New Zealand Preaching February 15-16, 2023
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
On Wednesday the temperature was moderating after the cool air generated by the cyclone. A dozen people met after work here at the Salunga’s home in Auckland for our study with another 8 we could see online, but Ronnie reminded me the 8 may actually be another 10 or 12 or more because multiple people are participating in the session at some of those places.
Our international audience studied “What God Joined” by surveying God’s marriage law in the Patriarchal Age, in the Mosaic Age, and in the Gospel Age. It is clear from the beginning of time that God’s intention for marriage has always been one man for one woman for a lifetime. Jesus gave only one exception: When a marriage partner commits fornication, the innocent mate may divorce the fornicator and marry a new person without sin. People in both ancient and modern cultures have defied this norm with horrendous consequences for time and eternity. Even preachers in churches of Christ have accommodated this sin because of its widespread prevalence, teaching that all divorced people are freed by God to marry new mates.
Our class included another lengthy discussion in the open forum on how we can avoid adultery and divorce. One good observation based on man’s free will was that if we feel ourselves moving in that wrong direction, we simply make up our minds that we are NOT going to violate God’s Word and our marriage vows. It was also observed that the cruelty of adultery and divorce deeply wounds many people, but especially children suffer the wounds and scars for a lifetime. No wonder Malachi 2:14-16 describes this sin not only as a betrayal but also as violence! This cruel violence wounds the betrayed mate, the participant in the sin, the children, the relatives, the saints, the community, and the nation. Christians must flee this sin as we would flee a plague or any disaster.
Auckland’s weather Thursday was 68 degrees with gentle fresh winds and occasional light showers. Tonight 10 brethren attended the meeting in person and 7 joined online from New Zealand, the Philippines, Australia, and the U.S.A. (involving multiple participants in some cases) as we studied “Train Up a Child” (Prov. 22:6). We covered the power of love in training, the power of good examples, the power of nurturing children, and the power of disciplining children. We started shortly after 6:00 P.M., allowing time for people to get here coming directly from work, and dismissed shortly before 9:00 P.M. because so many questions and observations were offered during the open forum.
Just as we previously discussed men and women facing the challenge of understanding each other, tonight we discussed the challenges of understanding
children’s nature and personalities. Everyone agreed that parents setting the right example in their own lives is one of the biggest factors which determines how effective our efforts to teach and to discipline will be.
There was a good discussion of the difficulties of raising children when immorality disrupts family life. When a parent commits fornication, one of the most difficult and painful challenges in restoring their role in the family is attempting to restore the broken trust with both the offended mate and the wounded children. Someone pointed out that a study of King David’s children after he committed adultery is instructive on this point.
Many good comments were offered about the benefits of maintaining open lines of communication about spiritual training and issues by consistently gathering the family for a daily devotional period.
Everyone agreed this has been a fruitful five days and the brethren are ready for me to return for additional studies any time it may be possible. As is evident from the lengthy open forums, these brethren are hungry to learn and to grow! I commended them for their faith and faithfulness in upholding the truth since they first planted this church in 2009. This was my 10th gospel meeting since that year. Anyone planning to visit New Zealand will be greatly encouraged and edified by worshiping with the Meadowood church of Christ (14 Merida Place
North Shore, Auckland; contact Ronnie & Nina Salunga at ronnie_salunga@yahoo.com & nina_salunga@yahoo.com).
The brethren here expressed appreciation for the Hebron Lane church of Christ for helping make these gospel meetings possible and also extended their love and appreciation to my wife Donna, knowing how vital she is to this work also.
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.
https://biblework.
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com