatest philosophical/theistic texts of all time!
Not only does it enunciate with clarity the origin of the Universe and humanity, but of equal importance it explains one of the great challenges to faith in the goodness of God’s character… the existence of Evil… and what we today describe as ‘Natural calamities’.
These are things that Satan, and his children constantly use as wedges… as darts … to fire at the innocent and unlearned… and the foolish and rebellious… to undermine any faith they might entertain that God is Good and just.
These accusations require their own rebuttals and The bible contains sufficient facts and demonstrations That God is Holy, Just, and Loving, etc… none the less it cannot be denied that there are things not only in reality but especially within the scriptures that even bible believers like myself *Dont like*… and these test my faith… yet I do not do what so many so-called Christians do… and that is deny the validity of these scriptures… and come with sophisticated excuses why they should not be believed!
The last century saw a massive falling away from bible believing faith… a sad and unnecessary retreat in the face a relentless rationalist onslaught.
Many Christians were deceived into believing the theory of evolution was a scientific fact that conclusively disproved the story of Adam and Eve.
Many were fooled by sophisticated arguments that the God of the Old testament was Cruel and unjust… these people succumbed to the wiles of the devil and instead of clinging to the scriptures and trusting in Gods Goodness and supreme Justice… they caved in and abandoned the very core of their faith.
Had they held fast to their faith… they would not have had to endure long before the evidence would mount up that evolution was a false hypothesis, and that the very complexity of the cell and DNA discovered by the advance of genetics would utterly vindicate the story of Adam and Eve and of Intelligent design. (though of course atheists still refuse to abandon their superstitions and sadly many Christians also have not returned to faith in the book of Genesis as they in fact still have not accepted that a Good God could judge the world by flood)
Now I would never suggest that the question of the existence of Evil and of Natural calamities should never be contemplated!
I believe such questions to be very important… yet we must take extreme care with how we walk on this treacherous soil!
There are great snares and pitfalls that await the stumbling fool.
Satan appears as an Angel of Light!
He and his minions will always present pseudo-moral arguments in accusation of Gods word and contend that believers are guilty of accepting atrocities.
Such as is common with Rationalists who assert the story of Noah’s flood is not only a myth… but also as being a clear demonstration that the God of the bible if he were real… would be a monster!
And falling for these sorts of vacuous… yet powerful delusions has caused untold millions to abandon faith in the Book of Genesis… the very foundation-stone of Gods word!
And I will not deny that the story of the Flood is chilling to the bone!
I will not deny that it would be very satisfying to think that this story is just a fable invented via superstitious and manipulative Priest-craft… and to thereby self-vindicate simply writing the whole business off with the waive of the hand… and then to mock those who cling to these scriptures as Cretins.
And thus thinking we have strong enough science… and moral arguments to subdue *any reasonable debate* We can proudly declare ourselves liberated from Tyranny and myth!
And there is no shortage of Rationalist material… even from so-called ‘Christians’ who argue the Book of genesis is not to be trusted… that it is just allegorical, etc… even though that is not how Jesus or Paul our Apostle saw the Book.
They were Bible believers!
They Knew God was Holy, and just in his judgement, and that his word is trustworthy!
Abraham lived Post Noahs flood… there was probably plenty of empirical evidence for the Flood all about him and when God called him to leave Ur and go to a land in which he would show him… and that God would bless him and make his children innumerable… Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness… saith Paul
Yet still!
Knowing all these things does not fully take away many things that I struggle with… things that I still dont like… things I know are true… yet wish were not.
Yet I accept that Reality and Moral truth are not Subject to my will, and that there are many Objective truths and realities that do not require my assent.
I know that any person who cannot accept the possibility of such objective realities … and still not trust in the Good character of God … but deem anything they dont like as proof that Either The God of the bible does not exist… or that if he does… then he is Not loving and good… to be the height of vanity and self delusion!
These people are the very definition of subjectivists … the very height of Ego-mania… in that they think they… in their ignorance and folly… can stand in judgement of the Almighty!
They have fallen into Satan’s trap.
And the greatest proof of this can be easily found when you investigate what ground it is upon which they base their own moral authority!
Any cursory examination of their moral foundations reveals their feet firmly ensnared in a swamp!
Ie They have no higher moral ground upon which they can justly claim to stand in moral Judgement of the character of God!
And when I read the scriptures I find that most.. if not all the objective realities and Biblical truths that I dont like are also things that God himself has expressed great sadness… such as the Righteous judgement of the lost in eternal torment… and in particular of many of my own friends and family whom I love and sympathize with!
and it is when contemplating this that I begin to understand the terrible burden that is God’s alone to bear.
Who among us would desire to Judge the deeds of humanity with Absolute justice?
None of us are even worthy to throw a stone at an adulterer.
Such Judgments can only be done without hypocrisy by an absolutely Holy Judge.
Yet still who would deny that Evil cannot be allowed to go unpunished?
Indeed another of the great deceptions of Satan and his minions has been the accusation that God seems to allow so much wickedness to prevail… and go unpunished.
Here we expose another gigantic hypocrisy and contradiction in the Atheists contentions against The Lord.
With One hand they curse him for letting the destruction and misery upon the innocent of Sin go unpunished, yet on the other they Curse God for executing Judgement and justice upon the wicked!
Though I would dearly love to believe in the Heresy of *Universal salvation* …. or that the Damned will simply be annihilated… etc etc… I know that this is not the true doctrine of the scriptures… and it is out of the knowledge that Judgement is coming for the lost… for their wickedness… esp the wickedness of rejecting Christ’s sacrifice on the cross… that I busy myself with trying to share the Gospel of the grace of God, and attempt to win souls to faith in the trustworthiness of the Bible as a Divinely inspired and preserved Revelation from God to us.
This entire post has been written in the hope that even a few souls might grasp the truth… and share it with their friends, neighbors, and loved ones.
I am painfully aware that I am a very unworthy vessel of these truths… and that many of my own character faults and evils do not reflect well on Christ or the Gospel… nonetheless I dare not remain silent… my time is short… and my burden is heavy with Fear for the lost… esp for My Friends, neighbors, and loved ones.
I also have no doubt that some of my interpretations and assumptions are still cloaked in ignorance… and I look forward to the day that God himself dispels many of my fears with his light.
Even though I know the gospel truth… That Christ has taken away my sins upon his cross…I still fear my own evils and worry about standing before the Holy and Almighty God… the righteous Judge of the wicked!
All I can do is trust in the gospel truth… and rest in my faith in Gods Mercy and grace is sufficient for a wretch like me!
When I am confronted by challenging moral criticisms or supposed scientific ‘facts’ that are presented as ‘proof’ the Bible is in error for which i have no immediate counter-argument, I have learned to rest in my faith and to search out an answer… and in the 30+ years that I have been a Bible believe *Never* has any such challenge ever proven to undo my rational belief in the scriptures.
Most Often it is not long before the supposed ‘Evidence’ against the Bible is exposed as vacuous… sometimes it may take years before I discover the answer and yet sometimes the criticism is found to be valid yet in these cases they expose an error in my own thinking… and actually help me to discover greater truths that were there all along in the Bible… yet may have been buried under some false doctrine I had picked up along the way!
It is always wonderful when I learn new, and deeper truths as they tend to increase the harmony of the scriptures and dissolve cloudy areas that needed exposing to the light of truth.
So it is that the Christian and Bible believer has nothing to fear from giving skeptical arguments a fair hearing.
For me this has been an ongoing process that has strengthened my trust in the scriptures and made me wiser.
^Not anonymous! Its Proverbs 3vs5,6!
That is in essence the Ultimate position of Faith for the humble soul who knows the limits of his own wisdom yet understands the Truth… that the bible is to be believed… for valid reasons.
I know that I dont know everything, and that I must trust in God in respect to my struggles… and to hold tight to his word no matter what storms of controversy I must face.
I do know God Almighty is Holy, Just, Loving, and good, and that as God he must judge sin… and yet out of love has provided a way for the humble who admit their own sin to be forgiven and saved… by pure grace.
“For God commendeth his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners…. Christ died for us”
“And whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved”.
“Faith is the power of an optimistic possibility thinker whereas Doubt is the power of a pessimistic impossibility thinker”
Robert H Sheuller.
The Greatness of the Bible in its explanatory and Value instilling powers is truly Mind-blowing!
Esp when compared to the inescapable nihilism which is what atheism offers!
Faith must overcome skepticism.
Compassion must be stronger than Hatred.
Hope must be greater than despair.
Trust in Gods Word and Good character must overcome the wiles of the Devil.
We have Jesus Christ…and the Gospel of the grace of Grace of God.
Tim Wikiriwhi
Christian Libertarian.
King James Bible believer.
Dispensationalist.
Note: I will edit this post to get rid of errors, etc.
As a life-long fan hooked into Glenn Hughes Facebook page I got chills at the news he was coming to New Zealand to play His Deep Purple material.
Having missed his recent tour with the Cream Tribute band due to my current financial crisis (Cheers IRD) I had thought that I had probably missed my only opportunity to see one of my all time favorite Music Legends… as from my Teens I had not only ranked Deep Purple as one of the very best, but I had in particular cottoned on the the greatness of Glenn Hughes Funky voice.
The Songs and Lps He did were my favorite Purple, plus I had his Black Sabbath LP Seventh star…. all this … made the thought that I might miss his tour… quite frightening.
I had seen Deep Purple fronted by Ian Gillan (who is a Legend) twice, and in fact Their Tour in the Mid 80s was my very First Rock concert (I could write about that epic experience too… it was a Riot…. Literally!) … yet it was far from certain that I would make it to see Glen Hughes given my life… and that of my family being held to ransom by the Tax department for arrears.
When my wife asked me if I had anything I would like for my approaching 50th Birthday (3 August) …I could think of only one thing that I wanted… and I Cheekily said… “Well there is this Rock Legend called Glenn Hughes Coming to Auckland…”
In truth I did not expect her to get tickets… I was sure I would get the usual undies… etc, yet when the day arrived and she handed me the ticket I was overjoyed! (my wifes name is Joy)
Then she told me it was a ‘Meet and Greet’ I was dumbstruck! She had chosen to forego getting two tickets for us both to attend, and had instead got me the deluxe deal …. Best seat in the house… Meet the Legend etc etc!
It was seriously the Best Birthday present I have ever had in my life!
Yet now I was scared!
What the heck was I supposed to say to Glenn Hughes?????
Kristos
The date 2-10-17 seemed to roll around incredibly fast… and my anxiety had not faded when I jumped in my Car and drove up to Auckland from Hamilton listening to Stormbringer on Cd… and so I arrived downtown Auckland about 3 hours earlier than I needed to out of sheer panic… and I was the first person sitting in the Lobby of the ASB Aotea Center after trying unsuccessfully to catch a few zzzz in my car parked directly below.
I had brought a book to read and dragged that out of my case… containing two of my Favorite Purple Lps… ‘Burn’, and ‘Come taste the Band’… in the hope that Glenn might sign at least one of them… I myself could not decide on just one…(alas it was not to be… many fans had come with the same idea and the promoters said just before we met him it was impossible for him to sign stuff as there was not enough time… yet we all left with a signed poster)
Sitting there in the lobby I was treated to hearing Glenn doing sound checks… Highway star was rockin out through the closed doors just a few meters away!
I was on the phone to Joy skite-ing about having this private performance when I saw through the window a guy walking towards the doors and remarked to her… ” I see a Dude in a Black Sabbath tee shirt commin… and when he got inside I fist pumped “DEEP PURPLE!”
It was Kristos Tsitsiridakis… and Ironically he had the seat next to mine!
And thus started an evening in good company!
And it is Kristos who took many of the photos that are on this Blogpost… Thanks for letting me use them Brother!
We also met a lovely Girl by the name of Leanne with whom we enjoyed the night.
It was not long before there were 50 (est) people filing into the front of the theater about to meet The Man and the Band… for questions… a chat… and photos.
And moments later…there he was… and he did not disappoint!
Do not copy or reproduce without permission
Leanne.
What followed cemented in my mind what I already knew… That Glenn Hughes is not only one of Rocks Greatest… that he Lived and breathed Rock and Roll at its most extreme… but also that he was the nicest and most spiritual, and most caring of Human beings… yet he will be the first to tell you he was not always so.
He spent the next 30-45 minutes talking to us all… telling stories… and candidly answering questions… doing his very best not to blow his own trumpet too loudly.
He talked about the loss of his friend Tom Petty who had literally just died minutes before coming out to greet us.
He talked about being broken by all the violence in the world, and in particular the horrific carnage ‘At home’ at the Vegas Music festival merely days ago
We were talking to the much older wiser Hughes who constantly ridiculed the person he once was… in his Purple Glory, referring to himself as being ‘7 years old’ at the time.
One of the things that had stressed me out before the show was trying to think what questions will I ask the Man… without being too dumb… and one I meant to ask was that out of the countless gigs he has done.. ‘What makes certain shows stand out as special for him? yet I never did ask.
He talked about collapsing on stage just a few days ago in Christchurch due to Dehydration and exhaustion … and I was imagining how scary that must have been for him given he had also just talked about suffering a life-altering Heart attack in 1991 from which he had been given a artificial Heart valve!
No doubt in Christchurch just a few days earlier, his life had once again flashed before his eyes… yet here he was… telling us he was fine… and ready to perform for us!
That surely will be one of his more memorable gigs… yet for all the wrong reasons!
He expressed gratitude to his fans concerns for his health, then joked that had the young arrogant Glenn Hughes collapsed on the stage like that half the audience would have yelled out “Let him Die!”.
He mentioned that as he performs he takes positive energy from seeing his fans having a good time… loving his music.
His Near death experience in 91 was Pivotal for him in that it defines the low point… in fact the death of the infantile Drug and Booze fueled Hughes and the Re-Birth of the Humbled and Deeply appreciative Hughes… who now describes himself as ‘deeply spiritual’ and ‘a missionary of Love’… yet without carrying a Bible around… or seeking to lay a trip on his fans.
He want us to know the importance of loving one another and that He loves us.
I hope that he has put his trust in the cross… and resurrection of Christ…yet it was clear that he did not wish to become a Sunday school teacher to his fans who were there to hear the Rock and Roll Preacher!
Due to Excess…He said he could not remember the 80s!… and one of his companions made us all laugh when he told Glenn he had not miss much!
Before his Heart attack in the late 80s he was living up a mountain somewhere with his girlfriend and her Family… whom he moved into his pad because Dad was a heck of a drug dealer!
They would all sit around in their undies doing drugs…one of the very young children would roll them joints.
He said the day he saw his girlfriends mother stepping over the body of her own Daughter who was in the throes of Od-ing reaching for the crack pipe… he knew Sh%t was getting heavy! (expletive mine…Glenn never swore)
Glenn has seen many of his friends taken by excess… in particular alcohol… which when asked about whether alcohol was more dangerous than any of the illicit substances… he said *YES!*
He ranks alcohol as the most lethal drug!
Yet it would take several more years… and a heart attack to snap him out of his insanity…and vanity.
So Glenn is straight now … unlike the rest of Deep Purple!
Glenn also depressed me when he said the Deep Purple was going to Finnish up this year!
He spoke of flatting with David Bowie, and that Ringo Star is a good mate, and that David Coverdale remains close… yet there is little chance they will ever tour together again.
Like clockwork, and very Typical for me in the awe of having *The Man* standing mere feet away…my brains flew out the window… and I struggled to think clearly what I ought to ask and say….and so it was not until during the show that some more questions popped into my head that I could have asked him… like… “Where are your ‘Orange’ amps?
He had done adverts for Orange.
Was the size of the venue a factor for not using them tonight?
Or…. does it suck for you that we are going to be sitting here like idiots rather that standing and jumping about… like idiots?
Or…. with the venue being so small and enclosed does that negatively affect the vibe for you… not being able to crank it up Stadium style?
Yet The music was flowing like wine… and he stopped between songs to tell us that playing a seated gig in a small setting means he tries to substitute a lack of ‘bigness’ with *Quality*…
And the stage itself was Low tek and simple… no video… almost how local hometown bands have it set up… with just a Painted sheet backdrop… and psychedelic.
I did wonder at the weird bloodthirsty ‘Hindu God’ with severed head bleeding into a bowl of kai that hung over one of the amps!
Quite an amusing juxtaposition!
We got our photos taken with him… I shook his hand and said “Praise the Lord for You Glenn”… and soon we were back in the lobby having a few Monteiths Pillsiners in anticipation for what we were about to experience.
Then the show Began!
Boom! I was listening to Stormbringer live!
And many many more of my most favorite Purple tracks (See Kristos pic below of the track list he scored!)
I have learned that when you are at a concert like this to relish every second!
Glenn’s voice was unbelievable!
Like Rob Halfords at his prime… 5 octave range… like Paveroti … and driven by massive lungs …. more like Aqualungs!
So that he can hold these incredible notes for twice as long as other great vocalists.
He told us before the show that he still takes singing lessons!
He is always in control… never screaming….
There no need for me to go though the song set he delivered with precision, Each one a stand alone Rock classic, yet I must single out his comments about writing the mesmerizing ‘This time around’ with Jon Lord… drunk as skunks in the early hours of the morning… in about 30 minutes… at the age of 23!!!
He admits that he still wonders about how such words could flow out of himself at such a young age… and hinted at it being like ‘divine inspiration’… who can doubt it when you listen to that song… its depth… and beauty!
The Band was restrained by the venue, yet each was tight on their performance, taking full advantage of the genius of Purples material!
Guitarist Jeff Kollman hit every note with studio precision.
The drummer Pontus Engborg thrashed the drums… yet was still beautifully understated.
The keyboard Lachy Doley jumped about like mad man as he did justice to Lord’s Epic Hammond genius!
Go > here to get more details on the band.
The show went on and on… Classic after classic…growing in intensity yet inevitably there was the encore and then it was over.
I did not have time to hang about with my two new friends, yet I gave them my card and said to hook up with me on facebook.
My self proclaimed status as Glenn Hughes greatest Kiwi Fan was cemented after waiting in line to pay for my parking at the vending machine… $12 $12… was what everyone was asked to pay… yet when I put my ticket in the machine… it said $24.00! 🙂
That was the price I … his greatest fan… had to pay to be first at the gig!
I’m just laughing about it.
Glenn intends to keep touring… and says he wants to come back next year… and if he does, dont miss the opportunity to hear The Voice of Rock for yourselves!
Better still get the deluxe package… best seats in the house… and meet and greet the legend for yourselves.
The tickets were dirt cheap for such an experience.
And OLD SCHOOL ROCK IS THE BEST SCHOOL!!!!!!
Lachy Rockin out at the Auckland Gig (From his facebook)
Glenn has written a Book which is something I must get my hands on, and I’m sure most of what I have spoken about above will be covered in more detail in that… and so you guys reading this blogpost can get that… and hear these tales first hand.
I would not expect the show in Auckland to rank as one of *His* most memorable gigs… *YET* for me… and many of his Kiwi fans there that night is certainly was!
And I have been to many Rock concerts of the very Biggest names.
I thank my wife Joy for such a fabulous gift… seriously a Tick off my bucket list!
And Glenn… if you read this I hope you like what I have written and I would love chat with you sometime via facebook messenger!
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Christian, Libertarian.
Do not copy or reproduce without permission
Me and my mate Glenn Hughes.
Caveat: Some of my ‘Quotes’ are not verbatim, but ‘what I was hearing’… and written from my seat.
I have just started reading Christopher Hill’s ‘God’s Englishman’ Oliver Cromwell and the English Revolution and from the very start I find the Biblical political Ideology and dynamics within the Reformation that led to the full exposition of the Just limits to Kingly or Popish powers, and the inalienable nature of the God given rights of every Individual.
The Author introduces his readers to ‘Thomas Beard’.
He was Schoolmaster in the Free school of the Town of Huntington attended by Oliver the Boy… and is a person whom Hill says history records as a greater influence on the young O.C than his own father.
There is a vital truth in all this for the factual historic argument that Libertrainism was born of Protestant Christianity.
An unassailable fact that has been utterly bamboozeled by that commonplace naive and ignorant Atheist delusion about a historic battle between science and religious superstition.
The modern world and esp Western Freedom and prosperity are not the fruits of any supposed ‘triumph of secular materialist rationalism’.
It was not the growth of Materialism them gave birth to the ideals and principles of Liberty… but all the struggles for power and tyranny between the Religious factions , and the arguments the Protestant theologians found in the bible… that justified their calls for Freedom of Religion, private property rights, freedom from excessive taxation…. etc.
Thus the Doctrines of the equality of Humanity and the God given inalienable rights of the individual, and the limited just powers of government.
You have to be ignorant of a massive amount of the history of western civilisation to maintain that tired fantasy that enlightened progress and prosperity in the West is due to atheism and the abandonment of religion.
The Protestant Reformation was a doctrinal and political revival of the true faith …it stands opposed to the absolute power of either State or the Church.
So far I am only up to page 40… 250 more still to go so no doubt I will blog a many more comments on this book before I am through… so epic were the game of thrones at this time… for real.
The Right of Revolution….even Regicide.
So Thomas Beard is yet another example of this Protestant Christian Libertarian Enlightenment.
It’s King James Bible Time.
Today I want to make my rebuttal of a friends defense for Larkin Rose’s expressed position on God/ Deism.
Larken Rose Recognizes the fingerprint of Intelligence within the incredible design of living things yet appears ambivalent towards any further thought or discussion about the ramifications of this Revelation.
He reminds me of the late A Flew… the once High priest of Atheism who in the face of the discoveries of Modern science esp the complexity of living things abandoned his Atheism for belief in Intelligent design… yet never made the full traverse to Bible believing Faith in THE LORD.
Flew was an honest thinker yet ran out of Time…whereas Larken Rose still has time to discover the truth… yet his attitude appears to me to be that of a Man who does not really want to go down that road…and I question his motives.
I argue why Deism may once have been forgivable/ understandable in the distant past, yet is inexcusable today, and that now Reason and Logic are on the side of the Theist.
While both entail the belief in a Creator God, what distinguishes Deism from Theism is that Deism rejects Divine interventions in the affairs of Men… No Miracles to circumvent the laws of Nature… and esp No Divine special Revelations to mankind.
It will be necessary for me to skip over large portions of history and related material for the sake of brevity such as the Deism of the 18th century.
(I will have to do a separate Blog post on these important aspects of this topic at some later date, and insert a link to it here)
Watch Larken Rose Here…
*********
Ten or more years ago I was asked to debate Hamilton based Atheists for the existence of the Christian God.
One of my opponents was Garry Mallett from Act.
Now The only reason I have mentioned this debate is because the 2nd part of my argument was the logical assumption that *If there is in fact a God (in the Full context of the word) and that he made us human beings…as Rational, conscious beings… that it would be a reasonable assumption to think that surely he would communicate with us some how… who he is… why he made us…etc rather than just leaving us Ignorant about such things.
That was my premise for why it is rational to at least consider the possibility that the Bible’s claim to be the Divine Revelation from the Creator of the Universe to be a plausible possibility at least… and that the honest thinking person having first concluded that the Universe and Living things are best understood as the products of intelligent design… that following upon that, that The Bible answers the questions that naturally flow on…. The *Who* is this Great designer of the Universe… and what message does he have for us… his Conscious Rational Moral Free Agent Creations… and most importantly… that such a Revelation is precisely what the rational mind would expect from the God who is there… rather than silence.
This is an argument that places Theism as superior to mere Deism and in fact renders belief in Deism today to be a cop out…poor reasoning at best… mostly willful ignorance.
Deism and Theism both draw upon what has been described as ‘Natural religion’… Ideas about God derived from looking at Nature… looking at what has been described as ‘The Book of God’s works’.
Yet Theism makes an additional claim that we have a second Book that we may also gain direct and infallible knowledge about God.. The Book of his actual words.
Deism/ Natural Religion is great up to certain point, yet severely limited as it can never tell us Human beings *who God is*… only that he is there… and that he is super intelligent and super powerful, and that there is some sort of Objective moral law which We Human beings ought to at least try and live by… that gives our Moral sence some legitimate foundation and purpose… rather than simply being some sort of illusion… mere sentiment… mere feelings.
An Idea such as ‘Kharma’, or ‘Reaping what you sow’… These are the sorts of ideas human beings have arrived at via contemplating nature… ‘Do unto others as you would have done unto you’ … ‘Be Good’… we know that’Theft is evil’…because we hate it when someone steals from us… so dont steal from others… yet still none of this has anything higher than our own opinion to rest upon… or the opinion of ‘wise others’… and is therefore not impervious to arguments of evil men that assert that all such moralizations are vacuous.
Dark minds may posit the question… Maybe the Deity is Malevolent?
Do not Floods and Earthquakes signal that our creator is far from a caring God! ????
Is the only Moral Rule …contrary to what the wowzers would have us believe…that the Strong may subject the weak?
Are they trying to subject the strong to whiles of the weak?
What the heck is really going on?
Deism cant definitively answer this… yet it gives those whom cling to it a certain self-justification for not being Nihilistic… for claiming they are Moral and good. (something that is necessary because of what the bible describes as our innate knowledge/ consciousness of Good and evil)
“For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:…”
St Paul. Romans 1:20.
Yet Deism says *Nobody can claim to really know*.
Now I love many of the Great heathen thinkers of classical times, whom both believed a God exists, and that Humanity should be moral, and because of the times and places in which *they lived* I accept that they really had taken ‘Natural religion’ to its highest forms and that they had no ‘Rungs upon which they could possibly ascend higher and closer to God’, and that they were Good, wise, Moral men…In the context of how good any man might be under such circumstances. (Separated/ aliens from Israel, mostly living before the advent of Christ)
It is at this plateau that many of the Great Heathen moral thinkers had arrived.
The Stoic Marcus Aurelius is supposed to have said…
Though Aurelius lived post-Christ and had ‘herd’ about the Christians and held negative opinions about them, I am not sure to what degree he had any real first hand communications with them, or any familiarity with the Old testament/ Book of Genesis, thus I tend to consider his situation as very similar to that of the *Pre-Christ* Gentile thinkers… Aliens from the Divine revelation.
He was a very interesting thinker…God will judge him. Here is an interesting link to this Topic
Now As a Christian Theist who believes the Bible, I know there are Mountains of the most vital truths missing from this Natural/Deistic Faith position because I have the Divine Revelation… The Holy inspired and preserved words of God Almighty himself esp the Facts That Humanity is under a curse because of our Sin, and that our Sin separates us from God and puts us in danger of His Judgement and Damnation.
*It is possible*… because it is so obvious… without the aid of scripture to apprehend by the power of reason alone Humanities fallen/ sinful condition… our wickedness… our depravity… our Cruelty…. and perhaps from this a rationale may be conceived of the need to somehow appease the anger of the God(s)… for justice sake… all sorts of weird Ideas have been proposed… *Yet via reason it would be impossible to conceive of the doctrine of Christs virgin birth, and substitutional atonement for our sins, and resurrection*…from nature alone.
Indeed many Naturally minded people find these Doctrines repugnant… which leads to my main contentions for this blog about Deists living today in western civilization… and their willful ignorance/ rejection of the Divine Revelation… the Bible in which all these doctrines are laid out in the most Logical fashion from the very beginning in Genesis.
As I have said Deism is severely handicapped to what degree it can reveal the nature of God to us… limited in its certainty of moral precepts, etc, none the less *Today*…far from these limits as being considered by trendy thinkers as pitfalls… these people actually *enjoy* them!
Most of these are people *Today* … follow a trend that became fashionable from the end of the Great reformation who… for various reasons…good or bad… *hate organised religion* (which tends to be where Theistic claims of having ‘Divine revelation’ are most prevalent) … they also enjoy what they see as ‘the Freedom to do as they please… the only moral restraints being their own conscience… and esp that Deism can make no emphatic claims of Divine Judgement for moral failures… it cant even emphatically state the validity of any Human Judgement derived from Nature.
They will say that ‘Reason’ is the only Authority they will subject themselves to, and as they have reached to limits of Reason… they cannot be subject to any higher Moral authority or law.
Philosophers love to quote Hume … “you cant get an ‘Ought from an Is”.
Its Funny though that ordinary people seem to be able to do just that without much trouble appealing to sentiment… they are not moved by arguments that say we can have no confidence in these… in fact to my thinking …the rational approach to this mystery of consciousness to the ideas of Good and evil is not to say ‘We cant ever know’… but instead to set out *in faith* on a Pilgrimage to discover some means by which our sentiments can find Objective validation… It is a quest of discovery for the Divine revelation from the Intelligent Creator whose existence is testified to by his Natural handiwork.
And It is an Irony that in a work by the great skeptic himself David Hume called ‘Dialogues concerning Natural religion’ in which there is a debate about the existence of God, in which Hume deploys his skeptical arguments in the person of ‘Philo’, yet stunningly… in the final analysis his Book ends by giving the victory to the Theist ‘Cleanthes’!
My contention at the Debate was that not only did the Deity Communicate his existence and expectations of Humanity via Prophets and the written word… He intervened into Human affairs in the Most personal manor…. He visited us… and Walked among us… God was manifest in the flesh.
“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:…”
Now when you add up all the components I have briefly discussed above you ought to be able to grasp why it is that I myself am a Theist… a Bible believer… That the fact that we westerners have easy access to the King James Bible and the book of Genesis therein, that willfully seeking to remain ignorant of the Divine revelation is inexcusable… and why it is that I have a pet dislike for modern Deism… esp its corruption/heresy of what I call Christian Deism which I see as a pathetic retreat from true Christian Theistic faith…caused by a weakness in faith and Bad reasoning… in the face of Atheist sophistry. (Topic for another Post)
I actually struggle to contain my contempt!
I need to take 5… and chill… and remember that it is only by Gods grace that I myself am a Christian at all.
I need to remember *How alien* I once was… How utterly incapable of apprehending the existence of God let alone the truthfulness of the Bible!
It is with all this in mind that I decided to keep calm and write this post..
Recently A friend of mine tried to justify the Deism of one of his Favorite thinkers Larkin Rose, which I had critisised as being pathetic… because he refused to make the most basic inference that Intelligent design demands *GOD* and that from this obvious conclusion… if he was an honest thinker… would demand he then begin a personal pilgrimage to discover *Who* this Grand designer is.
My friend began to repair to the arguments *of Classical Deism* and the limits that Logic faced in that direction… as if that excuse… which of course appears quite valid when looking back to heathen lands… and times before Christ… aliens to the Divine Revelation, Yet This blogpost is my express rebuttal to that argument when applied to modern thinkers like Larkin.
It is invalid for Thinkers today to simply rest on that ancient Plateau… because they live post Christ and have access to the Bible and history.
This makes them fully culpable for rejecting Jesus Christ.
Socrates on the other hand was not privy to the Bible… and I even conjecture that he would have become a Christian had he been given the opportunity… so many of his conclusions about Divine things being in perfect harmony with the scriptures… that he never had opportunity to read.
I say that If Socrates would have considered the Gargantuan explanatory power for the first chapters in the book of Genesis…plus all the rest… the Biblical explanation for the existence of Evil…The explanation of why God has separated himself from mankind… why we die… why there are Natural disasters, etc etc that it is very possible that he would have realised that this divine revelation gives a great logical basis for Biblical theistic faith when one applies it to the world about him.
That in fact the Bible *Is the Revelation* of the Intelligent designer of everything…his message to us his creatures… esp telling us *Who he is*… and what is *Really* going on.
So I question why it is that though Larken Rose sees through the delusion of atheistic evolution, he still is apathetic towards discovering *Who God is* and challenge him to Read the King James Bible… to really contemplate it’s message… and that in doing so he would no longer be in a position to argue that Logic ends at the plateau of Natural religion.
The Bible is a logical extension from the Plateau at the top of the Mountain… upwards out of the stratosphere all the way… a direct line of communication to the Deity… a logical vindication of Bible believing christian Theism.
Of course Satan and his minions have been attacking the Bible, and via sophistry undermining faith in its veracity as The Bible is the Ultimate Fortress of God for the believer. It is the Ultimate Lighthouse in the storm of life Shining its beams upon the treacherous Rocks of peril, and a Guide of Safe passage… salvation to every soul who sees its light and navigates into the Harbour of God’s love and Grace.
Satan is the enemy Of God and Men’s souls…The Father of Lies… it was by cunning craftiness that he was able to deceive Eve, and get her to disbelieve Gods word and to Eat of the forbidden fruit, and he has been at this game the whole time… Deceiving… yet the word of God remains like a Rock
Happy Resurrection Day!
Tim Wikiriwhi.
Protestant, 1611 King James Bible believer, Dispensationalist, Christian Libertarian.
The last paragraphs of Humes Dialouges concerning Natural religion…
If the whole of Natural Theology, as some people seem to maintain, resolves itself into one simple, though somewhat ambiguous, at least undefined proposition, That the cause or causes of order in the universe probably bear some remote analogy to human intelligence: If this proposition be not capable of extension, variation, or more particular explication: If it affords no inference that affects human life, or can be the source of any action or forbearance: And if the analogy, imperfect as it is, can be carried no farther than to the human intelligence; and cannot be transferred, with any appearance of probability, to the other qualities of the mind: If this really be the case, what can the most inquisitive, contemplative, and religious man do more than give a plain, philosophical assent to the proposition, as often as it occurs; and believe that the arguments, on which it is established, exceed the objections, which lie against it? Some astonishment indeed will naturally arise from the greatness of the object: Some melancholy from its obscurity: Some contempt of human reason, that it can give no solution more satisfactory with regard to so extraordinary and magnificent a question. But believe me, Cleanthes, the most natural sentiment, which a well-disposed mind will feel on this occasion, is a longing desire and expectation, that heaven would be pleased to dissipate, at least alleviate this profound ignorance, by affording some more particular revelation to mankind, and making discoveries of the nature, attributes, and operations of the divine object of our faith. A person, seasoned with a just sense of the imperfections of natural reason, will fly to revealed truth with the greatest avidity: While the haughty Dogmatist, persuaded, that he can erect a complete system of Theology by the mere help of philosophy,
KS 228
disdains any farther aid, and rejects this adventitious instructor. To be a philosophical Sceptic is, in a man of letters, the first and most essential step towards being a sound, believing Christian; a proposition, which I would willingly recommend to the attention of Pamphilus: And I hope Cleanthes will forgive me for interposing so far in the education and instruction of his pupil.
D 12.34
Cleanthes and Philo pursued not this conversation much farther; and as nothing ever made greater impression on me, than all the reasonings of that day; so, I confess, that, upon a serious review of the whole, I cannot but think, that Philo’s principles are more probable than Demea’s; but that those of Cleanthes approach still nearer to the truth.
Interesting that many people are happy to label themselves ‘agnostics’ … yet are not prepared to *Stand*/ live as an agnostic … ie they still make value judgments *as if they know*.
ie an self-professing ‘Agnostic’ friend is still however adamant that ‘Governments are evil’… yet how it is possible for an agnostic to make such an affirmation? ….or any value claims at all?
Positive assertions are certainly inconsistent with the claim of Faith… ‘I’m agnostic’.
They ought to ‘sit on the fence’ on *Every* issue.
Your lips say agnostic… but everything else screams *Dogmatist* .
Atheists dont fare any better…. as few of them are prepared to embrace the meaningless *nihilism* that is the inescapable verdict of such a Religious world view.
Most Atheists cannot live consistently with their own claimed cosmology… insisting they themselves are *Good*… Moral…. beings… etc making Moral judgments all the ding dong day….
The Human moral sence is indeed one of the most powerful evidences of the Veracity of Theism… and the Great Lawgiver.
