Through the Bible in 66 Days - 2 Kings

First and Second Kings are often regarded as one book. It covers the period from King Ahab to the time when Israel and Judah were taken into captivity—the period known as the exile. The reason this happened was that they disobeyed God, worshipped idols and turned to grotesque religious practices that were not only evil but very harmful to women and children.

The basic lesson we learn from this is that sin will always catch up with you. You can't outrun it, and there are long-term consequences to our behaviour. This is something we all need to be aware of, as we often forget that we will all stand before God, our maker and that He, as the judge of all the earth, will deal with us fairly but righteously. Hebrews 9:27,28 state this - 'And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him' KJV.

Queen Elizabeth II

 

Three years ago this week Queen Elizabeth II died at the age of 96 surrounded by her family. In the year of her Platinum Jubilee, the longest serving monarch passed away at her beloved Scottish estate, Balmoral. 

Buckingham Palace made the simple announcement at 6.30pm on Thursday 8 September 2022, stating: "The Queen died peacefully at Balmoral this afternoon. The King and The Queen Consort will remain at Balmoral this evening and will return to London tomorrow."

For 70 years Her Majesty The Queen had been the centre of our culture. The Queen’s image has adorned billions of coins and banknotes and sat proudly on letters carrying good news and bad. Her name has been given to places near and far, buildings, ships and train lines. She sat for hundreds of portraits and inspired thousands more. She had been imitated more than any other public figure, BUT there was only one original. 

On Friday 3 June 2022 Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York delivered the sermon in St Paul's Cathedral during a service to mark and celebrate Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee and the very original person she was. On that occasion he reminded us that, “Jesus is worth following because Jesus shows us who God is, and what our humanity could be. And there are many occasions in the gospels where we see Jesus Himself, faithful to His vocation, seeking out places of replenishing so that He can learn God’s way. The purpose of the Christian faith is to know and to do God’s will.

Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554)

All photos courtesy of Unsplash 

Lady Jane Grey was a remarkable character from the history of our country.  She was known as the ‘Nine Day Queen of England’ and she died at the age of 16.  She was highly educated, very intelligent and was a descendent Henry VII the first monarch of the House of Tudor that ruled through most of the sixteenth century.  Jane was born in 1537 and died in 1554.  She had a personal tutor and was able to speak a number of languages and could converse in Greek and even correspond with intellectuals in that language.

She studied not only languages but also the Word of God, the Bible and came to a settled conviction which led her to faith in Christ.  She believed  the Gospel and knew that the only way to Heaven was through faith alone in Christ alone. She grew up with two sisters, one named Katherine who was very beautiful but not an intellectual like Jane, and Mary who had some kind of physical deformity.  Her parents were deeply ambitious and carried the hope that Jane would one day inherit the throne and become Queen of England.

Queen Victoria's Conversion - Being sure of eternal life!

Queen  Victoria's  Conversion 

Queen  Victoria  once  attended  a  service  in  St. Paul's  Cathedral  and  listened  to  a  sermon  that interested  her  greatly.  Afterwards  she  asked  her chaplain,  "Can  one  be  absolutely  sure  in  this  life  of eternal  safety?"  His  answer  was  that  he  knew  no  way that one could be absolutely sure. 

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II 1926 - 2022

Photo courtesy of Ards Evangelical Bookshop

Her Majesty
Queen Elizabeth II
1926 - 2022

“To what greater inspiration and counsel can we turn than to the imperishable truth to be found in this treasure house, the Bible.”

We are deeply saddened by the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II. Only eternity will reveal the blessing of having upon the throne, a Sovereign who recognised the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.

She had the privilege of being brought up by parents who knew the Saviour. Her father, King George VI was known to be a regular attender of Bible teaching meetings before he became King.On one occasion, her parents were on a state visit to Canada. His hosts had arranged for a well-known Native American, Chief Whitefeather, to sing for them, assuming he would choose a traditional native song. Being a Christian himself, he chose to sing his favourite hymn, I’d Rather Have Jesus.

The late Queen Elizabeth II - A devastating loss

Photo courtesy of Melanie Phillips 

I thought that this article was very interesting,

Stephen 

The death of Her Majesty the Queen, announced a short time ago, is a seismic event for the United Kingdom and a profound emotional shock that will be felt by millions. 

It was, of course, always an inevitability, as it is for all of us. And in recent months the Queen had obviously become increasingly frail. 

Nevertheless, it felt unthinkable that one day she would no longer be with us. We allowed ourselves to imagine that she would go on for ever. For so many of us this evening, this feels like a personal bereavement. Something of priceless value has been torn from us, and we feel devastated.

The Queen was most deeply loved by millions, who showed their profound feeling for her and for what she meant to them when they came out in their hundreds of thousands to cheer her at her Platinum Jubilee celebrations earlier this year.

It’s not just because her reign lasted for an astonishing 70 years, the longest in the country’s history. It’s because she was the constant, still centre of the nation, always reassuring, always a beacon of optimism, always felt to be somehow embracing all of us. 

She was the symbol of consistency, the link between the generations, the rock to whom we were tethered as the storms of the world raged around us. She was always there. Now she isn’t. And we feel devastated. 

She held the country together because of the way she effaced herself to become the quintessence of duty and selfless service to her people, a symbol of unity and true inclusion. We watched the way she conducted her great office — her calmness, her strength, her fortitude, her kindliness and humility — and we felt soothed and reassured that, in looking at her example, we were gazing at ourselves as a nation in the mirror she held up to us. She loved us with a deep devotion; and in return we loved her.

Never have those qualities she embodied been more needed than they are now. It’s impossible not to feel that her passing marks not just the loss of a unique public servant and a great soul, but also the loss of a Britain that belonged to a different era — a Britain of strength and resilience, a Britain of self-restraint and grounded pragmatism, a Britain of true tolerance and gentleness, a Britain whose passing we also most deeply mourn. 

The Queen was the embodiment of that Britain. Her death is a source of the deepest grief.

May her memory be a blessing.

© 2022 Melanie Phillips
BCM Rozenberg London WC1N 3XX 

Understanding the monarchy!

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

The Queen celebrates two birthdays each year: her actual birthday on 21 April and her official birthday on a Saturday in June with the Trooping of the Colour Parade in Horse Guards Parade.  The Queen turned 96 this year, a remarkable milestone but one tinged with sadness after the loss of her beloved husband, Prince Philip.

The Queen of England

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

This week the Queen was missing from the State Opening of Parliament. During her long reign of 70 years the Queen has only been absent from this annual event on two other occasions, the last one being in 1963. This is the first time the Queen has passed this responsibility to a family member. It was an action with great significance. Prince Charles, the future King, carried out the duties with Prince William sitting close by. It was an brief preview of the future, God willing.

Previously, the Queen had been absent from the Remembrance Service commemorations at the Cenotaph in London after spraining her back, leaving other royal family members to honour the UK’s war dead in public. A wreath was laid on her behalf by her son, Charles, the Prince of Wales.

The palace said the Queen, head of the armed forces, had missed only six other Cenotaph ceremonies during her long reign. She had made the decision not to attend “with great regret” and was “disappointed” to miss it. The rendition of “God Save the Queen” during the service was notably loud as the crowds of spectators joined in with gusto.

NC500 Part 6

The penultimate day of our tour started with us having a fantastic breakfast in the Corner Cafe in Wick. The couple who run it know the Christians from the Gospel Hall well. The food was outstanding and we had a great chat. 

From Wick we retraced our steps to the Castle of Mey. This was the late Queen Mother’s holiday home. You’d need to visit it to really appreciate how good it is. Prince Charles visits every August and spends some time in the Castle (it closes to the public while he is in residence). The Prince acts as the local Chieftain of the Highland Games as his much loved Grandmother also did. 

The next stop was Canisbay Kirk. This is an historical Scottish Kirk which the Queen Mother attended when staying in the Castle of Mey. I find gravestones very interesting and this one proved to be no different. The scriptures say ‘it is appointed unto men once to die but after this the judgment’, Hebrews 9. 27. People dies at all stages of life and from all levels of society. There are no exceptions. A walk around a graveyard can be quite sobering. 

We stopped at Lybster Harbour for a quick look. I love taking photographs of boats, harbours and lighthouses. Sorry if you see a lot of them but they always catch my eye. 

The rest of the day was spent driving the Caithness coast down through the coast of Sutherland until we arrived at Dornoch. Restaurants were few and far between but we ended up having a lovely meal in a hotel overlooking the sea, campsite and the links golf course. 

So to bed awaiting our final leg of the NC500 trip.