THE BIBLICAL BLUEPRINT
The last words of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew were, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations'.. The Old Testament prophets spoke as much to nations as they did to individuals. In the New Testament, the nations of the earth are mentioned. For instance, Revelation 21:26 says "The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it." ( God's City ) and "they will bring their splendour into it". I think that refers to more than just souls. The Abrahamic covenant states that all nations on earth will be blessed through him.( Gen 18:18 ). Again it says in Rev 15: 4 "All nations will come and worship before him". Not just a few but all! God's plan is for all nations- Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Vanuatu, even Australia.

There are also many Scriptures referring to God ruling the nations. Psalm 22:27,28 says "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations". In Mathew 12 and Isaiah 42, God will proclaim justice to the nations and in His Name the nations will put their trust! You better believe it! "For to us a child is given and the government will be on his shoulders.... of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end". Again in Isaiah in 33:22, "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King". Here the blueprint or Christ's sovereignty over the legislative, judicial and executive functions of government are given.

LIVING IN GOD'S WORLD
If God's kingdom is to come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven, then we have to reassess our attitude not just to church activities, but to the world we are called to live in. Such areas as the enviroment, education, economics, science, media and entertainment, health, and yes, even the way we are governed.

My own journey along this path began in 1974 when my wife Pam and I studied under Dr Francis Schaeffer L'Abri, Switzerland. I began to comprehend the secular-spiritual separation mindset of evangelical Christians leading to the increasing secularization of our Western society and the almost schizophrenic dichotomy with which many Christians are comfortable. This and the pursuit of personal peace and affluence as well as the retreat from the public arena is addressed in several of Schaeffer's books including "How Shall We Then Live",
"A Christian Manifesto", "The Great Evangelical Disaster", and his well known trilogy beginning with "The God Who is There" and "Escape from Reason". A protégé of Schaeffer, lawyer, John Whitehead in his book "The Second American Revolution", lays the framework for fighting the tyrannical, secularist, humanistic power dominating the USA legislature and its courts, which has separated that nation from its Judeo-Christian base.

THINK GLOBALLY, ACT LOCALLY
We realised ideas do have consequences, and became involved in education and helped establish several Christian schools- writing a guide on starting a Christian school, distributed in the 1980's by the F.O.L. We became Involved in the media and helped start several Christian radio stations which now are permanently on air. The Lords Prayer definitely calls us to redeem our culture, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven"...

PRAY AND ACT
Finally, it is vital we seek God's guidance and protection. In spiritual warfare there can be casualities. Each of us need to confirm our calling (2 Peter 1:1) particularly when confronting issues, having the prayer support of our friends and local church. One of the principles of warfare I learnt as a National Serviceman during the Vietnam War was 'know your enemy'. This certainly applies spiritually. As well, to maintain a high level of organized warfare, it is important to take
"R & R" ( rest and recreation – in one word recuperation! ).

It is reassuring to know that former Christian statesmen impacted this Nation, Australia. People such as the three times Prime Minister and one of the "fathers" of Federation, Alfred Deakin, looking back over his life would say, "A life, the life of Christ, that is the one thing needful... the only revelation is there... we have but to live it".