Britain faced starvation during early World War Two, as Nazi U-boat "wolf packs" continually attacked the convoys that supplied vital foodstuffs and war materiel. Barely-visible to escorting warships, these submarines caused most havoc in mid-Atlantic; where radar could not detect them and aircraft could not reach them.


But their most mysterious weapon was Enigma: the ingenious interchangeable-cog message-scramblers inside German naval radio transmitters. Strictly-coordinated daily alterations to the cogs' settings kept Allied deciphering teams guessing - and the U-boats concealed - for years.


Highly-prized Enigma codebooks were impossible to obtain: for submarines sank irretrievably; or the books were tossed overboard if disabled U-boats faced being captured on the surface.


Not until 1943 did the Allies ensnare a codebook that could expose U-boat movements. But initial successes had to be disguised as random events, to keep this new intelligence a secret and to avoid sudden new communication challenges.


In our daily routines we can feel torpedoed by unexpected aggression, indifference, delays or fears from others; while unexpected illness or shortages in our focus, our application or our preparation can also restrict our progress towards our goals.


It's easy to feel that answers to bigger questions about our ultimate purpose and destiny are constantly being re-scrambled within a cosmic Enigma code. Yet God sent Jesus here to expose the clarity and consistency of his love for us; so we may track his movements; discover his design for us, and explore the openness of his trust as we build harmony and confidence among those around us.


Isn't that Good News!


Noel Mitaxa
Colac Baptist Church
On behalf of the churches of Colac
"God loves you and so do we!"

Improving Our Communication


The other day I saw a 1960's James Bond movie, where he coolly but very obviously used a (gasp) car phone! The phone took centre stage, as back then such an innovation could wow audiences, though its prominence could also have been due to its size - against today's miniaturised mobiles with fax, email, text messages, cameras, music and movie downloads available!


Those early gizmos seem quaint today, but how amusing will today's technology look within a decade? By then, any Star Trek-type tele-transportation may still be a dream, but new advances keep offering faster, smaller, wider and cheaper options.


Technology is taking us through a revolution in collecting, circulating and accessing information. But this revolution may actually reduce communication it if denies us the time we need to collect and organise our ideas or insights. For there are many non-verbal factors in the mix: emotions, body-language and the experience or interest levels of everyone involved.


Basic to all communication are understanding and respect, which praying helps us to build. Prayer introduces us to the depth and expanse of God's mind, his motives and his timing. And because he accepts us, with all our secret fears, hopes, hurts, skills and schemes, we can accept others and love them for who they are.


Whenever confusion or conflict arises, God's grace creates room to ease any pressure over timing or priorities within our personal agendas. And this grace is always available; for praying is so easy we can do it with our eyes shut!



A Few Good People.


Ancient Sodom and Gomorrah were attractive, prosperous cities in a very fertile area, but their names still summarise self-destructive, self-absorbed sexual depravity.


When God told Abraham of his plan to destroy them, Abraham started bargaining. How fair would that be if fifty good people lived there? Forty-five? Thirty? Twenty? Eventually ten became their agreed target, but both cities were wiped out because they could not find even ten.


This bible event illustrates God's hatred of evil. But it also reveals God's willingness to suspend judgement and work through the positive difference that even ten good people could make, despite the depravity that surrounded them.


Before Jesus came, people were terrified of God, whose prophets and actions seemed to highlight evil and punish it. And even today, religions still trade in fear, fanaticism and focusing on fault, while they exploit their followers. As a result, they give God a bad name, prompting people to file God away as irrelevant.


Ten good people could have saved two cities, but God's maths equates one perfect man - Jesus Christ - with rescue for the whole world. And not merely a withheld judgement that keeps us on probation, for Jesus took God's judgement on himself.


Now he offers us a growing, lifelong relationship, releasing the positive flow of his confidence, justice, love and purpose through ordinary people like you and me, so others may recognise and respond to his love and availability for them.


By faith: without fear or fanaticism, fault-finding or exploitation. Up close and personal.


Isn't that Good News!