Church Talk
What happened to confessed love?
Monday 2 November 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Publicity surrounding the high incidence of domestic violence in the Cook Islands prompted Pastor Eliu of the SDA Church to write this special Monday edition of Church Talk.
Forget the past – you're forgiven!
Friday 30 October 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Micah 7:19: “He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities;
US trip a thrill for LDS group
Friday 23 October 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Fifty members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints from the Cook Islands travelled to the United States recently as part of a group excursion to attend the church’s “semi-annual” Conference, held in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Keep the Commandments
Friday 23 October 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Many laws and commandments govern our existence here on Earth.
Same-sex marriage – where the CICC stands
Friday 9 October 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Marriage is created and defined by God in the Scriptures as the sexual and covenantal union of a man and a woman in life-long relationship to each other alone, as husband and wife, with a view to displaying Christ’s covenant relationship to his church.
Nurture your marriage
Friday 11 September 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Because marriage is full of ups and downs, it’s quite possible that the dreaded “D” word has crossed your mind on the odd occasion.
Reflections on all good things...
Friday 21 August 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Now that the hype and excitement of our 50th anniversary celebrations have gone, what remains in the last four months to end the long-awaited and much-anticipated celebration year?
Living a positive life
Friday 14 August 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Kia orana! In part one of this discussion about living positively, we spoke about four reasons why as Christians, God has made it possible for us to live a certain kind of lifestyle.
Tapping into the power of prayer
Saturday 8 August 2015 | Published in Church Talk
A friend recently shared a time in her life when her life was terribly stressed, from finances to health. Out of sheer desperation, it occurred to her to turn to God for help.
Something to celebrate!
Friday 7 August 2015 | Published in Church Talk
The coming together of Cook Islanders from the outer islands, from Australia and New Zealand and from other parts of the world has been fantastic.
Jubilee year has Biblical links
Friday 24 July 2015 | Published in Church Talk
The national celebration to mark the 50th anniversary of self-government in the Cook Islands is well under way.
US trip something to really celebrate
Friday 17 July 2015 | Published in Church Talk
A contingent of 36 Apostolic Church members will travel to the United States this weekend to attend their 25th South Pacific District Council.
Service celebrates 50th anniversary programme
Friday 17 July 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Akairo o te basileia akameitakiia’
Shining a light on leadership
Friday 10 July 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Kare e rauka I te au Arataki I te akakite I te Mataara, mari ua e kua kite ratou I te Mataara’ “Thy Word is a lamp under my feet and a light unto my path…E lamepa Taau Tuatua I toku nei vaevae, e turama no toku nei arataa” – Psalm/Salamo 119: 105
Questions demand answers
Friday 5 June 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Matthew 16:25, 26. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
Mothers deserve highest tribute
Friday 8 May 2015 | Published in Church Talk
As we celebrate Mothers Day this weekend I felt to share some thoughts on our mothers.
Cyclone Pam's impact food for thought
Friday 20 March 2015 | Published in Church Talk
Just last week, the Religious Advisory Council set the date for our thanksgiving service for the end of the cyclone season.
Political correctness has no place in church
Friday 13 March 2015 | Published in Church Talk
We are living in a ‘politically correct’ world today.
Creating intimacy with Jesus
Friday 6 March 2015 | Published in Church Talk
‘Pirianga mou tikai kia Iesu’ “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? Ko Toku nei nooanga roa kio kotou nei e, e kare akerai koe i kite iaku e Philipa?” – John 14: 9. These words were not spoken as a rebuke, nor even with surprise. Jesus was leading Philip on to a whole new level and dimension of experience in order for him to see and recognise who He really and truly is. After several years he had spent with his disciples, interacted with them almost anywhere and everywhere, kept no secret from them and done great and wonderful things beyond the natural and ordinary things in life. Yet, they failed to see and acknowledge who he really was. We can live a long and lasting relationship, be in marriage, at home with our children and family, at work with our bosses and employees yet still fail to fully know and understand who they really are. Jesus challenged his disciples in Matthew 16:15 when he said, ‘But whom say ye that I the Son of Man am’? It was Simon Peter who answered and said, ‘Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God’. But in John 14:8, it was Philip who posed another question when he said unto him, ‘Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth (satisfy) us’. Hence, Jesus’ reply at verses 9 - 11, ‘Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me?’. Jesus continued and said, ‘he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works sake. Verse 14: If ye ask any thing in my name, I will do it’. Philip raised the question to clear every path of misunderstanding and to help us look no further for clarification as to who God the Father truly is, but the one Lord Jesus Christ himself. The Apostle John, Gospel writer and all the Epistles of John including the Book of Revelation, sums it all up in John 10:30: ‘I and my Father are one’. Not two or three, but wholly and holistically one. This takes us back to the first and greatest of all commandments, as found in Deuteronomy 6:4, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might’. Jesus himself concluded and added in Mark 12: 30, ‘...and with all thy mind’. He is the One with whom we should get intimate, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Not our wives, nor our husbands, not our fathers nor mothers, not our children nor family, not our bosses nor employees at work. Not anybody or anything alive on earth, but the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the secret of all intimacies in life. To fail our intimacy with Jesus Christ is to fail all other relationships and intimacies with anybody else. Marriage is only possible when Jesus becomes the glue that bonds the relationship. The same thing applies to all other human relationships there are in this earthly life. Being intimate with somebody means knowing that person in a very familiar and personal way. It involves knowing their likes and dislikes, their attitudes, behaviour, conduct, habits, the pros and cons, ups and downs and twists and turns about them in order to really be intimate with them. Husbands and wives can never get to really love each other until they get to fully understand, respect and accept each other as they really are (1st John 4: 7 – 12). God (Jesus) is love. We love each other because he first loved us (1st John 4: 7 – 12, 18). Loving him with all our hearts, our soul, our mind and strength enables us to love anybody there is, in all aspects of life. Many marriages fail. Businesses, governments, families and all kinds of human relationships also fail, simply because we fail our relationship and intimacy with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who created and made in his image and after his likeness. Paul in Acts 17: 28 declares that life is in Jesus Christ alone, ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being...’ In Colossians 1: 18, our allegiance must be to him alone, ‘...that in all things he might have the pre-eminence’. Topmost priority, first placing of anything in our lives must be to him. All responsibilities and accountability should be accorded to him. When our intimacy is right with him, then our sincerity, honesty, dignity and integrity in our family, marriage, job and whatever commitment in life will all fall into their right place – in earth as well as in the heaven. Jesus calls his disciples and us the believers and followers of all times, generations and agse not as servants but friends. ‘Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you’. Fix our relationship and intimacy with our Creator God Jesus Christ and he will fix all of ours. A true friend watches and doesn’t stab a friend in the back with gossip, accusations, anger, jealousy, bitterness and unforgiveness. Judas Iscariot was not a good and true friend. He had some hidden agendas and ulterior motives against Jesus Christ and suffered as a consequence of his own sin. Try not to be a Judas Iscariot in whatever relationships you have. Instead, be a true friend of the Lord Jesus Christ, willing always to serve and die for him. As Christ was raised from the dead, we shall also be raised from death to eternal life. The whole discipline of life is to enable us to enter into this closest relationship and intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ. The greatest love that anyone can show and demonstrate is this: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15: 13 & 14). Love and befriend Jesus and he will maximize, re-align, renew and refresh all our relationships - not in man’s way but in God’s. Jesus will save and bless all our relationship with Him. Kia Manuia rava i teia openga epetoma..Te Atua te Aroa! Bishop Tutai Pere
Thinking clearly about relationships
Friday 27 February 2015 | Published in Church Talk
What about the times when you just don’t feel anything but apathy about your relationship? What when a husband no longer loves a wife or a wife no longer loves a husband? What do you do then?
