During a military training lecture, an Israeli General singled out a young soldier and asked him, ‘If you see 20 terrorists coming towards you, what would you do?’
‘I would grab my Uzi to defend myself’, answered the soldier.
‘What if a tank were coming at you?’, the General asked.
‘I would take an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade)’, said the soldier.
‘What if you saw an enemy plane heading in your direction?’
‘I would reach for a surface-to-air missile’, the soldier responded.
‘And what if all three were coming towards you at the same time – terrorists, tanks and planes?’, the General asked.
‘General, sir’, the soldier pleaded, ‘am I the only one in this army?’
John the Baptist described himself as ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness’.
Anyone who has spent years, even decades, championing a particular cause – Ron Manners on free markets since 1975, Richard Court on federalism since 1993, Ken Phillips on workplace regulation since 1994, Pauline Hanson on immigration since 1996 , or dare I say, my own campaign on housing since 1993 – will tell you it is a lonely place. What you discover is that those who are living nicely off the existing system don’t take too kindly to anyone wishing to make changes – no matter how much it might be in the public interest or benefit society.
John the Baptist’s example of feeling alone while challenging the prevailing order, of being a solitary voice against the dominant culture and power structures of his day is testament to the truism, ‘there is nothing new under the sun’. Operating on the margins – in his case literally out in the desert – John called for repentance. He confronted the religious and political authorities of the day and set about preparing the way for the Messiah with a radical shift in spiritual and social priorities. John the Baptist’s message, which put him at odds with the establishment, cost him his life.
Then the Messiah himself appeared and he too confronted the religious and political authorities – notably in the account of the overturning of the moneychangers in the temple.
Incensed by his actions, they demanded to know ‘by what authority do you come here and do this?’
To which, in typical cryptic fashion, Jesus replied:
‘There was a man who had two sons.
The man spoke to the first son and said, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard”.
“I will not”, the first son answered, but then later relented and did as his father asked.
The father then went to the other son and said the same thing, “Son, go and work today in the vineyard”.
“I will do as you say, father,” but he did not go.
‘Which of the two sons was the good son?’, Jesus asked them.
‘The first!’ they answered.
With the verbal equivalent of an RPG, he then rebuked them, telling them they were like the second son – saying one thing but doing another:
‘Truly I tell you, tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before you will.
‘John (the Baptist) came to show you the way, but you did not believe him.
‘The tax collectors and the prostitutes, however, did believe.’
From that moment on, the Bible says, they sought ways to kill him.
One of the fundamental differences between Judaism and Christianity is Judaism says God divides people into good and evil, whereas Christianity says God divides people into believers and non-believers. Those who do good and those who do evil versus those who believe and those who do not believe.
In the New Testament book of James, he writes, ‘What use is it, if a man has faith, but he has no works?’
‘If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
‘In the same way, faith also, if it has no works, is dead.’
Throughout the New Testament, the Apostle Paul taught that we are saved by grace, which is an undeserved gift from God, but also that true salvation results in good works. Faith and works go together.
On the current political front, as discussed in our last Newsletter, Stork in the Road, the One Nation juggernaut has proved to be an unstoppable force, overwhelming all before it – the centre-right parties, the Liberal Party and even much of Labor’s vote. Accordingly, here at the Australian Family Party, for now we will bide our time, maintain our registration, and watch what happens.
In the meantime, the MATS Plan Institute continues to formulate practical transport solutions to the Osborne logistics bottleneck problems associated with the AUKUS project in Adelaide.
Thank you again for all your support.