Welcome back to Pastor Bob Cotton, the straight talking Pastor of Maitland Christian Church. When Pastor Bob speaks you can be sure the trumpet sounds a certain note. 11 COR 14:8. What a travesty so many humans make of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Gibber! Gibber!

Chugley

ANZAC DAY,  WELCOME TO COUNTRY & BOOING.

Dear Church and friends,

At the Martin Place ANZAC Day Dawn Service  “Pastor” Ray Minniecon was booed while giving Welcome to/Acknowledgement of Country. (See heading picture).

It disturbs me greatly that such a divisive issue has gained the lion’s share of attention on an occasion when we should be focused on the sacrifice of those who have paid and are paying an extraordinary price for the freedom that we, as Australians,  have had and do enjoy. 

It is also a time to remember and reflect upon the words of Jesus Christ in John 15:13  “No greater love has any man than to lay down his life for his friends.” While these words speak primarily of the vicarious and atoning work of Jesus’ death & resurrection in freeing us from the guilt, power and consequences of sin  it  also clearly speaks of the sacrifice of our service men and women who have laid down their lives to save us from tyranny and terror.

The work of Jesus Christ is eternally recorded in scripture, LEST WE FORGET His sacrifice and ANZAC Day observed LEST WE FORGET the sacrifice of our military.

THE WOKE WOLVES IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING

Resolving divisive issues such as this in society at large is not my duty and I refuse to fall into the trap of “division” but whether a Christian Minister or a church should partake in such practices certainly is.

With a so called “Christian Pastor” being involved in today’s fiasco and with NAIDOC Week and Reconciliation Week just around the corner it is timely to consider whether the Church should be involved such things.

I have to shoot straight, by Biblical definition, Ray Minniecon is NOT a Christian but rather  he is a false teacher, a heretic, a false brother and a promoter of the doctrines of devils who preaches “another gospel”. He is part of a growing number of activists who have worked their way into mainstream Christian institutions with a woke,  pagan agenda – but more on that later.

Under the guise of unity and inclusion, many local churches are now incorporating welcome to and acknowledgement of country into their services under directives from their denominational leaders. 

While on the surface this might seem to be a loving step in a “healing journey” it is absolutely incompatible with true Christianity and has no place what so ever in the Church.

Unfortunately, the Uniting Church, Anglican and Catholic churches, the Australian Christian Churches and groups such as World Vision, Tearfund and many others are certainly pushing this divisive and ungodly agenda upon Christians.

Let’s be straight from the onset, Jesus Christ is shown in the bible as the Creator of all things. It is He who was in the beginning with God and is God just as the bible declares (John 1). Scripture is clear that God will not share His glory with another and the worship or acceptance of any other god, idol or spirit is absolutely forbidden. (Isaiah 42:8, Exo 20:3).

On this basis, acceptance of First Nation’s paganism into Christian worship is sinful and prohibited by the Word of God and those who are promoting it are nothing but false teachers peddling “another gospel”(Gal 1:8-9).

These words may seem harsh, but they are accurate. 

Welcome to country, smoking ceremonies and the like are deeply spiritual but are not of the Spirit of God. Let us look briefly at what respected Indigenous leaders have to say.

Jude Barlow a Ngunnawal elder from the Canberra region in an SBS article describes welcome to country as follows:

“Being welcomed to Country means that you are talking to your spiritual ancestors and you’re saying ‘Just let this person come through. We trust that they’re not going to do any harm on this Country so do not harm them’,” she says. When I walk onto another First Nations’ Country, I look to be welcomed so I feel that the spirits are okay with me being there, because they’re still with us – they’re in the animals, they’re in the trees.

http://sbs.com.au/…/what-does-welcome-to…/507t1bjk1

Communicating with the spirits of the dead is absolutely prohibited in Scripture (Deut 18:10-11), the belief that ancestral spirits reside in the trees and animals is nothing but paganism and for a church to accept these things is absolutely sinful and a betrayal of God Almighty.

So called “pastors” and Christian academics from the Aboriginal community are not presenting an authentic gospel but are blending pagan spirituality and false creation stories with the true gospel and it is being swallowed hook, line and sinker by many within the church. 

Attempting to explain the “Dreaming” in an interview with Tanya Riches (formally of Hillsong Church) “Pastor” Ray Minniecon (an Anglican minister and son of the first Aboriginal ordained by the AoG/ACC) came out with the following:

“But Biblically, you could almost say, for me, The Dreaming could be taken from John 1:1. In the beginning was the word, well in the beginning was the dreaming. The Dreaming was God, was with God, and The Dreaming became flesh and dwelt with us. That to me would be an easier way to express that, in terms of a biblical or theological juxtaposition, I guess.”

This is a blasphemy of the highest order and cannot be ignored. John chapter 1 declares that that the Word is Jesus Himself – not some “dreaming”.

To bring some context, Deadly Story describes the “dreaming” as follows:

” The Dreaming refers to the ‘Spirit World’ that accompanies our physical one. It is believed that our Creator Spirits and Ancestors reside there and that we too will eventually go there when we pass away. The Dreaming is the basis for all the beliefs and Lore that we as Aboriginal people chose to live our lives by. 

web.archive.org/web/20230309101914/https://deadlystory.com/page/culture/Life_Lore/Spirituality

How Minniecon can confuse Biblical text to such a degree is almost unbelievable until you understand how he sees the Bible. Here again from his interview with Tanya Riches he says:

“But once again, the Bible is written for a different, for a different group of people, it’s not our book. Our bible is already there in the land, it’s written and created for us.”

Minniecon claims to be a Christian pastor yet says the “bible is not our book”. These are not the words of a man of God but of an activist in sheep’s clothing.

Further, in October 2022, the then Arch Bishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby presented Minniecon with the “Hubert Walter Award for Reconciliation and Interfaith Co-operation”.  INTERFAITH can only be described as spiritual harlotry as there are NOT “many roads” to heaven but only ONE way as clearly declared by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself (John 14:6). Minniecon’s fruit is definitely that of a “bad tree” (Matt 7:16). More on “interfaith” in just a moment.

Stan Grant, an a former ABC presenter and one who professes Christianity said:

“We didn’t need white people to bring us God. And my people read scriptures and read in Jesus an ancestor. We call God Baiame – the creator spirit. Baiame gives us our law. Our land”.

(see http://abc.net.au/…/voice-referendum…/102139832)

According to Wikipedia, Baiame came down from the sky to the land and created rivers, mountains, and forests in all the lands. He then gave the people their laws of life, traditions, songs, and culture. He also created the first initiation site. This is known as a bora; a place where boys were initiated into manhood. When he had finished, he returned to the sky and people called him the Sky Hero or All Father or Sky Father. He is said to have two wives, Ganhanbili and Birrangulu, the latter often being identified as an emu, and with whom he has a son Dharramalan. (see wikipedia.org/wiki/Baiame)

I am certain that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born of the virgin Mary was not married to an emu. Stan’s Grant’s concept of Christianity is about as far from the biblical version as possible.

“Pastor” William Dumas, former leader of the Australian Christian Churches “Aboriginal Initiative” seems to think the didgeridoo has “special powers”. When interviewed by Tanya Riches he said the following: 

” I believe the instrument brings healing to the soul and to the land. It reinforces what God has given. That instrument can prophetically really bring a change and bring reconciliation.”

(see: aps-journal.com/index.php/APS/article/view/9537/9555)

No genuine Christian would claim that of any musical instrument, it is mystical nonsense but no one would dare challenge “pastor” Dumas for fear of being labelled racist or insensitive to his culture.

Dr Anne Pattel Gray, the first Indigenous Australian to be awarded a doctorate in theology in the 1990s and globally recognised expert on Black theology claims “the road forward for religions in Australia is an interfaith road”. (see post 10/6/21 religionsforpeaceaustralia.org.au/?p=13111). 

Interfaith is the blending of all religions and cultures into blasphemous cocktail. There can be no fellowship with light and darkness (2 Cor 6:14) and this in NOT a reference to skin colour. Blending Aboriginal culture & spirituality with Christianity is not the way forward but rather an excursion down the broad path to destruction.(Matt 7:13-14).

SO WHAT IS THE ANSWER?

As always, the answer is found in scripture. No greater example of a man leaving his tradition, culture and former religious practices exists outside of the testimony of the Apostle Paul.

In Philippians Chapter 3 we see an account of Paul’s success in Judaism. He gives testimony of his tribe, his history and accomplishments and then rejects them all as “dung” and loss when compared to Christ. He rejects the very things that first nation’s people seek to retain.

When we come to Christ, we enter through a narrow gate (Matt 7:13-14, Luke 13:24). We must deliberately and purposefully leave everything behind as it simply will not fit through. 

Paul turned his back on and rejected circumcision, dietary restrictions, the Sabbath, the festivals and everything else that was attached to his old life – and if he did so – then what right do we have to attach ourselves to our past and to think somehow we can fit it through the narrow gate?

In Philippians Chapter 3 Paul goes on to say that he has forgotten that which was behind him – referring to his history and ancestry – and presses on to his heavenly calling. It is worthy of note that Paul rejects his connection with the tribe of Benjamin which even had a specific allotment of land given by God to “his people”. 

So, here lies the answer and it applies to everyone, regardless of their race, colour or creed.

To get through the narrow gate we all have to drop baggage whether it be our heretical tradition if we come from a Catholic background or our new age spiritism along with its roots in eastern mysticism, yoga, tarot cards & readings if we were into that. There can be no exceptions, so If your background is in freemasonry then it has to go along with your “secret name of God”, King Solomon’s tomb, the legend of Hiram Abiff, ascending to heaven via Jacob’s ladder and all the other nonsense. If you are muslim you must reject the anti-christ teachings of islam in its entirety and receive Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, not simply a prophet, same applies if you are a Buddhist, a Hindu a Sikh or what ever other religion may apply.  If you have been involved in sexual sin and immorality – that has to go too, including every bit of the LGBTQIA+ culture. 

For the first nations people – of any country – it’s their paganism, ancestor worship and “connection with the land”. It can only be assessed as Paul saw it – it is loss and nothing but “dung” – it will prohibit you entering through that narrow gate, it all has to go.

Christ is the treasure in the field. Everything that we consider of value or competes or hinders must go so we can obtain that which is of true value. (Matt 13:44-46).

It is only in Christ that a person becomes a “new creature” – the old goes & everything becomes new.(2 Cor 5:17). We are crucified with Him, we are dead to our old life and live in Him & for Him. (Gal 2:20) We are born again and our citizenship is now in heaven & we are no longer connected to a geographical location or a heritage associated with the land – we are now strangers and aliens, pilgrims who are looking forward to a city whose builder and architect is God. (1 Peter 1:23, 1 Peter 2:11, Heb 11:10-13).

It is only in this state that there is truly no racial or national divide, there is no Jew, no gentile, no male no female, slave or free, no indigenous, colonial or new arrival but we are one in Christ. (Gal 3:28). This perfect picture is seen in Revelation 7:9 where there are people from every nation, tribe and language and they are gathered around the throne of the one true living God and the Lamb.

This is the only way forward, and it is though the narrow gate and it is there that we will find reconciliation.

TRUE RECONCILIATION

True reconciliation cannot be achieved except through first being reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:18-20) Then and only then can we be reconciled to each other. This is the message and ministry that has been entrusted to the church and it will never be achieved by corrupting and compromising the gospel. 

It is my prayer for our first nation’s people as well as our more recent arrivals that we all lay aside everything that hinders and enter through the narrow gate then all we will have is Christ & each other. 

IN CONCLUSION

What people in this world choose to do and decide to be involved with, regardless of how divisive it might be, is entirely up to them and certainly not for me to judge, however, that which takes place within the church is definitely something that must be measured by the word of God. (1 Cor 5:12-13).

The bottom line is that if it will not pass through the “narrow gate” that Jesus spoke of then it has no place in our lives as individuals and certainly has no place within the life of the church.

I put it to you that if your pastor, church or denomination is accepting this trojan horse of paganism, it is time to leave and associate with those who will remain true to the Word of God, regardless of the cost.

Many blessings,

Pastor Bob

Pastor Bob Cotton has been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal.

We know him as the man at Maitland Christian Church’s podium delivering sermons but Pastor Robert ‘Bob’ Cotton’s passion for advocating for the community runs much deeper.

In fact, it was his advocacy which saw a significant change that went all the way to NSW Parliament.

Today, the born and bred Maitland man has been recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to the community as an advocate for child protection legislation.

“I’m very honoured and humbled. I was totally surprised,” Pastor Cotton said on receiving his OAM.

It came after the local Maitland pastor spent countless hours visiting pubs and walking the streets with a clipboard in hand, petitioning for harsher punishment for those who conceal child sex abuse.

Speaking to Australian Community Media, Pastor Cotton reflects on the Royal Commission and the overturned case of the Archbishop Philip Wilson as the catalyst for his advocacy.

“At that point, no clergyman had ever been held to account for concealing child sex offences of his colleagues so something had to change. Every denomination was guilty,” he said.