FOLLOW THIS FLAG
[The Leader newspaper, (August 3, 2004 issue.)]
"These
summer months are, in our Province, a time for flying flags which,
unfortunately, often becomes a cause for division and dispute.
"But
very soon on our television screens we will see a flag and I pray
that we will learn the message of it.
It
is the Olympic flag and when the Olympic Games open in
"The
Olympic flag is very interesting. It
consists of five coloured rings all linked together. The colours of the rings are blue, yellow,
black, green and red.
"Those
five rings symbolise the five continents of the world - blue for Europe, yellow
for Asia, black for Africa, green for
"The
idea conveyed by the Olympic flag is that competitors from the nations of the
world would join together in friendly competition in sport and not in the
hostility of war.
"While
the origin of the Olympic Games is not known for sure, the first Games are
believed to have been held in 776BC. They were then held at four yearly
intervals until 393AD when
"The
Games were revived in 1896 in a new marble stadium in
"The
good Baron’s ambition was that athletes of every nation would come together
‘unmindful of national rivalries, jealousies of every kind, and with all
considerations of politics, race, religion, wealth and
social status eliminated’ (Encyclopaedia Britannica).
"Sadly,
in our modern world, those high ideals have often been forgotten. For the forthcoming Games the host nation,
"But
what has the Olympic flag to say to us here in
"The
prayer of Asissi would be a good prayer to make our
own:-
Make me a channel of thy peace that where there is hatred I may
bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit
of forgiveness;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;
that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.
Grant that I may seek to bring comfort, rather than be comforted;
to understand rather than be understood;
to love rather than be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds, it is by forgiving that one is forgiven.”
Unknown
to the anonymous writer of the above article and ironically, ‘very soon on our television screens’ - the
following day in fact, on August 4th - a B.B.C.1 programme (Panaroma) entitled, "Buying the Games" was shown. The programme highlighted the corruption which
was rife amongst members of the International Olympic Committee (I.O.C.). It was disclosed that: -
"Scandal is set to rock the Athens Olympics - and they don’t
even open until next week. A team of
journalists have spent a year undercover, as consultants, finding out what it
takes to get the Games, and the answer is simple - cash. The reporters found evidence that votes of
some members of the International Olympic Committee are being offered for sale
to cities with the fattest wads of dosh. So with
It
was shown throughout the programme that many of these I.O.C. members had over
past years had accepted bribes: and were very willing and ready to do so today.
These bribes consisted of large sums of
money, personal privileges, and various benefits for family members and friends
of I.O.C. members; and in return their vote would help promote a particular
country which desperately wanted, at whatever cost, to be a host nation for the
Olympic Games.
Had
these facts been known by our anonymous writer in The Leader, I doubt if
he would have entitled his article "Follow this
Flag" for it was shown that I.O.C. members’ behaviour is a disgrace
to the principles for which the Olympic flag was initially
intended to stand for!
As
I thought on the words, "Sadly in our modern
world, those high ideals have often been forgotten;" I thought
how easy it would be to draw a like comparison with the disgraceful behaviour
within Christendom. Are there not
multitudes of so called ‘committee members’ inside
the Church, who are accepting money for their services, but are
unwilling to disclose conditional truths? Do they have any interest in
bringing ‘truth’, ‘hope’,
‘light’, ‘joy’,
or ‘understanding’ to the redeemed people of
God relative to Christ’s Millennial Kingdom?
The
‘idea conveyed’ by these so called Christian ‘committee members’ is that, according to them, everything
is ‘free’ (Rom. 6:
23, R.V.): there is no ‘age’
to be ‘considered worthy of taking part in’, (Luke 20: 35); no ‘prize’ to win, (Phil. 3:
14); no ‘crown’ to lose, (Rev. 3: 11); no deliberate sin to
commit, (Heb. 10: 26); no punishment
to deserve (Heb. 10: 29); no millennial
kingdom to come, (Rev. 20: 4); no
‘resurrection out from the dead’ to ‘attain’, (Phil 3: 11);
and no tribulation to ‘watch and pray’
in order to ‘escape’, (Luke
21:36; Rev. 3: 10). The general
public are not the only ones being deceived, cheated, or short changed; the
redeemed people of God are being treated in like fashion!
Christians
don’t have a flag for its true members to rally under; they have a Person. But if they had a flag, it would probably have
the words ‘FAITHFUL’ and ‘TRUE’ written all over it, (Rev. 3: 14). In Christendom today all we can expect to hear
only half truths: ‘the whole
will of God’ is not being proclaimed, (Acts 20: 23-31) ...
"Now it is required that those who have been given a
trust must prove faithful," (1 Cor. 4: 2).
All
who accept bribes do not walk in God’s ways; they accept "dishonest gain," "oppress
the righteous" and "deprive the poor
of justice," (1 Sam. 8: 3; Amos 5: 12).
Therefore, when Jesus addressed
His "disciples" (Matt. 13: 10), He said ...
"When anyone hears the message about the kingdom
and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown
in his heart... What was sown on rocky places is the man who hears the word
and at once receives it with joy. But since he has no root, he lasts only for a
short time. When trouble or persecution
comes because of the word he
quickly falls away. What was sown among
thorns is the man who hears the word but worries
of this life [or age] AND THE DECEITFULNESS
OF WEALTH - ["and the desires of
other things," (Mark 4: 19)]
- CHOKE IT,
MAKING IT UNFRUITFUL," (Matt. 13: 19-22).
And
again ...
"But you are not to
be like that. Instead, the greatest
among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who
serves. For who is greater, the one who
is at the table or the one who serves? Is
it not the one who is at the table? But
I am among you as one who serves. You
are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom,
just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my
table in my kingdom and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,"
(Luke 22: 26-30).
Followers
of Christ (i.e., disciples) do not need a Bible College Diploma (or any other
worldly qualification to be qualified or able to interpret the true meaning of
their Master’s words: they need to be willing and ready - whatever the personal
cost may be - to OBEY them!
...
"Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked
for, but that you be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not
continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues
in the teaching - [i.e., by walking in obedience to His commands,
and by acknowledging Jesus Christ coming in the flesh (v
6, 7)] - has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this
teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked
work," (2 John 8-11).
"May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal
covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the
sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may
he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Heb. 13: 20, 21.)
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