Without Christ

William Booth said the chief danger of the 21 century would be Christianity without Christ. Yesterday I stood next to a lady at the card stand in Tesco's annoyed because she couldn't find a card without Christmas written on it. A few days ago I noticed a large banner by a major roundabout advertising a Alpha course in that area with the slogan 'Life is worth exploring.' Every Saturday teams of Christians offer up 'Healing on the streets.' A friend of mine overheard an excited Salvation army member talk about the hundred and twenty one he got last week. The hearer was diasappointed when he realised he was talking about pounds. How is God glorified when Christians do not glorify the Son? Life is glorified, healing is glorifed, charity is glorified but the Christ who is Life, the Christ who brings healing, the Christ who cares about the needs of the world is not centre stage. Christians flock to buy a book which puts 'A purpose driven life' at the centre not a 'Christ driven life.' Scriptures declare that God will not share his glory with anyone or anything else. How should Christians respond? We would do well to follow the advice of Peter. "If any man speak, if any man serve do it so that IN ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 1Peter 4:11.

Jeremy Clarkson & Free Speech

Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has apologised for making a remark which drew thousands of complaints. He voiced his opinion on live TV after a recent UK public workers strike and suggested they should all be shot. What's astonishing is that viewers actually thought he was being serious. Anyone who follows his motoring show will be familiar with his querky humour. I am also mindful of a friend of mine who is in court this Febuary after being arrested last July for preaching against the sin of homosexuality on the streets of Somerset. Two homosexuals took offence and made a complaint against him. In may well be the two homosexuals didn't like or agree with what he said but he should still be free to say it. I remember watching a video at 'Yad Vashem' (Holocaust Museum) in which followers of Hitler were shown burning the books of the 'Free thinkers' who didn't line up with 'Nazi theology.' A qoute from an unkown source read "When men burn books it isn't long before they start burning men." In the case of 'Redman versus Bate' a high court Judge ruled that free speech which doesn't offend isn't worth having. I agree. Those who excercise free speech usually understand that some may be offended, while others remain untouched. 'Offence truly is in the mind of the beholder.'

Be Not Faithless, Be Believing.

I was thinking this morning about Thomas, one of Jesus' twelve disciples. Many will recognise him as 'Doubting Thomas.' We can read about him in John capter 20. Jesus had been crucified and layed in a tomb and his disciples were hiding behind a locked door for fear of a similar fate. The risen Jesus had already been seen but the disciples had a hard time believing it. However the doubts ended when Jesus suddenly appeared in the midst of them. Apart from Thomas who was absent. On returning he famously said he would not believe the resurrection account unless he saw Jesus' pierced hands and side for himself. Jesus waited eight days and granted his request. Thomas then made one of the most important declarations ever recorded in the New Testament he acknowledged Jesus as God "My Lord and my God."
Think about it. Only God is omnipresent. Only God can be invisible and yet have known what Thomas had said eight days earlier. Only God can truly know a mans heart. Perhaps Thomas never doubted at all but rather felt he'd missed out on the big night, after all it would be hard to deny the testimony of ten other close friends. God has shown and continues to show that he is no repector of persons. Any request for a personal encounter with the living God will be granted if the heart is right. That is part of my testimony. God spoke to me ten years ago with that quite, still voice, and changed my life forever. My life was wrong but my heart was searching. Be a Thomas. Dont base your faith solely on the testimony of others, be bold and ask Jesus for your own personal encounter.

Britons Still Oppose Gay Marriage

National Statistics recent findings suggest 55% believe homosexual marriage is wrong and 75% think adoption by gay couples should not have been allowed nine years ago. Civil partnerships are also on the decline. Lib Dems Equality Minister recently said the UK was a world leader in gay rights however this only applies to a minority of the population. The government commissioned the survey to gage public opinion amidst pressure to align civil partnership with marriage. It would seem this would not be a popular move. Perhaps the stastitics also show that many people are willing to voice their true opinion against homosexuality when done anonomously rather than publicly through fear of being labeled 'bigotted' or 'homophobic.' Interestingly the majority of the population are free to express any opinion on just about any subject without fear of persecution or ridicule unless of course that view is against homosexuality. With the current legislation undermining holy matrimony and the obvious break down of the traditional family surely this report will be welcomed by those who are most concerned.

Disabled But Equal

I recently received some very sad news of the death of a little boy born with a severe disabilty. His life was short however his parents doted on him. He was much cared for and very much loved. On the back of this a Florida couple have been awarded 4.5 million dollars in compensation because they 'missed the chance' to abort their disabled son. He is now 3 and they argued they they were not given the correct advice. The mother said 'had she known' she would have aborted him. The Bible teaches that every human being is created after the image of God, and is no less valuable to him because of a disabilty. Many treat children like commodoties that can be returned if the product is faulty rather than the precious gift from God that they are. Isn't it true that disabled people have taught the world so much and our lives are much the richer for them. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to tell you about Ray Comforts new project. Its called 180 and Ray claims he can change a mind set on Pro Abortion in less than 180 seconds. The DVD's for sale for as little as £1 and will be released for sale on the 26th September.

Go to: www.180movie.com

Uk stockist expected to follow shortly at:

www.livingwaters.eu.com

Cornwall Pride?

August bank holiday saw the 4th annual Cornwall Pride event in the county city of Truro. On its official web-site there is this link with the heading 'Healthy Gay Cornwall' and the following description....' Healthy Gay Cornwall provides a range of services to improve the sexual, physical and mental well being of men who have sex with men in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.' Visiting the web-site however gives some Interesting statistics. Statistically gay men smoke more, drink more, take more drugs than their hetrosexual counterparts. Gay/bisexual men are known to experience mental health issues in higher numbers than their hetrosexual counterparts. Furthermore statistics have shown that the gay lifestyle can shorten a mans life by up to 20 years. Far from experiencing freedom and liberation many men are being robbed of so much. Paul wrote about those who engage in same sex relations "Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion" Romans 1:27. Sad but so true. It begs the question. Why are the powers that be promoting, and endorsing a lifestyle that is clearly bad for your health? The Bible clearly teaches homosexuality is not God ordained but sinful and is a punisheable offence. God does not warn us about sin becasue he is a kill- joy, he warns us about sin because he knows sinful practices harm us and he wants the best for us. As the writer of Romans so aptly put it "Let God be true and every man a liar, so that you (God) might be proved right whenever you speak." Romans 3:4.

Feral Riots UK

The word feral has been used many times in the media in the last few days to describe the behaviour of mindless rioting youths. Feral means wild or untamed. Feral comes from the latin root word 'feralis' which means 'belonging to the dead.' The bible teaches that "The wages of sin is death." Not just physical and spiritual death but sin kills where ever it goes. It kills trust and respect in relationships and seperates us from those around us we should be connected to. The bible also teaches that unbelief is a sin. Children are taught the lie from an early age their very reason for being is a accident in nature millions of years ago. This hardly instills a sense of purpose. They are also taught that respect is earned rather than the biblical model which teaches respect comes with title and position. The 5th commandment is honour your mother and your father. All things begin at home. If there is no respect there, there wont be any outside. As the endless debates continue as to the reasons for the riots, and many are being put forward, the obvious one will be convieniantly overlooked. Unhinged sin is the spirit of lawlessness. It is demonic in nature but easily bound by praying saints. Government has its vital part to play but only the church understands that "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the ruleres, against the authorites, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil." This fight can only be won in one position and that is upon ones knees.

Forgiveness

Jesus often taught on forgiveness. Forgiveness is sometimes hard to talk about. When the sinful women anonointed Jesus' feet and wiped them with her tears the Pharisees grumbled. Jesus then reminded them how little they had done for him since he came into their house and how many great things she had done. "Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little" Luke 7:47. Was she a greater sinner than those present? No. The difference was she understood how much she needed to be forgiven. You will often find the greatest labourers for God are those who have been the greatest sinners. They do not labour to earn merit or work for their salvation but understand the depth and width of their sin and the real price Jesus paid. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, had a vision of a island with many people knitting and writing and idling away the time. A few others were furiously labouring to save those perishing in the sea all around them. Sadly it was true then, true at the Pharisees house and true now. At the centre of forgiveness is the word 'give.' It really is that simple.

Hope Or Wishful Thinking

Whenever a celebrity dies invareably the question arises whether they will go to heaven or not. I remember it well with Michael Jackson, Jade Goodie and now with Amy Whinehouse. Most conversations are based on wishful thinking. They look at their wordly achievements, the songs they sang, the good they did and base a desicion on that. However we dont need to lean on mans opinion concerning the journey into the after life we have it in black and white. The Bible gives us hope not just whishful thinking. Wishful thinking is based on wind swept feathers but hope is based on something more concrete than that. Hope is based on a assurance that you can get hold of. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ gives us hope that he has power over death. Okay we didn't see it, we weren't there but others were and gave their lives to testify of this amazing event. Two thousand years later the very same power that rose Jesus from the dead continues to bring life to the spiritualy dead. A drug fueled life is surely a sign of dispair and lack of a future vision. Proverbs 13:12 declares "Hope deferred makes the heart sick." The biblical prescription for a sick heart is Jesus Christ. He sanctifies the unholy and creates in us a 'clean heart.' Hope is defined as a 'confident expectation' All believers can be confident that if they put their trust in him and not in their own efforts he will carry them safely through every life changing event that comes their way, even death.

News Of The World

Sunday sees the last edition of the News Of The World. Many are shocked by the speed of its closure after the ongoing phone hacking scandal. There was another Sunday that saw the heralding of a world news story which has forever changed the lives of millions. However this news story is over 2,000 years old and its importance missed by the majority of the human race...the resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ. He promised his followers that their sadness would be turned to joy and that joy is spreading throughout the world. Never before has anyone ever promised to die for our sins and promise all those who trust in him peace with God and a resurrection from the dead. Good news for the world indeed. It is unlikely that The News Of The World will ever be resurrected and its owner Rupert murdock is I'm sure sad to see the loss of a National Icon. Many others will be glad to see its demise as its exhaltation of slease and scandal has fueled generations to gossip and inuendo. The News of The World has caused the downfall of many a public figure but now it would seem is reaping in full measure all that it has sown. "He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword" Matthew 26:52.

WORLD VIOLENCE

"The earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence" Genesis 6:11. Two characteristics of the Genesis account of the world prior to the flood was great moral depravity and violence. The parallells with today are undisputable as the world news portrays a shocking ammount of violence as if the whole world is errupting like a dormant volcano suddenly awakened and spewing forth. Jesus said prior to his return the times would be "as the days of Noah" and because of his faithfulness God is once again preparing a means of escape from Gods coming judgement. The ark was made of wood and held nails. The cross was made of wood and held nails. The ark had one door. Jesus said he was the door. All the promises of safety and a future are to be found in Christ, just as they were for Noah and his family in the ark. Run to Jesus Christ he is the only Saviour.

TWO MEN AND A BABY!

A US supermarket created a storm yesterday after it covered up a magazine showing a picture of Elton John, his civil partner and their baby. Apparently done after a river of complaints from thier customers and presumably to avoid awkard questions from inquisitive youngsters on how two men can possibly have a baby. The move has of course triggered anger amongst gay rights campaigners. This once again highlights gay rights frustration that not all of society is approving of their lifestyle choice. My thoughts went to Adam and Eves attempt to cover their shame and embarrasment with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7). What is worse surely is when you are standing there in your nakedness, unhindered and others position the fig leaves for you! Of course all our attempts to cover our own and the sin of others is futile. The Genesis account informs us that the fig leaves just wouldn't do so "God made coats of skins and clothed them" Genesis 3:21. Of course Gods actions point to Christ and away from mans unacceptable self effort to cover his sin. It was God who provided the first covering for sin in the garden and it was God who provided the last through the sacrificial death of his Son upon the cross. Nothing else will do.