Remove Putin, pray for Zelenskyy and Inflation

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
Remove Putin, pray for Zelensky and Inflation
Monday 7th March 2022

Remove Putin……..

POV…….and the sooner the better, surely? And the Imprecatory Psalms (7, 35, 55, 58, 59, 69 79, 83, 109 and 137) can guide us. Putin is a despot leader and needs to be removed. So go ahead and pray for Putin’s demise. This article will help us pray for something that rubs against our Christian sensibilities and is counter-intuitive but in my opinion is absolutely the right thing to do right now.

And then we must pray for the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Cometh the Hour, cometh the man” could not be more applicable just now. Let’s pray that this man will hold fast against the Russian aggressor and that God will give him unbelievable wisdom and give him and all Ukrainian people victory……..and the sooner the better.

Psalm 109. “Let his years be few; let someone else take his position…….May his children become fatherless, and his wife a widow……..Let no one be kind to him”. Ouch!!

Cost of Living in NZ

As you will have heard it has hit a 30 year high at 5.9%. The Reserve bank has predicted another 1.5% increase this year. A cost of living increase (or inflation) effectively reduces the purchasing power of your money. It means that money is losing its value. It’s like a thief in your wallet. Here is an excellent article that gives some analyses to this problem.

POV. Inflation always affects people on lower incomes the most. In fact it can often tip some of these folks over the edge. So the question then is how can we support these folks who are in our churches especially in the early stages of the inflationary cycle. Can we bless some families with some grocery and/or petrol vouchers, what about assisting folks advocate for a wage increase. Perhaps starting a vege garden. Is this a time to say to these families, have a break from ‘tithing’? Just saying……………

NZ Heroes

What else can we do but stand in awe of these outstanding Paralympians?

Adam Hall

Corey Peters

Aaron Ewen

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.