Reflections on Christmas Part I: Lessons from the Dream-Job

This is probably the first time I truly and sincerely appreciate Christmas. It really hit home. The first time I cried in realization of what Christmas truly meant. Not just in the joy of it, but in the loss and the pain it signifies; and then it's end, its ultimate purpose. It hit me like never before.

Because this was the first Christmas I celebrate as a father. And if you're a father (especially one who loves his child) you'd know that you and I would probably never let our child be given as a ransom to save a people. And not just a people but a people who neither know you nor appreciate you, and who probably hate you. People who aren't even on your time. People who are on the NAUGHTY LIST. I can't imagine doing that to my child. I would have to be crazily in love with the other people to let my son go like that. 

And yet.

That's exactly what God the Father did. "For God so loved the world that He sent His Only begotten Son" to die for us. Not after we acknowledged Him or got on His side. But He did it while we "were yet sinners". We were still His enemies. He was sent to pay a ransom for our salvation. 

Thank God He isn't like our mythical Santa who only brings gifts to those who are nice this year. When God sent Jesus We were/are all in the Naughty List. It's ONLY when we receive the Son that we make it to the Good list. Otherwise, we're stuck on the Naughty list till we die or Christ comes the second time. 

Such a move by that Father is unfathomable. Yet it happened. 

His Birthday, Our Party

His Birthday, Our Party
By GDW
23/12/13

We pay homage to the season
But little attention to the Reason
We adore Christmas more than The Christ
The Christmas Tree, than Christ's Cross

Happiness for happiness' sake
Laughs for laughs' sake
Love, Joy, Peace
For love, joy and peace sake?

We'll take the holiday
But forget to make Holy the day
We gift each other
Sister, brother, father, mother
But our lives...
For ourselves we keep

The first gift of Christmas
T'was said in the "Christmas Box"
Wasn't wrapped in colored paper
Didn't come in a big red socks

Not bought in the Christmas' specials
Yet it makes Christmas special
St Nicholas could never deliver it
But that Gift would deliver St Nick

As a politically correct world celebrates
X takes the place of this Gift
We celebrate the time
But are blind to Him who created time

We enjoy the blessings
But hate the Blesser

We sing of a sleigh and a red-nosed reindeer
And that wonderful time of the year
Of white Christmas and jingle bells

But what of that First Gift
And the Tree on which the Gift hung?
What of the Child that was born?
A Son whose Father had freely given?

That we might not hang on the Easter tree
But the Son would be made dead
In our pathetic sinful stead

Would we celebrate his birthday more than Him?
Have a good time at His expense?
Give to others on a whim
But fail to give our all to Him?
Would we eat His cake; deny him a piece?
His birthday, our party

Do we trade His name for a letter in the alphabet?
Do we glorify the message
Ignoring the Glory of the Messenger?
Can we really pursue peace, but deny the Prince of Peace?

Can we watch real Joy grow?
Without seeing pain of the Father who let go?
Or the Son who gladly obeyed?
And for us His life He laid?

As I look on my child with Love
Wishing no pain but life's lessons upon him
I can't imagine giving him up
For an ungrateful sinful people

But the Father did
Knowing we'd reject Him
His Son we treated just morbid
While we were yet His enemies
He sent Son to die for us

And so I cherish that Gift
And that Sweet Holy Name
That a politically correct world
Would trample on in shame

I savour this priceless fellowship
With Everlasting Father
The Prince of Peace
Wonderful Counselor
Mighty God

Jesus, the great I Am
The ONLY Reason
I dance this season

His Birthday, His Party...

"Ours"

"Ours"

(#musingatlunch)

Ours is a country
Where the leaders are too sick in the head to notice that they are sick in the head
Where investigative journalists are too afraid to investigate
Where the people are too ignorant to know that they don't know
Where the Christians are too complacent to be the salt and light
Where power is too concentrated to be powerful
Where service is too private to be public
Where production is too foreign to be productive
Where justice is too partial to be just
Where law enforcement is too brutal to be lawful
Where deportation is too arbitrary to be legal
Where service is too slow to be delivered
Where goods are too expensive to be good

But

Ours is also a country
Where Grace is sufficient
Where Mercy abounds
Where Beauty surrounds
Where Greatness awaits
While citizens sleep in
Where Light seeps in
Where darkness recedes

Where Change comes
One home at a time

Lessons from the Dream-job : Pre-Conceived Children

By GDW

One of the greatest things about the relationship between our Heavenly Father and us, is that He knew us before the foundations of the earth. We aren't an accident of his design. We aren't an after-thought. And because of this He desires that as parents we also plan and consider our kids before we have them.

The best compliment we could give to our kids is that we thought of them before we could conceive them. Years before I had a chance to have him I thought of (imagined) my son Waiambun. I imagined the fun I'd have with him, the methods I'd use to teach and discipline him. My son (and Lord willing, his siblings) would grow up knowing that I brainstormed—and even settled on some—names for them years before they were born.

Whilst we dont have the capacity to foreknow our kids, we can at least consider the time to have them, who to have them with, and how we'd raise them. So that one day we can genuinely tell them that they were on our minds before they were in their mother's womb. That they were pre-conceived...

And that they are a deliberate result of their parents' love, rather than an accident of lust.

Heavenise day!

National Budget and Stewardship

What the people need to see is huge spending on things that affect them, and those things actually happening.

We had a huge deficit budget this year, and we expected a lot of spending. But there isn't much to show for it....except perhaps if we look into our politicians' private finances and their private companies...

For next year we'll have another deficit budget with more expected spending...and I'm more than certain we won't see half the fruits of that spending.

That we can't manage small things is a scary fact....and that we can't manage big things is an even scarier truth.

#PNG #Budget #stewardship

Making the Time

Lessons from the #Dreamjob

Back in college I decided that I would never grow fond of using two phrases: "I'm busy" and "I don't have time"...no matter how true they might seem. I saw my friends get fond of those phrases and it just didn't come across well.

Because the reality is we're never too busy and we never "don't have time". We just CHOOSE different priorities. And along with those choices, we consequently choose different CONSEQUENCES. And we ALWAYS have a choice of consequences. Sometimes it's the severity of consequences that gives us the impression that we "don't have a choice". Choosing that severe consequence is also an option.

You choose the consequence of a successful career when you give all your time to it. The consequences could include a stressed out family that misses you. Or you could choose the consequences of being a dedicated family man; and suffer the loss of an opportunity for a promotion, a raise or some business opportunity. The economists call it "opportunity cost".

When you say "I'm busy" you're actually choosing that thing which makes you "busy" over that which now seeks your attention.

So next time your kid asks you to hang out with him, think carefully before you tell him "I'm busy" or "I don't have time".

Food for thought.

Heavenise weekend!

G

Lessons from the #Dreamjob

By GDW on Facebook

I'm a dad now. So apart from my "tokstrets", expect the usual totally biased, boastful and proud opinions about my kid, and the irrational partisan self-promoting evaluations about my performance as a parent, and the domination of baby pics on my wall.

I used to wonder why fb parent friends posted constantly about their kids. Now I have one and I totally get it. Everything else in life fades in comparison to being a parent. The thrill of being completely relied on for life itself, the smile of contentment when they lie in your arms, or fall asleep safely on your chest, beats riding the best roller-coasters or enjoying the best sights in the world (and I've been to some).

This is the greatest wonder of the world. And though I may thrive to be good at many things, I pray I may perform this job so well that my kid can confidently say that I make a great dad.

For every other vocation fades in significance, and no other can be as important in this bankrupt world, as being a father.

Heavenise night.

Ganjiki

Reshaping Culture to Accept Degenerate Concepts

On Glee

(With respect to any gay friend)

This "Glee" show on EMTV is sick!

Who the heck is is sponsoring it? The themes are not PNG-relevant. It's a show thats made by Americans, for Americans, of Americans.

But of course this is exactly how modern thought (amoral/post modern worldview) has enslaved the world; through drama, song and entertainment. Reshape the mindset and you reshape culture.

The themes are sickening, notice:

- free love and sex in the teen years
- the "beautification", normalization, and glorification of homosexual relations
- a short-sighted purposeless life that seeks meaning in temporary pleasures, iow VANITY.

I know theres a lot of crap on EMTV but the show is an insult. What's next, "Modern Family" and "Queer as Folk"? We're on a vicious spiral of moral degradation and we're making it worse by airing shows with these themes on prime time TV,where the kids, who are already lost because of absent parents and who are still forming an identity, are watching. They're still collecting ideas about what's ok and what's not.

Glee is sick. And even though this may be a vain call:

I say it pull it off the air.

God Bless PNG.

On Soldier Brutality

On Soldier Brutality
By Ganjiki

So soldiers from Taurama blame medical students for instigating the weekend incident (per today's papers). And they do it through a statement passed through colleagues to the press.

They would win substantial respect if the men involved on both side came out straight out and said "I did it". Don't pass a note to the press. Rock up in front of the cameras and say "this is what happened last Friday....and I'm sorry for my part in it." 

Be the better man.

But regardless of what happened on Friday, what happened on Saturday and Sunday is ALL on those soldiers. And it is completely inexcusable.

Medical students didn't drag those soldiers from Taurama to 3mile. The students didn't go over and fill the truck tanks and supply the guns to the soldiers, order them into the vehicles and send them to MedSchool. That was all those rogues in uniform. 

The soldiers CHOSE to do what they did on Saturday and Sunday. No one held their hand. No one invaded their dreams like in "The Inception" and plant a thought to do it (well no human being anyway). In their conscious mind they decided to go on the rampage. Those rogues did it.

[Just like they did on Manu Service Station, Malaoro Market, Aviat Club in Lae, and dare I say when they escorted Belden Namah when he stormed the Supreme Court. It was all on them.]

They cannot escape the responsibility for their actions. What they did on the weekend was instigated and incited—in the purest sense of those words—by themselves. With independent freely-functioning minds.

And the sad thing is: their superiors let them do it. And this is where PNGDF has failed. It has failed to instill true discipline in the deep crevices of the minds and hearts of these soldiers. True discipline is self-discipline—where it's neither the fear of punishment nor the anticipation of reward that makes one do the right thing. But it's the sense of self-respect and the awareness of one's own dignity that keeps him from doing anything that attracts the contempt of society. 

The PNGDF has failed in ensuring that ALL its soldiers are not just adult bodies containing a toddler's stamina and mindset—a mindset that seeks its own all the time. It failed to ensure that the emotional intelligence of ALL its members was high enough to withstand the urge to go on a rampage against innocent unarmed civilians, with high-powered rifles. It failed to deny those soldiers access to firearms in peacetime. It failed miserably to ensure that it recruited, trained and maintained men who have the highest regard for their uniform, the flag, the nation, and the civilians whom they swore to protect. Any man who does not have that high regard, nor the discipline to live up to that regard, deserves not the uniform that this nation gives to him. 

The PNGDF owes it to the People of PNG to ensure that ONLY respectable self-disciplined men and women occupy its ranks. It owes it to the People to expunge itself of the elements that are not worthy of its label—elements that bring disrepute and contempt to its name. Elements that seek to wear the uniform for all the wrong reasons.

This is where the true strength of PNGDF and its leaders is tested. In whether it is able to pick itself up and regain the trust of the People; or whether it continues to pay lip-service about discipline in an obviously "lack-of-discipline" force.  The people need to see the line being drawn and rogue soldiers court-martialled, criminally convicted and kicked out, and the rest continuously trained and disciplined so such behavior becomes less and less probable. 

Otherwise the People will be entitled to think little or nothing of the PNGDF.

Heavenise day!

GDW

EAT OF HIS FLESH!

By GDW 

Looking through Facebook and watching PNGeans debate matters with an attempt to interpret Biblical principles has made me realise how starved of real Biblical teaching and studying we are. Suddenly we're all self-styled theologians, but how wrong some of us are. I truly wonder whether we really have private Bible studies. Where we open the word and have a concordance and some trusty commentary at hand, and say a prayer for the Spirit of Truth to help us understand…truly understand. 

Christianity in PNG has become a feel-good thing. Prosperity gospel by popular preachers has made us treat God as a mere butler. People want to hear words that tickle their ears so they can shout "Amen!" Preachers aren't preaching about sin anymore because they want to keep their audiences. 

But I'd wish we'd also teach people about living right by the Word of God, and not just by the words of popular leadership and life-coaching gurus. I wish preachers would say more of those things that make people squirm in their chairs and quietly go "ouch!" Rather than jump up and down at every ticklish catchphrase of a charismatic speaker. Like when Jonathan Edwards preached monotnously about Hell and Sin and his congregation fled from the church because the words struck at the core of their beings and their realisation of sin became too much too bear. 

We're still babes of the faith, we love to have every itch scratched, and every soft-spot tickled and soiled diapers washed without participating in the cleaning. We want to be fed soft words that others have already chewed and churned. We'd like the adults to speak to us kindly and softly like a child longs for "goo goos" and "gah gahs".  We can't and don't want to handle the heavy stuff. It's too painful and difficult to chew. 

People want to use the Word to make an argument but not to convict our own hearts and change our evil ways. In fact we'd use it to avoid being judged. To avoid change. We'd rather Jesus' words of "judge not lest you be judged", than "no one comes to the Father except through Me". Because we'd rather He not be the ONLY Way. We like His kind words of love but not His ultimatums of living sacrifice "eating of my flesh". We'd rather His love for sinners than His hate for sin. 

And so we continue in sin, grieving his heart. Ignorant of His whole Truth and the wholeness of His message. In the words of Ravi Zacharias "Jesus didn't come to make bad people good, He came to make dead people live." 

I must add He didn't come to give us ammunition for our petty debates, He brought words of eternal life. That's an important note. We're ignoring His words of Eternal life while gobbling up His words for this life. Come eternity we may find we're bankrupt in the words that REALLY matter.

So please return to the Word. It has instructions for living, for salvation and sanctification and glorification. If you stop at instructions for "living", you might find yourself short of a whole eternal package.  Pastors preach HARD WORDS. You know! Words to REBUKE, CORRECT, AND INSTRUCT. Not just to uplift and encourage. And those "fans" of the Bible, get into it and read. Consume it so that it consumes you.

EAT OF HIS FLESH. He said so Himself! He is the WORD. 

Heavenise day!

GDW

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Ganjiki

"INSPIRING PASSION"

 

http://ppngtokauttokstret.blogspot.com/ 

Risking Reputation to Reach the Lost

By Stephen Michael Leach (on Facebook)

 

Several years ago here in PNG I knew a lovely girl who was vibrant, intelligent, educated and well on her way to becoming a successful career woman. Occasionally she would come sit in the studio audience with her friends while I was on air at FM Morobe and I'd see her every day on lunch break on the steps of Vela Rumana.

 

She began a relationship with an older married man in Lae and I watched as her life began to fall apart... everyone talked about her... whenever I would greet her in Foodmart I could feel the ever present watchful eyes of suspicion and judgment....

 

One "intercessor" pulled me aside one day after witnessing me greeting the girl and gave me a tongue lashing about how inappropriate it was for a young single Reverend with my skin color and position to be seen publicly talking to someone she considered a glorified K2 meri (prostitute).

 

I listened to that woman out of fear of offending the Church and destroying my reputation. I stopped going out of my way to greet this girl... I was no longer openly friendly in public least someone accuse me of flirting with her. A few months later I was catching a PMV from Madang to Lae and as we went around Madang town and I hung my head out of window yelling, "LAE! LAE! LAE!" like a legit boss crew... I saw this girl walking towards the bus from the market carrying her bags. I thought to myself, "oh no...." she saw me and smiled and for a moment I saw the girl she used to be.

 

She sat beside me all day on the bumpy and dust filled ride back to Swit Rainy Lae... We talked some and she tried to engage me in conversation but I was so fearful of what other people on the bus would think about us that I engaged her politely but I never really talked about anything in depth. We dropped her off at her home in Lae and I said, "lukim yu bihain Wantok" as she walked away.

 

A few days later I heard that she had discovered that she was pregnant with the child of that married man and that she had hung herself in her bedroom.

 

I MOURNED HER DEATH AND THE DEATH OF HER CHILD. I cried out to God and begged Him to forgive me for bowing to the pressure of Religion and Culture and shunning her for the sake of my own reputation. I begged God to forgive me for wasting An ENTIRE DAY SITTING NEXT TO HER ON THE BUS FROM MADANG when I could have been speaking LIFE over her spirit. It was and IS one of the most shameful moments of my ministry.

 

But I share it with you today because I do not want YOU to make the same mistake that I did all those years ago. God had sent me 10,000 miles across the world to her nation. He had placed me in her life. He had made a White boy from Virginia an honorary Boss Crew on a Madang PMV so that He could place me RIGHT NEXT TO HER while she was walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And I had bowed down to the religious spirits and the whispering tongues of gossip. In so doing I had betrayed my calling as a missionary.

 

For years I carried that all-consuming guilt and felt that the blood of her and her unborn child was on my "holy" white hands... When she died I fundamentally changed... I ceased caring what any of the judgmental religious people thought about me... I was going to reach and be friends with everyone whether they were approved by the Church or not.

 

Listen to me. Do not EVER shun a sinner just because RELIGION tells you to! Do not ever turn your back on a hurting soul just to keep your own name. Lift up JESUS and speak LIFE over the broken and the hurting... even if that means losing your reputation in the process.

 

This isn't about YOU it's all about JESUS.

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Ganjiki

"INSPIRING PASSION"

 

http://ppngtokauttokstret.blogspot.com/ 

Our deranged Modern World

In the old days, when parents arranged marriages, the marriages seemed to last forever. These days, we're free to choose our spouses, and the rate of separation and divorce is disgraceful. It shows a greater erosion in our current society: It seems the freer we get, the more insane we become. We're not restrained any more by timeless principles, but by rash emotions and hormonal dictates. 

We make more babies than families; have more passing lovers than lifelong spouses; have more sex but have less love; we lust more and love less.

The Dark Ages is nothing compared to this age. We deserve  fire and brimstone more than Sodom and Gomorrah; and the flood more than the days of Noah.

Thank God He promised not to punish us like that again.

Ganjiki

--

Ganjiki

"INSPIRING PASSION"

 

http://ppngtokauttokstret.blogspot.com/ 

HEART OF WISDOM

HEART OF WISDOM


"Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." A psalm of Moses (90:12)



I turned another year old today. But I really stopped celebrating birthdays after 16. I wanted to stay there forever. Sometimes I think I am. Anyway, it's a time where I'm reminded of how precious life is (not that I forget on ordinary days): to know and be known by the Maker of the Universe; to love and be loved by an incredible woman; to belong to an awesome family; and to dwell in the sweetest country. Such is my lot.



What does it mean to be Papua New Guinean? We were deliberately placed here by God. He didn't randomly chuck us here. Or throw us into the air and see where we'd land on Earth. He deliberately decided I'd be Papua New Guinean. He could've made me Jewish so I'd be real smart. Or German so I'd be real tough. Or African so I could run marathons. Or Jamaican so I could run fast. He made me here, before I was even conceived. Before the foundations of the Earth, He decided to make me PNGean.


I didn't ask Him for this. I couldn't walk up to His drawing table and make corrections to His earlier designs of me. It was all on Him. In that infinite wisdom of His, He decided this. He must have had a plan. Surely better plans than I could ever have. And so here I am. Here we are. I’ve been a Papua New Guinean for 10,227 days. I'm learning to number my days. Maybe so I can gain a heart of wisdom. Just like Moses said.



Speaking of Wisdom, maybe this a good time to tell of 2 of my life verses: (1) "If any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives liberally and without reproach." [James 1:5]. (2) "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?" ~ Solomon [1 Kings 3:9]


We don't seem to seriously seek wisdom these days. We think a modern information-age education is synonymous with wisdom. Far from it. Solomon's wisdom was a direct result of his prayer. It was God who gave him wisdom, increased his powers of observation and guided his learning. As a result he could recognized reality correctly and make calls that have stood true and profound through the ages.Here's my definition of wisdom: wisdom is the true understanding of truth and reality, for the accurate utility of knowledge, to the perpetual and eternal benefit of man, for the ultimate glory of God.


Foolishness is therefore knowledge un-girded by truth, not perpetually beneficial to man, and un-glorifying to God. And our knowledge is wreaked with those 3 negative characteristics. My definition of truth is "reality translated into information." If information does not accurately correspond to reality, it is not truth.


We need truth. But to discern truth one must have wisdom. Why is truth vital? Because without it we don't have an accurate grasp on reality. We haven't yet recognized the problems to even begin addressing them. If we are honest enough we'd realize that we're far from correctly discerning reality. We do not have truth. We're groping for answers and pathways but we don't know where or what the obstacles are. Nor do we know where we're going. We're blind. But we don't know it, because we have not seen the light. We don't know if there should be a difference.


We mistake digress for progress. Up for down. Childishness for manliness. Weakness for strength. Good for bad. Lies for truth. We celebrate vices and scoff virtues. Darkness for light. Revenge for justice. Insanity for freedom.


Today we're surrounded by leaders who think they know enough to not need wisdom. And so we have a nation that has every indication of a lost and degenerating society. And yet we glorify ourselves in our foolishness.


If we would only humbly ask God for wisdom we could probably figure out how to run our country better. My prayer is that these life verses will become cornerstones of the daily prayers of young people of PNG. That more would be constantly asking God for a heart of wisdom and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. That they'd seek after His Word and read into books to gain a correct understanding of reality.


We would do well to seek wisdom above all things. Like precious and rare rubies. Like treasures stashed in some secret place, requiring vigilant seeking, and asking and knocking.


A nation of wise people per our Vision 2050 is an impossible dream if our youths are not interested in gaining a heart of wisdom.


Heavenise day!


Ganjiki

NATIONAL DOCUMENTS SHOULD BE COMPULSORY READING

For some inspirational and nationalistic reading, try the Constitutional Planning Committee Report.

It's one of the most inspiring documents you as a Papua New Guinean could ever read. It contains the ideals of a new nation. An attempt at harmonising conflicting values of diverse cultures and a modern western-influenced world.

It will also tell you where we went wrong. We set for ourselves a goal. We wrote it down. But as soon as we started the journey our drivers threw out the roadmap and tried to figure it out on their own. As a result we've had successive governments simply continuously trying to undo the work of the previous, and trying their own thing every time. And we have a people who don't know what we started out to do so we don't know how to get our government back on track.

The CPC Report should be compulsory reading for every person (citizen or not), in the PNG education system. Without it and the without the Preamble of the Constituion being compulsory reading, we the people have ended up with a massive vacuum in our mindsets. Our philosophies are lacking a major component. And without that component we continue to be a lost people.

The Preamble of the Constitution is one of the most profound pieces of literature this nation owns. Its ideals are so sound it rivals the profundity of the American Declaration of Independence (at least in my view). The words can move you. The goals contained in the National Goals and Directive Principles are noble and perpetual. If our leaders would take those goals to heart they would realise what they're doing wrong. They'd change and start taking us where we need to go. (That's presuming they are remotely interested in taking us where we need to go).

So we are a nation of blind people being lead by blind leaders. We don't know where we're going and we want to get there real fast. We penned a vision, but threw it out as soon as we started the journey. Now we're travelling a hundred miles an hour not really going to a predetermined destination. We're circling a roundabout of conflicting visions and dreams imposed on us by leaders who want to make a name for themselves but end up mudding our nation's name.

So if you as a resident, or a citizen of this country, are interested in knowing what we should believe as a nation, and where we should be heading, and how we should get there, read the CPC Report and the Preamble of the Constitution.

It'll be worth it.

God bless PNG.

Ganjiki D Wayne
Patriots PngInc

Short Good Friday Message from Tokaut Tokstret

There are two kinds of people in the world: The Judases and the Peters.

On the night of His arrest both Judas and Peter betrayed Jesus. Perhaps one's betrayal was deadlier than the other, but they were both betrayals by Jesus's most "loyal" friends. After realizing their acts of treason, one went and hung himself, thinking his sin was beyond forgiveness. The other went and repented in shame, and became the Rock on which the church is being built.

Peter understood and received God's forgiveness. Judas thought God could never forgive him. I'm convinced if he repented like Peter, God would have forgiven him. Although Judas was born to betray Jesus, he wasn't outside of God's infinite grace and mercy. He only needed to believe and receive it.

You and I betray Jesus everyday, for we all sin and fall short of His glory.

Question is: Do you return like Peter, or are you slowly "hanging" yourself like Judas?

No matter how grave a sin you think you've committed, God's grace abounds above it.

Don't hang yourself...

I guess that's why it's called "Good" Friday. Despite all the bad things that happened, good triumphs above it all. That can even go for our soul.

Heavenise Good Friday

Ganjiki

A Confused World

By GDW

“You shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall set you free.”

~Jesus

We live in a morally confused world. Where philosophers tell us even the notion of morality is an irrelevant consideration in the makeup of society. "What you believe in private doesn't matter in public". So keep your  morality at home.

In the book of Genesis, in the Garden of Eden the Devil, through a serpent, tried to convince man he didn't need God to know good from bad, right from wrong. That we could be like God. Nothing has changed except the form of the devil’s messenger. The message is still the same. Now he just uses secular philosophers, high-powered media, politicians, and "special interest" groups to push this agenda, not mentioning Hollywood and the entertainment industry. They're excellent salesmen for a very bad product. And the world is totally buying it.

Meanwhile, the people who do have the best product to sell to the world are the most miserable salespeople. Christians are selling the Gospel short, through their lack of assertive communication and of course their (our) blatant hypocrisy. In fact they're even buying that dangerous product dished out by its aggressive salesmen.

The world thinks it can fix this itself without God. And people who believe in God are starting to believe that to be true too. We somehow think that by walking away from faith in the one who gives us a choice to believe in Him, we're becoming liberated, and somehow more advanced in our humanness.

But look around. See how lost we are. By being our own "god" we've almost blasted morality into oblivion, and inserted our own preferences for determining what's right and wrong. And we’re getting “loster”. We don't know what's right or wrong anymore. We go by the majority and by the loudest philosopher, like Oprah or Chopra. And grasp the air for some longer-lasting point of reference from which we can know what's right is really right. Because our private preferences are wearing thin. We say things like:

•   It’s ok if it feels good
•  As long as you aren’t hurting anybody else
• As long as the person you’re doing it to/with consents to it, it’s ok
• You have the power and freedom over your own body
•  Be yourself!
• Don’t be held down by religion. Be free.
•  Look out for yourself, your happiness is all that matters
•  If it makes sense to do it, do it!
•  God is what you say it is.
•  God only thinks it’s wrong if you hurt others

If you push those statements to their logical end, you’ll find a world of contradictions, inconsistencies, clashes and lies. Let’s talk through a few of them.  

“If it feels good it’s ok”. But for some people it feels good to kill others. It feels good to rape and taunt others. It feels good to hurt themselves. It doesn't work. So enter another assertion: “As long as you don’t hurt others”. But hurting others feels good. And besides, the other consents to it. So here he is, killing because he feels good, and the other consents, but the world doesn't know so the world prosecutes him. “Be yourself!” But he was being himself when he was raping the kids. He can’t reconcile that need to be himself with the need to not hurt others without their consent. “You have the power and freedom over your own body”, so kill that child in your body before it has a chance to breathe on its own. But then why are we concerned that people should live healthy lives? Or why do we try to discourage them from using drugs and wasting their lives? And when they want to commit suicide—which means consenting to your own death, and executing yourself, because you just want to be yourself and people won’t let you—we tell them no please call us on this hotline and we’ll talk about it first. And when they call we tell them “don’t do it!” Aren’t they entitled to do whatever they want with their live and just “be themselves”? Aren’t they being themselves? Maybe not existing anymore is better for them than existing miserably? They’re not “hurting” others right? And finally, God thinks it’s wrong only if you hurt others. But if God cares about not hurting others, how could He not care about you hurting yourself. Contradictions abound!

Back to the earliest line that’s supposed to dismiss even this kind of essay: “What you believe in private shouldn’t be shared in public!” So moral convictions should not be brought in to the public discussions about how society is shaped. Morality shouldn’t be a major factor in politics and social re-programming. But think about that statement; a self-contradictory statement: It is itself a private belief being shared publicly, in the attempt to discourage the public sharing of private beliefs, by private individuals. You might as well say “my opinion matters and not yours. My word is truth and not yours.”  

Secular teachings can get us into deep deep trouble. It cannot provide a coherent set of answers to life and society’s moral dilemmas.  You’ll have to amend the principles every time a situation changes.

One time at the crowded bus stop at Waigani a man had a carpenter’s saw sticking out of his back pack, bare and ready to slice an unaware commuter. I asked the man kindly to be careful about his saw as it may cut the others when we all rushed for a bus. His arrogant answer was “wari blong ol!” He couldn’t care less if someone got hurt by his equipment. But you wonder how his response would be if he was another commuter who did get hurt by the saw sticking out of someone else’s back pack. He would probably retaliate in anger at the person’s carelessness. He would have amended his “wari blo ol!” principle. In fact he would have completely about-faced on it.

And that’s what the secular world tells us: to amend every time the situation or some other variable (e.g. popular belief) changes.

Sure we can be "good", do "good" things and generally not do anything considered "evil" in this world. Even in a god-less state of mind. But if we push our self-induced morality to its ends, we'd likely find a whole heap of contradictions, and ultimate a weak foundation. Like houses built on sand instead of on rock.

And oh how we try to redefine God according to our preferences. Maybe He cares about this and not that. Maybe He thinks this way and not that. As if His nature is dependent on our beliefs. Like if I believed strong enough a stone will turn to bread. Some things can't be altered no matter what or how strongly we believe. Same for truth. We don't like it so we change its very definition, making it malleable.  We want "truth" that's amenable and subjective and relative...and of course convenient. But that isn't truth. Truth (a translation of reality into information), isn't dependent on our beliefs. It can't be changed. 

Ray Boltz, a Christian musician responsible for some of Christendom’s most popular songs such as “I Pledge Allegiance” and “Thank You (For giving to the Lord)”, came out publicly declaring that he was gay. Then he said, “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I'm going to live." So he divorced his wife and pursued his homosexual practice. But did God really “make” him that way? Does God want Him to stay that way? He seems to have amended God’s character without God’s consent, only to suit his sexual proclivities. It would have been better if he said clearly that “there is no God”.

The question "Is there a God?" can only be answered "yes" or "no". We can't ever say "it depends!" Yet the most intelligent people and nations in the world would say "it depends". If yes, does He give us our moral code? Did He write them in the deepest crevices of our souls that we can know it without knowing Him? If no He doesn’t exist, then no problem. Everything is permissible. And anything that is not permissible must be explained to be not permissible. If it depends, then morality is just a matter of “it depends”. It depends on anything: feelings, gains, science, security, happiness, selfishness, pleasure, pain, etc. etc. etc. 

A moral code keeps people from freedoms they think they must have to be happy. Renowned atheist Aldous Huxley said it himself, betraying that the true reason for people like him rejecting a God-ordained morality is their selfish lusts. “We objected to the morality because it interfered with our sexual freedom.” (in Ends and Means).

That kind of world, Papua New Guinea, can get as confusing as confusion can get. Yet it seems to be what the world wants. As a nation we would do well to steer clear of it.

Heavenise day!

Ganjiki

Akwinamak

Akwinamak

27/02/13

This day o'er two decades ago

While I was just learning to talk

Looking softly and tenderly

The infinite God He spoke 

"I shall make for this son a helper

A companion, his steady staff

A pillar of strength

His prime care giver"

And so she arrived

To tend with me this garden

Bred in central modesty

Guided by His Majesty

She waltzed into my vision

With a brethren's acute description

"Talk to the hand" said she

First attempt, oh poor me!

But love and curiosity grew

So much so that she consented

To hear me pledge allegiance

"Forsaking all others" I commented

This bride, me she dazzled

This man of many words 

I am left baffled

That God would give me this masterpiece

Carved by Mercy

She forgives my faults

Seasoned by truth

She affirms belief

Endowed with strength 

Steadies a shaky pace

Gives pause for wisdom's embrace

With drops of compassion

She points to vital burden

With wings of peace

She steadies my storm 

Her way of love

Never lets me starve

As St. Paul said before

She is my glory, my pride and more 

That Maker His mercy knows no end

His love it knows no limit

His faithfulness I can't comprehend

Amazing grace I do understand 

And I trust you see it too

All because He gave me you...

(c) Ganjiki D Wayne

27/02/13

AND THEN? AND THEN?

AND THEN? AND THEN?

By GDW 

They say they'd look into it

And so we waited...

And crossed our feet

That crook who was a politician

Those missing millions

Those laws broken

Those lives that sank

Those jaws broken

By cops who were smoking

That plane that came crashing

Those ladies who were raped

By what couldn't have been apes

Those ladies burnt

By villagers vigilante

Those aliens that take our bread

Those fugitives who bought citizenships

From crooked selfish Ministerships

They said they'd investigate

They set up an inquiry shop

Then they enquired

They tasked the force to sweep

Sweep em clean

Block a sewer leak

They commissioned the Ombudsman

To go get em

Put em in jail

So they went to get em

And we waited

For thieves to be caught

For money to be brought

Back from dirty hands

To restore cheaply sold lands

For that reckless shipman

To pay for dead family man

For those stoned murderers

Of suspected sorcerers

They said they'd catch them

That justice would be served

They'd put them in jail

But alas

The justice league it failed

Still we stand and watch

And cry time and again

To them we cry

“And then? And then?....”

© Tokaut Tokstret

On Police Brutality and Police Theft

By Ganjiki

Multiple reports surface every week of some rogue police activity in our country. Accidental driver gets shot in the foot.  Arbitrary "confiscation" and consumption of informal vendors' property. Theft of wallets and personal property. Receiving "fines" for made-up traffic offences (such as driving too slow in a car park). Private armed escort for politicians, foreign businessmen, and corrupt bureaucrats. And of course the regular brutal beatings (and sometimes slaying) of innocent citizens and surrendered crime suspects. It seems endless what abuses our "law-enforcers-slash-disciplined-force" can cook up. More than half of all of the Solicitor General's defence of claims against the State are police brutality claims.

These are men and women (just keeping feminists and gender equality people happy) who seem to have lost all moral restraint. There's a vacuum in their mindset and conscience. They lack the ability to put themselves in the shoes of their prey. They have no concern for their own and their victims' dignity. Nor for the respectability and the integrity of the office and uniform they occupy. Nor loyalty to their Commissioner (who only last week spoke strongly against such rogue behaviour), the Constabulary, or the Nation. They have no fear of God. No regard for their code of ethics. How they sleep at night I don't know. I suspect they drink themselves to sleep; to shut out the voices of conviction that keep ringing in those heads.

They got into the Uniform for all the wrong reasons (it's just bread and butter). These are toddlers in adult bodies. Worse, the State (WE THE PEOPLE) clothed these toddlers with the vicarious authority to pull-up any vehicle or person simply by waving their colours and displaying their arms. And WE THE PEOPLE agreed to subject ourselves to their authority. We get more than we bargained for.

Toddlers. Babies. Whose world revolve around "ME". They cry for milk, you must give. They hunger, you feed. They thirst, you give water. They hurt, you comfort. They freeze, you warm. They soil their diapers, you must clean them up. They cry, you soothe. They take, you give. That is the nature of infants. Despite adult bodies we lack the emotional intelligence to subject ourselves to codes that should provide restraint. We are a nation of toddlers. And a lot of them wear blue and carry not-toy guns. (A hundred or so sit in Parliament accusing each other of wetting their diapers.)

The problem isn't the training (or lack of) that they get, or a lack of understanding of the law and human rights. That's a scratch above the surface. The real lack is the loss of moral consciousness. And so the real challenge is to "refill" those gaps. The crimes committed are completely identifiable as crimes (theft, assault, unlawful use of firearm, murder), and as blatant evil deeds. Any sane person should be able to tell that the unlawful use of his authority to steal wallets and personal effects is an immoral deed; an attack on basic human decency; even an undermining of his own human dignity as the perpetrator. But it takes a person of exceptional moral strength to resist committing those crimes.

These are men and women who have lost that moral strength. And many involved in talking about social correction wouldn't want the work that's needed to restore such a loss. We'd rather not go that deep. We'd rather a social correction (a fleeting band-aid solution). Or a legal one (guess who will enforce!). Or an academic one (with never-ending papers and opinions). Or a training one (where we try to squeeze a lifetime of lessons into 6 months!). Or a governmental one (where we assume the Minister can flick his fingers for a solution).

We agree that wrong is wrong. It's mostly our solutions to those wrongs that take diverging paths. Maybe they're frustrated with the meagre pay they get. Perhaps coupled with the pressures of life they're driven to such measures for survival? It's understandable. Is it? Lack of training perhaps? Lack of knowledge of human rights? Ever noticed how our behaviour is little affected by what we know? Ignorance of the law? Whatever reason we give, we'll have to settle that ultimately it's the loss of moral strength in these people's souls that gives them no pause against such crimes. And if there is to be any proper solution, it must begin at the core of their moral beliefs. We need to restrore that moral strenght. Everything else will be band-aid.

I know good cops. But for every good cop I know there's probably 50 not-so-good cops. We live in a nation where the sight of an armed policeman or a police land-cruiser with tinted-windows strikes more fear in an ordinary citizen than a lonely drive into a crime-prone suburb. Recall that crawl up your spine as you approach a tinted cop-car? The source of terror is reversed. No longer is it the local "terrorist". It's the law enforcers who are supposed to catch that "terrorist". Drivers don't trust police road checks anymore. Victims of crime dismiss the thought of contacting police as they contemplate how vain such an effort would be. Reports to the internal complaints unit might as well be lottery tickets for a zillion kina.

No. A restoration of proper morals is needed. But there are problems with a moral-restoration approach. It's hard work. And post-modern philosophy would disagree. Post-modern philosophies that subscribe to an amoral universe would say that we should just fix society and these people will adjust with society. But to fix society you have to fix these people. A catch-22. We would have to take the discussion all the way back to the nature of morality and who would give such guidance. And there lies our problem. I could suggest get the Church to counsel these cops. But then the debate will turn to the delusional question of separation of church and State. And of course people would argue that the Church has obviously failed because these cops probably attend church every week and have gotten nowhere. So let's leave it at bandaid level.

So you would suggest get the shrinks and mental disorder experts to counsel them. Bring in the social scientists. Impose the name tags. Name and shame. Step up police discipline. Extend training. Informing human rights. Up their pay. Dock their pay. Demote. Transfer. Recruit smarter people. Remove silly people. Take away the guns. Give them Tramontinas. Take away the vehicles. Give them Landcruisers. Install CCTV everywhere. Bring the Aussies. Bring the Fijians. Send our people to Aussieland. Send them to Fiji. Send them to Iraq. Send them to college. Send them home. Don't send them at all.

Band-aids.

The best solution is usually the hardest.

Ganjiki

Saving Themselves More than Serving Us

By GANJIKI D WAYNE

A caveat: this is a very general statement. Not every expat is in this boat.

It's possible that people from developed nations (like Australia), who work in developing countries like ours are here because it gives them some sense of meaning and significance. Especially those who serve in the public and charity/community service arena.

Their countries seem to have nothing left to offer them in terms of fulfilling, meaningful, make-a-difference jobs. Because they've generally got it all already. And when you have it all it's easy to become disillusioned and bored with life. Even if they make so much money it cannot satisfy the need to be appreciated for really making the world a better place. The world in their nations is already as "better" as "better" can be.

You'll have a clue about the famine in gratified lives by seeing the massive charity-industry that goes on in developed nations. A TV commercial break is dominated with ads by charity organizations trying to convince people to donate and make a difference. It seems like they have to do some charity if they are to truly live fulfilled lives (and I have no problems with that).

Maybe calling their world "developed" is not such a good thing. Not mentioning their sets of problems, the term possibly gives them a sense of having "arrived". And there seems nothing left to do. Except maintain the status quo. Who was it that said "The only other direction left to take once you've reached the top, is down"? So you just have to maintain. And maintaining can get pretty boring.

Unlike us they don't have as many bridges to build or roads to construct. Nor Aid posts and health centres. Nor airstrips. Nor water supply or electrify or sanitary needs. Half the population probably doesn't care what happens in government because their lives are sufficient. They (though not all) only occasionally respond to highly controversial matters. Life is good there it seems.

I even heard an expatriate say it in front of me. "Being in PNG gives me a sense of significance." I thought "how sad!" And he was a very successful partner in a business in his home country. Before he came to PNG he spent some time in another foreign country where he felt a significant "loss of status" because no one knew him and no one seemed to appreciate him.

We all long for a meaningful life. And we pursue it in different ways. Many think to be professionally successful will satisfy them. I heard of a wealthy man once saying "If I knew that even at this place I'd be this empty, I wouldn't have walked this path." And here we are trying to reach the rich-and-famous status when everywhere around there's evidence that it's really a very empty place. Perhaps at the top there's nothing there.

Maybe that vacuum in people's hearts is filled somewhat when they come and "serve" in our country. If so then maybe it's countries like PNG that's actually saving people from developed nations who are sliding into depression because what they do there doesn't really count anymore. Maybe they carry themselves around with such importance here because back home they're not important anymore. Someone has replaced them. Or they've outjobbed themselves. Or the fruits just don't bear anymore. And their governments must send them to countries like ours otherwise they'll have a depressed workforce at home.

Being in countries like ours is possibly a lifesaver. They might say they like being here because it's a great country. But maybe they're just here because it makes them feel great.

Of course as I said not all expatriates are here because of this reason. But those who are fall in possibly two categories. First those who recognize that reality and will admit it (like my expatriate acquaintance). Secondly those who don't recognize it and might deny it. They haven't really asked themselves yet why they're here.

Anyway if that's the reason you're here in PNG then on behalf of my forever-developing but very meaningful nation: "You're welcome!".

And for us at home. Let's be grateful that we do have a long way to go.

Heavenise day!

GDW

What is time?

What is time?
Mere measure of the length of each our stays
In our brackets in eternity
The length of each our songs
playing at different tempos
To different melodies
With different lyrics
The clock has fooled us
Time doesn't restart, won't refresh
It doesn't do laps, but marathons and sprints
These few minutes of my song,
In which I pen these words,
I'll never recover...ever
My song has no pause, no fast forward
Worse still, no rewind
It started, and soon it will end
Alas I shall find, there's no replay
I find us celebrating a mere progress of our song
If time was not made easier to tell
By clocks and calendars
Would we notice its progress?
Would we give reflection
And make resolutions?
What is time?
But mere reminder of our mortality
The tester of our values
Revealer of vulnerabilities
Screamer of our delays
Permitter of our growth and decay
The salt of our longings and nostalgias
We wade through our song
Oblivious to time's ultimate closure
What is time?
A seeker of the end
Its own end
Our song's end...

Ganjiki D Wayne
1/1/13




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