Australia Day - Beaches, BBQ'S, Booze - OR The Lord!

G'day Aussies!

Australia Day is approaching, sadly most Aussies see this just as a day for sun, sand, BBQ's and booze!  Few know anything of this nation's rich Christian heritage and the fact that it was dedicated to the Lord, or that many of our early explorers, pioneers and politicians were men and women of God. It ' s largely unknown and, sadly, seldom taught, that Captain James Cook, Captain Charles Sturt, Edward John Eyre, Flynn of the Inland and many other famous names were men with a heart for the Lord.

Certainly the "Providential" hand of God was upon their lives. Fewer still are aware that one of the men who co-authored our nation's constitution was Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, a man who prayed and was used of God in the founding of this nation.

Not many people are aware that Australia has seen the Holy Spirit poured out in some 70 documented revivals!

Many of this nation's founding fathers were Christians. Many of this nation's early explorers, leaders and politicians  may have  had faults and shortcomings. However, most of them had a heart towards God and a will to obey Him.

Many Australians today have a man-centred or humanistic national view. This is one of the main differences between our founding fathers and modern Australia, and is a major reason why our nation has such serious problems. Henry Parkes, the Father of Federation, said: "we are pre-eminently a Christian people - as our laws, our whole system of jurisprudence, our Constitution.......are based upon and interwoven with our Christian belief.." (Sydney Morning Herald 26/8/1885).

Scripture says: 

"O my people, listen to my teaching, Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past - stories we have heard and know, stories our ancestors
handed down to us. We will not hide these truths from our children but will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the Lord. We will tell of his power and the mighty miracles he did
.....He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know
them - even the children not yet born - so they in turn might teach them to their children.
So each generation can set its hope anew on God, remembering his glorious miracles and obeying
his commands." (Psalm 78: 1-8 The NLT).

While the Christian historian A. Foljambe warns: "The more thoroughly a nation deals with its history, the more decidedly will it recognize and own an over-ruling Providence therein, and the more religious a nation it will become; while the more superficially it deals with its history, seeing only secondary causes and human agencies involved, the more irreligious will it be." (Foljambe A).

Sadly, Australia's Christian heritage has been eliminated from our educational and historical records. Many Australians have been cheated out of an honest look at their past, our Godly foundations ,  hence Australia Day has little spiritual connotation. 

Winston Churchill warned: "This ...leaves that generation without a sense of definition or direction, making them the fulfillment of Karl Marx's dictum, 'A people without a heritage are easily persuaded.' What is required when this happens and the society has lost its way is for leaders to arise who have not forgotten the discarded legacy and who love it with all their hearts. They can then become the voice of that lost generation, wooing them back to the faith of their fathers, back to the ancient foundations and the bedrock values........." (Never Give In The Extraordinary Character of Winston Churchill, Page 190).

So this Australia Day give thanks that you live in the best nation on the planet and give some thought to God's hand upon our nation - South land of the Holy Spirit!

  Col and Jan Stringer