In I Peter we find why Christians don't chuck it in when the going gets tough.

          We hear so little of what is happening to the small Christian church in Iraq.  I read recently "that Christians and churches are being seriously affected by the internal turmoil across the country.  Not only are foreigners being hijacked, but indigenous Iraqi Christians are also disappearing.  [Open Doors] contacts stress that in most of these cases, the kidnappers are not Islamic extremists, but more often are young people trying to make some easy money." [3]

We find it difficult to identify with this kind of persecution.  However if you are a

committed Christian here in Australia and you speak up for Christ, persecution will come sooner or later.  This is from the mouth of Jesus: "Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours" (John 15:20 ESV).

          Today we'll be dealing with I Peter 1:3-5:

 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time (NIV).

A.   Why did Peter write this first epistle?

It is a very warm pastoral letter with lots of encouragement for Christians who are scattered and persecuted.  I Peter 5:12, " I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it."

• 1:6, "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials."
• 2:21, "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."
•  3:13-14, "Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?  But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."
•  3:17, "It is better, if it is God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."
• 4:12-16," Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.  If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.  If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.  However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."
• 4:19," So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."

Peter wrote this epistle so that these early believers would "see their temporary sufferings in the full light of the coming eternal glory.  In the midst of all their discouragements, the sovereign Lord will keep them and enable them by faith to have joy." [4]

This is a very practical and relevant message for Christians who live in China, North Korea, North & South Vietnam, Cambodia, any Muslim country, and here in Bundaberg, Qld. in the 21^st century – where the Christian comes under regular attack for his or her beliefs.

 As we look closely at I Peter 1:3-5, we are taught to

II.  HOLD FIRM IN YOUR FAITH because of the blessings you have received (vv. 3-5)

These are the blessings that are yours in Christ.

As a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, through God's "great mercy" you have received blessings beyond anything your boss could offer.  Marriage will not give you what God has given. A businessman's multi-millions of dollars will look like chicken feed when compared with the blessings of the people of God.  Nothing bar nothing that you could ever get in this world will compare with the blessings that are yours in Christ.

It's appropriate that Peter begins v. 3 with an exhortation to "praise."  Richard Lenski says this: "There is too little contemplation of God, too little praise of him in our hearts, especially in our earthly distress." [5]  Would you agree or disagree?  Do we praise God enough?  Do we know how to praise Him? 

The psalmist did.

Psalm 103:1   Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2  Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits --

3  who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,

4  who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,

5  who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6  The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

There is so much to praise God for.  Let's not be slack about it.  Peter calls us to praise: The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Peter is singing the true glory of God when he meditates on God's great salvation through Jesus Christ.  When Peter thinks on the blessings of salvation, He has nothing but praise for God the Father.

You may have a family member who is:

• Threatening suicide;
• Has attempted suicide;
• Rebellious kids who pull knives on parents, abuse them in other ways;
• Sexually, physically & emotionally abused teens;
• Parents who are guilt-ridden because they can't control their kids, kids on drugs, stealing, vandalising, pumping 100s of dollars through the pokies, etc.
• Adultery, broken families, talk of homosexual marriage;
• Youth with outrageous anger problems;
• How do you survive as a Christian in such circumstances.

You don't have to be going through such extreme circumstances.  You may be persecuted for your Christian convictions.  For you, this first epistle of Peter has some exceedingly good news.

Just in case you haven't remembered what God has done for you through Christ, Peter summarises some of the blessings for us.  Surely these are enough to convince you to hold to your faith firmly.

A.    YOU HAVE BEEN CHANGED FROM THE INSIDE OUT.

"He has given us new birth" ("caused us to be born again").  This language is so familiar to many of us that we just gloss over it.  Please don't.  What has happened to you, if you are born again, is like going into your mother's womb again and coming out a totally new person, from the inside out.  The image baffled Nicodemus (John 3:3-9).  It still puzzles those who have not experienced it.  You are born again because the life of God has been implanted in your souls.  This is the whole Trinity in you to give you a new life and a new view of the world.  Your heart is filled with new powers, new motives, new thoughts, and a new desire.  You are not the same. 

When we give birth to children whom we love, we shower them with gifts; our kids are our heirs; they receive our inheritance.  That's how it is with God the Father when we are born again.  What an incredible blessing it is!

It is ours because of God's "great mercy."  God saw us in filth, need and rebellion.  He was moved with compassion.  Eph. 2:4 says He is the God who is "rich in mercy."  Mercy is God's compassion for the helpless that results in action to bring them relief.  "Mercy is a word specially used in the New Testament of God's kindness in bringing in the outsider and the unworthy, the Gentile and the sinner, to share in His salvation, and in the glories or riches of His Christ" [6] (Read further about it in Rom. 11:30-32; 15:9; Eph. 2:1-7; Titus 3:5).  Jesus was moved with compassion when he saw the hungry crowd.  But he did more than that.  He provided them with the bread and the fish to eat (Matt. 15:32).  That's mercy.

God saw our wretched state, aliens who would rather shake our fist at God than move towards him.  We were rebels.  In mercy, he offered us new birth through Christ's death.

It is a new birth that gives us:

1.         A living hope (v. 3)

This is a "no hope" world.  If we want to put a person down, we call him a "no hoper."  Just think of what has happened to hope during the last century.  Two world wars, Hitler's gas ovens and the deaths of 6 million Jews, the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the atomic age ushered in with the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The Vietnam War; the killing fields of Pol Pot's Cambodia.  The slaughter in Rwanda, Zaire, Port Arthur, and now the war in Iraq.

Some of the young people I've counselled over the years, who are contemplating suicide, tell me they see no hope in the future.

Dr Brendan Nelson is the federal minister of education.  He is the former president of the Australian Medical Association. In a letter he wrote to The Australian newspaper back in 1997, he said this:

"The thematic currency of youth suicide is our failure to transmit a sense of belonging and meaningful purpose to young people. . . We have created a culture in which young people frequently feel they have nothing other than themselves in which to believe.  The mesh of values that held Australian society together 30 years ago -- God, king and country -- has been systematically dismantled. . . leaving only a vacuum. . .  The price of our shallowness is being paid by our children." [7]

The hope that people had in the optimism at the beginning of the 20th century is dead in the ashes of wars, crime and violence, high unemployment, etc.  When you glory in what human beings can do and achieve, you will be bitterly disappointed, even shattered.

For the believer we have a "living hope."  The opposite, "a dead hope," is what we would call hopelessness.  For the Christian it is a living hope because it is in what God has done.  Verse 3 makes it clear what God has done.  It is a living hope ONLY...

2.         Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

What's the big deal about the resurrection?  If there was only Calvary, we would have a dead Jesus, rotting in the grave.  It is because of the resurrection that we have a living Saviour and you can become a new person in Christ.  It is a hope that will not die because of the one who conquered death.

Because Jesus lives, we shall live also.  As the Bill Gaither song puts it so well:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

Because He lives, all fear is gone.

Because I know who holds the future

And live is worth the living just because He lives. [8]

This is the living hope.  If Jesus did not rise from the grave, there would be no valid basis for believing in life after death.  A person said to me the other day, "I'm going to live it up for all I can get now because I'm going to be dead a long time."  He was dead wrong!  You'll be alive a mighty long time—for eternity—but where you will be, heaven or hell, will be determined by how you respond to the resurrected Jesus in this life.

For what do we hope?  What are we looking forward to?

B.   AN INHERITANCE (v. 4)

This was familiar language for Jewish readers.  They had heard lots about the inheritance that God had for his people.  Canaan, the Holy Land, was just for them.  They were wanderers in the wilderness after coming out of slavery in Egypt.  They looked for the Promised Land.  After being brought back from Exile in Babylon, they were looking for their inheritance in the Land God had provided.

But the "land flowing with milk and honey" didn't fulfil Israel's hopes.  They were soon into idolatry; there was strife between tribes; the land was overrun by invaders.  Surely there was something more than this for an inheritance!  Was there any lasting hope?

We have seen lots of great things in the Lucky Country of Australia.  We have wealth beyond measure.  Our natural resources are something to behold.  The technology in the land is amazing.  The sunburnt country has so much beauty.  We have one of the best welfare systems in the world. 

But in the midst of this splendour, there is so much ugliness.  Surely there is more to yearn for than this!

Australia or Israel is not the inheritance the true Church is expecting.  Verse 4 says it is an inheritance that

1.         Can never perish

Moths and rats will not eat it up.  It will not rust.  Thieves will not break in and steal it.  No destructive force, natural or man-made, will injure it or take it away. [9] "Unlike any inheritance in this world, it is not exposed to destruction.” [10]

It is an inheritance that

2.         Can never spoil

No stain or stink of sin will be there.  It is so pure and lofty.  Imagine an inheritance that is worth more, much more, than gold.  No contamination from anything related to sin.  There will be no brothers and sisters fighting over the will to get their share.  It will be unspoiled wealth.  The believers' inheritance cannot be "defiled from outside.” [11]

This inheritance

3.         Cannot fade

The idea behind this word is that it is

"imperishable, never withering, (never) disappointing, (never) becoming old and worn.  The delight of it will never lessen or grow stale. . .  Our inheritance will never lose anything through age or sickness on our part or through any damage to itself; it will never be marred by impurity; and it will never lessen in delight because it has been enjoyed for so long.” [12]

Unlike a physical inheritance in this world, it cannot "decay from inside.” [13] But there is more.  What makes this inheritance even more  remarkable is that the security system is out of this world.

4.         It is "kept in heaven for you." (v. 4)

Literally, you have always been kept and are presently being guarded and will be kept there until you reach glory.  God is guarding you.  He keeps you safe.  What a blessing this is!

Please note that this inheritance is:

5.         For you through faith (v. 5)

Faith is not to be thought of as some way for earning your inheritance.  Never!  However, faith in Christ must surely be our response to God's mercy and love. 

While our inheritance is kept in heaven for us by God, we, as faithful believers, are living on earth, according to v. 5:

6.         "Shielded by God's power" (v. 5). 

Did you get what I just said?  Your inheritance is "shielded by God's power."  God has not left the church without protection in this hostile world.  God continuously "guards" the church.  Yes, even this church.  The church is "shielded."  It's an old military term meaning “to garrison.” [14]  A garrison is a military post that is permanently established and stays on guard 24 hours a day. 

          Extraordinary missionary to India, E. Stanley Jones of the 20th century, "often repeated the prayer of a little girl who was the daughter of missionary friends in India:

"God bless Mama and Papa, my brothers and sisters, and all my friends.  And now, God, do take care of Yourself, for if anything should happen to You, we'd all be in the soup." [15]

The church is guarded by God's power every moment of every day.  There are enemies of the church all around us who want to rob the church of her inheritance.  They want you to fail.  God says, "You are guarded by my power every moment of every day."  The psalmist reminded Israel: "[The Lord] will not let your foot slip—he, who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." (Ps. 121:3-4);  Psalm 34:7, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them." 

The power of God guarded Daniel in the lions' den; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo in the fiery furnace; it set boundaries around Job when he was afflicted; it freed Peter from Herod's prison; it preserved Paul when he was surrounded by dangers, hardships and persecutions.  The faith hall of fame in Hebrews 11 tells us that, through faith, God guarded those who "were tortured and refused to be released... Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison.  They were stoned" (vv.35-37).  However, others were guarded until God took them to heaven: "They were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword.  They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated" (v. 37).

What is being guarded for us? v. 5

7.  The coming of salvation: ready to be revealed in the last time (v. 5)

We have salvation now that makes a radical personal difference in our lives.  But Peter is reminding the church of the final deliverance that will come at the end of the age.  There could well be horrible persecution and sorrow in the days ahead for us in Australia from Satan's final assault -- and just prior to the return of Christ. 

Revelation ch. 12 speaks of Satan being cast out of heaven and filled with fury "because he knows that his time is short" (Rev. 12:12).

Famous theologian, H. Richard Niebuhr, was on the streets of New York City when he was approached by an evangelist with this question, "Are you saved?"  Niebuhr always took people seriously.  He paused a moment and gave this thoughtful reply, "I was saved by what Christ did; I am being saved right now; I shall be saved when the kingdom comes."  

We don't know what the evangelist said.  But Neibuhr stated so well what Peter is trying to get across to us: "Salvation spans time.  It is grounded in the past; it is experienced in the present; it culminates in the future.” [16]

Without a doubt, we, who believe, have begun to experience a true and great salvation now (Luke 19:9), thanks to Christ's death on the cross.  The joys of salvation come through our daily discipleship (2 Cor. 6:2).  However, the absolute wonder and the full dimensions of salvation will not be known until the crowning day of our salvation when Jesus comes again. 

When Jesus returns, the church will receive the great deliverance.  Salvation will be accomplished then.  I pray that "In a little while, the great curtain shall be drawn aside, our entire salvation shall be revealed.” [17]

What a God we have and what a blessing to know that we are guarded by the power of God in this way—in life and through death.

After listening to all this heavenly emphasis, maybe you are tempted to say what Karl Marx said.  This is pie-in-the-sky stuff.  Religion is the opiate of the people!  Isn't Christianity the religion that is the drug that the ruling classes are using to keep the under-privileged satisfied with their lousy lot?  Isn't this keeping your heads in the clouds so that you don't have to become involved in solving some of the problems of today's world?

Of course, this Christian hope can be abused and misunderstood—and it has been.  However, it has been the Christians whose hopes have been in heaven who have made a dynamic impact as the "salt of the earth" and the "light of the world."  Where would we be without committed, evangelical Christians such as William Wilberforce who helped to eliminate slavery from the British Empire.  It was George Műller who helped the orphans in England and lived by faith to receive funding for his ministry. 

Another John Howard, besides our Prime Minister, influenced by the Wesleyan revival, brought about prison reforms in England.  Elizabeth Fry continued his work.

          William & Catherine Booth founded the Salvation Army and its ministry to the needy has a continuing international reputation.

David Wilkerson went to New York City to work with the junkies and help them be delivered from their drug habits through Christ and established Teen Challenge. Today, John Smith and his team work on the streets of Melbourne with those we call unlovely.  Peter Lane and his colleagues of Liberty International work with individuals and groups of homosexuals leading them to salvation through Christ and to a change in their lifestyle.  Where would the welfare of our country be today if the church withdrew its ministry to the hurting people of our society? 

Those who have a living hope and know their inheritance is in heaven, never to be spoiled, have most often got their hands dirty in the real world of people and their problems. 

Even in this letter of First Peter, Peter has some urgent things to say about life in the present.  In chapter 2 he deals with how we are to relate to government and our bosses.  Marriage and family come into focus in chapter 3.  Chapters 3 & 4 deal with how we should respond to suffering if we suffer for doing good.  This is very down-to-earth stuff for those who are chosen people and a holy nation.

It has often been said that many Christians are so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.  That's not biblical Christianity.  Here in I Peter, those who are sure of their inheritance in heaven and have a living hope that longs for their eternal reward, are most actively involved in this present world -- through evangelism and practical ministry.  You might ask, "Should we focus on this world or the next?"  I think the question is wrong.  Rather, it should be, "Does your future belong to a human being's pride and resources or to God's grace?"  Since our future belongs to God's grace, our lives ought to demonstrate "Christianity with its sleeves rolled up" to the needy – wherever and whenever.

III.              Conclusion

 Let us draw some practical applications from this encouraging passage of God's Word:

 1.     Notice the overall thrust of this passage for those who are experiencing severe persecution.  It is just as relevant to those who have difficulties on the job or at home.  These verses, and the entire book of I Peter, do not focus on the extremely difficult circumstances.  They focus on God:

• "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!"  What should we praise God for? 
• His great mercy;
• Given us new birth;
• A living hope (for a hope-less world);
• We have an inheritance that is out of this world – "can never perish, spoil or fade"; 
• Your inheritance is not in a Kerry Packer lifestyle of billions of bucks.  "It is kept in heaven for you."
• We praise our wonderful God because we, "through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time."
• When we have to deal with difficulties in our lives, we come to this wonderful Lord.  The last 18 months have been rugged for me, but if I focused on the bad things that have happened to me, I would not be preaching this morning.  I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned from I Peter.  Be God-centred; exalt Him; make Him the centre of my desires.  We have an inheritance that "can never perish, spoil or fade" – thanks to our wonderful Lord.

When the difficulties come, and they will, run to Him, not just for a few moments on your knees, but to meet all your needs.  Remember God's mercy, salvation, our future in heaven – an inheritance that is out of this world.

2.     Another application: It is so easy to take for granted the new birth that you  have received.  Are you living in the reality of this "living hope" in a hopeless world?  What is your attitude towards those who live next door, your school mates, your friends concerning this "living hope" that you know and experience every day?  Do you share Christ with these people who have an attitude of hopelessness?  If terrorism comes to your suburb, if Sept. 11 comes in another form to Bundaberg, how will y our life be a demonstration of the "living hope" that Christ gives.  You need to live that life now.  Evangelism and discipleship should be a normal part of our lives.  It is not for the specialists.  We will never get the job of reaching people done unless all of us who know Christ live a life of "living hope" in our daily lives.

          A North Korean Christian said that "through the Gospel, North Korean society will change from within." [18]  This is in a land that has 400,000 Christians in a population of about 23 million. [19]

THE LAST time Kerry Packer died [or had a near-death experience], 15 years ago, he quickly took the opportunity to pooh-pooh the existence of an afterlife.  "I've been on the other side and let me tell you, son, there's f---ing nothing there," he was fond of saying. [20]

He will know for certain now.  How much went with him?  You may be as poor as a church mouse, but you have an inheritance that is out of this world.  First Peter says that it is "an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade."  Where is this inheritance kept?  In the National Bank of Australia? 

"Kept in heaven for you."  Life is worth the living because, in Christ, your inheritance is gained in heaven.  We believers need to be forever heavenly minded so that we will be of earthly good.  But also we are heavenly minded because that is where our lasting treasure is "that can never perish, spoil or fade."

 4.     Finally, based on this message of I Peter 1:3-5, when we come to worship, don't you think that we should come to praise and worship our wonderful Lord?  How do we know about how we ought to worship?  Through the Scriptures.

Sing to the LORD a new song;
       sing to the LORD, all the earth.

 ² Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
       proclaim his salvation day after day.

 ³ Declare his glory among the nations,
       his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

 ⁴ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
       he is to be feared above all gods.

 ⁵ For all the gods of the nations are idols,
       but the LORD made the heavens.

 ⁶ Splendor and majesty are before him;
       strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

 ⁷ Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations,
       ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.

 ⁸ Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
       bring an offering and come into his courts.

 ⁹ Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
       tremble before him, all the earth.

¹⁰ Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns."
       The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
       he will judge the peoples with equity.

¹¹ Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
       let the sea resound, and all that is in it;

¹² let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them.
       Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy;

    ¹³ they will sing before the LORD, for he comes,
       he comes to judge the earth.
       He will judge the world in righteousness
       and the peoples in his truth (NIV)

Compare the psalmist's exhortation to praise our God with how we come with a me-centred approach like:

Just let me say how much I love You
Let me speak of Your mercy and grace
Just let me live in the shadow of Your beauty
Let me see You face to face . . . [21]

That may be OK in our private devotions and praise to God, but when we meet together to worship, is it too much to ask that our focus by on the Triune God alone? 

What do you think inspired Isaac Watts, the hymn writer, to write our

IV.             Concluding hymn: Blest Be the Everlasting God (tune of Amazing Grace)

Blest be the everlasting God,
the Father of our Lord
be his abounding mercy praised,
his majesty adored.

When from the dead he raised his Son
to dwell with him on high,
he gave our souls a certain hope
that they should never die.

There's an inheritance divine
reserved against that day,
It's uncorrupted, undefiled,
and cannot waste away.

Saints by the power of God are kept
till the salvation come;
we walk by faith as strangers here,
till Christ shall call us home. (Words: Isaac Watts (1674-1748) [22]

 Notes:

1.  I am an Australian family relationships' counselling manager, doctoral student in biblical studies, an active Christian apologist, and may be contacted at: PO Box 3107, Hervey Bay 4655, Australia.  Homepage: http://www.spencergear.webhop.net.

2.  Open Doors, Australia, "The most punishing place on the planet - North Korea," letter, January 2006.  Available from PO Box 53, Seaforth NSW 2092; www.opendoors.org.au; email: opendoors@opendoors.org.au

3.  The Door Openers Club, Frontline, June 2004, Open Doors Australia, P.O. Box 53 Seaforth NSW 2092.  Website: www.opendoors.org.au

4.  Edwin A. Blum, 1 Peter, in Frank E. Gaebelein (gen. ed.), The Expositor's Bible Commentary (vol. 12).  Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1981, p. 213.

5.  R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of the Epistles of St. Peter, St. John and St. Jude. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg publishing House, 1966.30.

6.  A.M. Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter (The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries).  London: The Tyndale Press, 1959, 75.

7.  The Weekend Australian, January 11-12, 1997, 20.

8.  Words and Music by William J. Gaither; Recorded by William and Gloria Gaither; ©1971 BMI All Rights Reserved.  Words available at: http://www.alighthouse.com/lives.htm [24th August 2004].

9.  Lenski, 33-34.

10.  A.M. Stibbs, The First Epistle General of Peter (The Tyndale New Testament Commentaries).  London: The Tyndale Press, 1959, 75.

 11.  Stibbs, 75.

 12.  Lenski, 34.

 13.  Stibbs, 75.

14.  A.T. Robertson, Word Studies in the New Testament, Volume VI (The General Epistles and the Revelation of John).  Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman Press, 1933, 83.

15.  In Ruth A. Tucker 1994, The Family Album: Portraits of Family Life through the Centuries, Victor Books, Wheaton, Illinois, p. 206; taken from E. Stanley Jones 1968, A Song of Accents: A Spiritual Autobiography, Nashville, Abingdon, pp. 346-347.

 16.  Lyman Coleman and Richard Peace 1988, Study Guide for the Book of 1 Peter (Mastering the Basics).  Littleton, Colorado: Serendipity USA, 22.

 17.  Lenski, 3

 18.  Open Doors Australia newsletter, January 2006, available from PO Box 53 Deaforth NSW 2092, Australia.  Internet address: www.opendoors.org.au ; email: opendoors@opendoors.org.au [8 January 2006].

 19.  Infoplease: North Korea, available from: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107686.html [6 May 2007].

 20.  Available from the Sydney Morning Herald [Online], 28 December 2005, "Media colossus pushed the boundaries of family empire," with John Huxley, at: http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/media-colossus-pushed-boundaries-of--empire/2005/12/27/1135445573138.html [8 January 2006], Or HERE

 21.  "Just Let Me Say," Word and Music by Geoff Bullock, Hillsong Australia, available from: Praise Universe at: http://praiseuniverse.com/pages/sg200448 [7 January 2006].

 22.  Words available from: http://www.oremus.org/hymnal/b/b148.html [7 January 2006].

 Copyright (c) 2007 Spencer D. Gear.  This document is free content.  You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the OpenContent License (OPL) version 1.0, or (at your option) any later version.  This document last updated at Date: 6 May 2007.