First I must apologise about my lack of blogging, I'm sure it's not a lack of seeing "signs", just lack of organisation!

The other day I received an email from some friends in Indonesia asking for prayer for a mutual friend who had a slight problem. The following is the story:

Our friend was travelling on his motor bike when a fellow biker in front hit a women pedestrian, our friend tried to avoid the accident but unfortunately also hit the women who subsequently died. The first rider ran away (this happens frequently in Indonesia) leaving our friend behind to 'face the music'. The Police put him under house arrest and charged him with death of the women. Under Indonesian practice, the family of the deceased can ask any amount of money from the accused and press charges.

The police charge carried a maximum of 5 years prison. After making contact with the victims family our friend was able to come to a very reasonable agreement with them; they asked for a manageable amount and would not press charges. The Police also decided not to press the more serious charge with a lesser one holding a maximum 2 year sentence or a R5million which is about US$550. This is an amazing result considering the complicated system in Indonesia and the corrupt nature of the police there.

Our friend is a faithful labourer in Indonesia, he has planted many churches around the area he lives, which is a strong Muslim area. He has been full time pastoring these churches over 20 years.

In Indonesia it is very rare for people from a "Christian" background venturing into a Muslim area and actually becoming friends with them and thinking about introducing them to 'Isa Al Masih".

I was telling this to a group at the weekend and today I received an email from one of the guys attending the meeting from Tauranga and offering some money for our friend as he had been touched by this situation. Praise God.

Viewed an interesting program on BBC the other night; "Hard Copy" is the name of the program. It's an interview tackling issues at the 'core'. This interview was with an Anglican Priest who had the oversight of the South American Church, he was also a leading 'conservative' within the Anglican communion. The interviewer was wanting his angle on the current 'divorce' about to happen within the Anglican community mainly over two issues: the ordination of 'gay' clergy and the appointment of women Bishops.
Now I don't intend to comment on these two important issues but only on the way this bishop handled the questions; instead of getting caught up with running people down and negative comments he stuck to the fundamental issue for him and his group; the authority of the Bible, the divinity of Christ and the historic teachings of the church. He stressed that there are 'essentials' that cannot be negotiated, but other issues although important do not alter our relationship with God or our salvation. It was encouraging to hear a church leader clearly stating these are the 'non-negotiables'

Out With Friends

Sunday was such a lovely day, especially after Saturday. The fury of a winter storm blasting from the deep south. But Sunday was a ray of sunlight and it shone for Lydia and her water...ice baptism. It was a wonderful testimony to her young faith and the strong bond of friendship.

Monday night we joined with four of our street neighbours and went down to 'Altitude' a cafe come restaurant at the end of Colombo St. I had been given six free coffee tickets, so we used them. It was a great time with our friends especially as one is leaving for two weeks in the States. These are all non-believing friends enjoying each others company, no God talk on Monday but I feel God was amongst us and signed in that night.

Tonight we had an International gathering. One of our Indonesian friends is going home on Sunday so Bronwyn organised for the ladies from Cant Uni International women's group to say goodbye. Unfortunately only a few were able to come but we did have Kiwi, Maldives and Indonesian here. Apart from the Kiwis the others were all Muslim and we ended up having a discussion about what Muslims and Christian believe about 'bad luck' and superstitions. We talked about how our faiths believe in a sovereign God but also free will, that each person is responsible for their own actions, that if we do good to others we are honouring God. There's always something special, I find, when people of different faiths can sit on the floor and talk about what they believe and ask about the other persons beliefs in a non-threathening manner.Although we talked about each others faith we didn't compromise our own beliefs; dialogue doesn't mean one automatically succumbs to syncretism but one listens and expresses their faith in a friendly, natural way.

Family Discussion Time

It was my daughters birthday this weekend and we had a meal with her and her husband on Friday night. It was a real blessing having all the family there enjoying a lovely meal and some good conversation.

Actually our family can have some very lively discussions, we can get intense and immersed in our point of view. Our daughters (new) husband comes from a different kind of family without brothers and sisters to add to intensity of a good discussion. He is very quickly adjusting to our style.

Well, we started talking about how we stand up and express our Christian convictions. Is it better to stay in the background or to stand up and be noticed by society, even if they get offended by either our message or style. The issue was illustrated by the recent Destiny Church protest in Wellington. The great thing is we have people arguing both sides.

The discussion then moved onto creation and if a Christian can except a role for evolution or the 'Big bang theory'. I'm not sure how it got there!

The discussions in themselves were not so important, it was more that we were able to talk about our understanding of Christian faith in an open and honest manner. At least the family was trying to grapple with issues of faith and what does God's word say about these things.

What does our faith look like to those around us, how are we relating to non-believers especially those folks that are often ostracised by the Christian community. The Homosexual community was one we talked about. Why is it that we are seen to be haters of Homosexual people? How do we say that we actually love the people but hate the sin? Does a protest against the activity send out the right message, are we making friends of people who are homosexual or do we belong to organisations like the AIDS Foundation?

We must examine very carefully what our words sound like and what our actions look like because as sure as not the media and other groups will take them out of context.

So I think we all ended our discussion on good terms and hopefully it will lead us back to scripture and see what the heart beat of God is on the real issues.

His Glory Will Appear Over You

God seems to be speaking to me when reading his word lately about how I can express the kingdom to not just my fellow Cantabrian, but to the nations. I was reading Isaiah the other day, Chpt 60, I always struggle with how much I should 'claim' verses for myself. It's all very nice taking the 'nice' verses as God speaking a specific word to me, but I'm not so keen when it comes the 'not so nice' ones.

This Chapter, especially the first few verses, really stood out when I read them: "Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For the darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn."

Nations for will be drawn to God through Gods glory shinning out from me! What a privilege, a responsibility we have to those around us. God chooses a people to express his glory , his good news to the world. He chose Israel but they turned their backs on God and instead of drawing the nations to honour him, they dishonoured the name of God. Now God has chosen another people to represent his name among the nations, those whom he has redeemed through Jesus.

What shape does this light that shines for the nations look like; chapter 61 gives us a glimpse. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour ..."

But what I find even more incredible is that this is not some 'way out there' promise; it is brought right next to us when we read Luke 4:18 and then verse 21. "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing." "The kingdom of heaven is near". Jesus is The Good News, and he lived in the "power of the Holy Spirit", he lived and preached a message that should be 'violent', that should rip open the complacency of our comfortable established lives. He came down from Heaven to enter into the messy, broken world and to establish a kingdom that we are part off.

Today I listened to a friend talking; who is going through a rough time with his marriage and trying to make major employment decisions. A neighbour came into work this afternoon in real agony because his leg is very sore, he had had a bad day and we sat down with a coffee.

Farewell

Well just had to pop into the blog and say I had some great sales today, busy day for me. It always amazes me on how people love to stop and talk, must get that coffee machine going at work!

We went round to our Indonesian Muslim family tonight for dinner, they are so loving and hospitable. Its been interesting watching the wife progress with her English. When she came here it was very difficult to get many English words out of her but now, after about three and half years you can converse comfortably with her in English. However it is with sadness that we saw them tonight because Ira, the wife , is returning to Indonesia with their two kids with her husband following in about two months. We have gotten to know them well over these past few years and count them as dear friends. When you share meals and your home with people, you can see past the stereotypes and move through the preconceptions about people that are, on the outside different to us. These folks are Muslim, she wears the scarf head cover and he goes to the Mosque each Friday. They should be trying to convert us to Islam, take over the world. But hey, they are just like us; love their family, want the best for the kids, strive to make ends meet on limited income, and want to honour God.

How does the kingdom come near to them? I could try and argue with them on how their religion is wrong, point out the mistakes, say how violent Islam is etc. No. The kingdom will come near to them as I come near to them, I am Gods representative of the kingdom here on earth. If they want to see the kingdom then all they should have to do is look at me. Although they are leaving NZ soon, our friendship will continue across the seas and we can just keep open the friendship, unconditional and watch for those moments God gives us to speak into their lives. We know that if we get to go over to their home they will welcome us in, even if there is little room. God please do your miracle in their lives.

Home Show Chat

Well it's been a while since my last blog, have been busy though. This last weekend I have been at the Star Home Show. Our shop had a small stand there and I was manning it for three days; 10 am to 6 pm. There were over 20,000 people walking through that place and lot of them either noticed my stand or made some kind of contact with me. Very positive outcome as far as brand recognition went, although would have liked to sell more product.

My stand was about three quarters along and many people by this stage were getting a little tired so when they saw the chair I had on display they were happy to sit down and rest and chat. Also some of the other stall holders popped over and rested their weary backs.

The stand next to mine was an insurance stand. There was a nice young man on the stand, clean shaven, just an honest looking type of guy. You know almost from the beginning I thought he might be a Christian. Some people have that look, especially that conservative, Evangelical kind of look. During one of our chats he happened to mention that he had been a 'missionary'! Been overseas a number of times with YWAM. So we had a bit of talk about churches and families. Actually had a few chats with different stall holders but thinking back didn't take advantage of the situation to talk about 'deeper issues'! Do you feel guilty sometimes because you didn't use the opportunity to bring in Christ to the conversation? I hope that I no longer feel guilty about not always manipulating conversations to talking about Christian things. However I do feel guilty if I don't sometimes get past the surface pleasantries. So many people are just waiting for someone to be interested in them, to listen to their story. They are very willing to tell it too.

Had a good chat to another couple who used to attend Opawa, they attend another gathering of believers now. During our conversation I found out this guy was meeting a another friend that Bronwyn and I have been walking with through marriage problems. These two guys hadn't known each other before but had meet and the guy I was chatting with wants to encourage my friend as well through this rebuilding journey.

Last but not least, the shop had its highest turnover this last month. Praise God.

Opportunities Come Along Once

This sounds terrible but I didn't have time to sit down and talk with God today. Had a lot of people in the store and also some running round to do at the beginning, that's when I usually try and sit down with the Bible and pray. I did talk to God through out the day, you know those little sentence prayers. I was going to say I didn't do much listening, but then that all depends on how you expect to hear from God. When I think about it, He speaks through many different ways; that's what looking for signs of the kingdom is all about.

I'm starting to develop a bit of a friendship with my local TVNZ rep, he pops in from time to time to see if everything is okay with my advertising. We sit down and end up chatting about a host of things. At the moment we are talking about what happens at the weekend, might start talking about families soon. He's just a young guy, I think rather typical of guys in their late 20's. Plays a bit of rugby, goes to the gym, socialises and then watches Coronation St!

Actually I have been following the TV programme, "The Amazing Race". One of those reality programmes. This one is about people in pairs racing round the world doing certain tasks and each program the last pair to arrive at the destination point is eliminated. The pairs are made up of many different relationships; like two sisters, husband and wife, two gay Anglican Priests, a young man and his Grandfather, a young couple in a new relationship and a father and daughter. That is just a few of the types, any way last night was the final. We had three pairs left: father and daughter, new couple and son and grandfather. At the beginning of the race most of the pairs would have major fall-outs with each other. The father and daughter were a classic case. The father always criticized the daughter if things went bad, he would often loose his temper. It was a very fractured relationship. Ronald & Christina, the father/daughter Team, are competing in the Race to make up for lost time. Since Ronald was constantly traveling for work throughout much of his daughter's formative years, Christina hopes the Race will allow her father--a self-proclaimed workaholic--to stop and smell the roses and provide them with some meaningful time together. Throughout the race that happened, slowly the father saw the beauty in his daughter and her amazing talents, he stopped talking and running her down. He even started to praise and encourage her. They only came second but said after the race that the most valuable thing that they had learnt and gained was a real father daughter bond and love; they both felt they finally were a father and daughter.

Lost opportunities don't often get a second chance, God gives us windows of opportunities, it what we do with them that can make the difference. I thank God that he used that programme to remind me to work out my priorities.

Now But Not Yet!

I had some nice conversations today; a couple from Halswell in the shop, the husband about 85 and still skiing. He has bad knees but is forgoing an operation because he been told he would have to give up skiing. He keeps active and has learnt to manage his pain. It made me think about how I handle misfortune, pain or the uncomfortable struggles in life. I have in the past allowed those situations to tie me up, I have let them make myself sit in a pool of self pity. Why me Lord or do bad things happen to good people? This man is enjoying life when it would be easy to moan, lie down, and feel bitter.

It reminds me of the passage in 2 Corin 6: 1-10 & James 1:2-4. Paul did not let the problems hold him back but continued to work for the kingdom. James also saw beyound the pain to joy that was his in Christ. It's beautiful to see but not always so easy to live.

Also talked with a young man from India now living in New Zealand, although away from his home he was enjoying his new life here. It was interesting that he still loved his old country but did not want to return, his home was now New Zealand. There are many situations where we hold in 'creative tensions' aspects of our life. Thinking about the kingdom reminds me of some of those tensions; the kingdom is now amongst us but is still to come. "He (Christ) inaugurated it (the kingdom) but did not bring it to its consummation. Like him, we are called to erect signs of God's ultimate reign- not more, but certainly not less either...once again God's reign will come, since it has already come." (Bosh)

A Remarkable Discovery

Looking back over the week of blogging I have noticed that signs of the kingdom have happened in small ways, very much in the every day occurrences; but still of significance. Relational seems to be a theme, either people coming and speaking to me or me listening and speaking to others. Moments of encouragement from God as one made their way through usual business activities.

One thing I have noticed, that it's easy to miss signs or to be always looking for 'big' signs but often the signs are there, we just need to open our eyes.

I have also been reminded of what a precious gift the kingdom of God is. I'm taken back to the two parables told by Jesus to illustrate the kingdom to his disciples. Matthew 13: 44-46 describes finding the kingdom likened to finding treasure. Sometimes we stumble across the kingdom and other times we go searching for it, both stories are the same; a great excitement upon making such a discovery. The kingdom is always found, it's not ours by right. God reveals its splendour and richness to us, he even offers us the 'keys' to the secrets of the kingdom (Matt16:19).

Finding the kingdom is one thing but what we do with the kingdom is another thing altogether. Do we truly recognise the value and significance of our find? These riches, in turn, make it possible for us to do the work we have to do, and to live our lives, in the strength, joy, and peace of Christ. The kingdom strenghtens and deepens our understanding of Jesus.

This little exercise has helped me to start searching again and to truly value what I find.

A Business Prayer

This week has been really good from my business situation. I have been praying each day for the success of the shop, some days immediate 'answers' other days silence! This week has been one of my busiest, so many people coming in and buying product. A lot of small sales but they all add up. So has God answered my prayers? When the sales didn't happen was God silent?

I believe that God is answering my prayers and he has blessed the business, maybe not every day but overall. Even a place of business can see signs of the kingdom.
Also I have had some good conversations with customers about their situation. No God talk mainly just listening, not even always sales talk, just listening. There so many people out there who just want others to hear their story.

Actually this week has been a bit of an international week; people from Finland, Ukraine, Korea, China, England, Ireland, & the US. It just reminded me that the Kingdom of God is very mission in its intent, and that it reaches beyond national borders. I hope I showed each of these people a small reflection of Christ as we talked.

Man the world must get such a messed up message about what being Christian really is! Just finished hearing the news; a Catholic Brother up on sex charges, Mugabie claiming that God had put him there, and in the States Obama, Clinton and Bush all claiming to speak for Christians.

Putting Things Right

As I have been thinking about kingdom signs, it came to me that what happens if I don't see any signs, does that mean God is not here! I started to panic, hey I'm going to have blank spots on my blog. But then it dawned on me that God can be active in many different ways, not always in activities but sometimes in the thoughts you think, or through a passage from his Word.

I was reading Matt 11:2-6 and it really spoke to me about some signs that we should see when we are living in the Kingdom places. The Spirit should be active; there should be a close link between the presence of the kingdom and the activity of the Spirit.
If some one said to me, "show me the kingdom of God", what would I say or what could I show them? It's not just full churches or 'right living' believers, its' not Christians saying "I love you".
I need to be able to show them that love, show them what that 'right living' means to them. Which ever way you read the passage above; either literal or spiritually, there is something happening, people are being affected by the Spirit.

I was also praying the other morning, praying for success in my business but then I began thinking about the many great believers all round the place that pray for God to bless them too. Does God always give them blessings; many of them are fighting for their lives, suffering extreme physical pain, have no hope for even shelter over their heads. Here am I praying for business success! Where is God in this context, is it legitimate for me to pray my prayer?

A friend of ours whom owns a very successful business, recently had some kind of heart surgery only to suffer a stroke and was unable to communicate properly. She had some Aussie surgeons come over and they preformed some special surgery on her today, life saving I think and the latest news is that she has come through okay. She is a believer. So another sign of the Kingdom after all!

Neighbours

I was having one of those days at work when one wonders if there was any point in coming in! Hardly any customers, only a few small sales.

After I had had a few minutes with God, you know, just having chat as one does in the middle of your work place; I was encouraged after reading 1 Peter 5 and the verse that says: "casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He cares for you." or .. stop worrying about things that are outside your control because God is intimately concerned with what's going on in your life.
About an hour or so after that a friend pops in for a chat, we talk about the weekend and the rugby and other little things. Hey thank you God, that was so thoughtful.

In the afternoon one of my neighbours calls in with two coffees! We just have a chat about the weekend and rugby and how he was feeling a bit depressed a while back because of a slow healing leg and the job not going so good but now he's much better. Also he gave me a free ticket to the coming All Blacks test in Christchurch.

Didn't do much business today but had two really encouraging visits. Thanks God, you just popped in on time.

Why...

Sorry I forgot to say why I'm doing this "Kingdom Signs" blogg. Well, put rather simply; my Pastor asked me to. Although I think it's a great way of seeing God working in the every day, down to earth situations. We don't always see or recognise the operation of the Kingdom in our context and often it's because it's in the ordinay, small and still wispers that God operates.
I want to be aware and involved in the Kingdom that is here amongst us. Thanks... Phillip

Hi, my name is Phillip Haussmann and I'm starting a blog about "Kingdom signs"! But first a little background comment about ...why?
I'm a follower of Jesus, an apprentice of his. Been so since 1966 or there abouts. It's been a journey that has seen highs and lows but I can look back and say that God has been working in my life, changing me and making me into the person he wants me to be, still a way to go.
Took my family over to live in Indonesia for three years and learnt a lot about how God works; that God is not confined to alocal church but is involved in the Kingdom. It's not so easy to define the Kingdom or to set its boundaries. I found that the Kingdom of God can be found in the middle of a Mosque! That the Kingdom is often seen in the messy places and likes to invite people that others do not always think about into it.
Signs of His Kingdom always seem to be unexpected; like someone coming up to you and asking how a specific thing is going and saying that they are praying for you. You are surprised that they knew what was going on and you know that they will pray and often.
Or coming in to have a chat with you because they know you have a lot of 'alone time'.
I have a lot of interest in our Muslim friends and am amazed to see signs of His Kingdom in their lives...but more of this another day. Phillip