To survive you must read!

In Western culture we almost take the ability to read for granted! It is unimaginable failing to educate people to a basic level where they can read and write, among many other skills. The ability to read is such a basic requirement for making your way through life.

The fact you understand what I am talking about in this blog means that you can read! Well, being honest, it means that you can translate the squiggles and strokes on the page or screen into words. If I am incapable of writing well or of expressing my ideas then you may read the words but have no idea what I'm trying to say. So reading with understanding is vital. 

Caught by his own camera

Photos courtesy of Unsplash 

In recent years, many car drivers have installed dashboard cameras, so that, if they are involved in an accident, the footage can be used to help establish liability. 

The trend has also been taken up by some cyclists, who have cameras fitted, not only for use in case of accidents, but also for recording careless driving by motorists. The photographic evidence is then forwarded to the authorities, and those who pose a danger to cyclists can be prosecuted, even if no collision has occurred. 

A couple of years ago, a cyclist in Ireland successfully implicated two drivers by this method. However, to his dismay, the investigators, on examining his video, found that he too had been guilty of breaking the law during his journey, and he was prosecuted, along with the drivers he had filmed.

What will you read this weekend?

 

In Western culture, we almost take the ability to read for granted! Reading is such a basic requirement for life. 

The fact you understand what I am talking about in this article means that you can read! Essentially, it means that you can translate the squiggles and strokes on the page. If I am incapable of writing well or of expressing my ideas then you may read the words but have no idea what I'm trying to say. Therefore, reading with understanding is vital. 

God does not deceive people

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

 Scripture Reading

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked:

for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Gal.6.7

I think it would be fair to say that no one likes to be deceived. We feel cheated and manipulated when someone has misled us and wilfully abused our trust. We know inertly in our hearts that this type of behaviour is unacceptable.

As a Christian, I am confident of this. God is absolutely trustworthy; He never deceives us. In our podcasts recently, we have been considering some of God's characteristics that make him dependable and worthy of our trust. He cannot lie, He does not break promises, and He can do everything except sin. 

Let me talk to you for a moment about self-deception. It is possible to deceive yourself. Our verse today warns us of this possibility. We could ‘stick our head in the sand’ and try to pretend that we can do what we like and get away with it. However, this verse states that this would amount to deceiving ourselves, and the end result would be personally damaging. There is a principle at work here - you reap what you sow! This principle works in all spheres in life. The gap between sowing and reaping may vary depending on the situation. It is most vividly seen in the agricultural world. However, it is also true in relationships, in business and financial matters. Why then would it not be true in the spiritual world? If we give time to God, invest in things that are of spiritual value, give priority to our spiritual health, then we will reap the benefits in the long term. 

Invest your life in the things of God for His glory, and you will reap the results. If not in this life, in eternity. What a wonderful person our God is. We should praise and give glory to His name!

Keep on reading!!

In Western culture, we almost take the ability to read for granted! Reading is such a basic requirement for life. 

The fact you understand what I am talking about in this article means that you can read! Essentially, it means that you can translate the squiggles and strokes on the page. If I am incapable of writing well or of expressing my ideas then you may read the words but have no idea what I'm trying to say. Therefore, reading with understanding is vital. 

No fear of shame - 1 John 2:24-29

This short passage reminds believers in the Lord Jesus to hold to the truth. The early disciples were taught that what they had learned initially about Jesus (his deity which is the fact that he is God revealed in flesh and yet truly a man) they should hold firmly to and not give up on. 

One of the many consequences of being a believer in Jesus Christ is that the fear of God's judgement is removed. The Lord Jesus bore God's judgement on the cross at Calvary. When a person turns from their sin and trusts Christ they are forgiven and their sin record is eternally cleared.

What a joy it is to be saved! I am praying that everyone who reads this blog will be saved and be in heaven. 

May God bless you. 

Stephen 

1 John 2:24-29

Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. 

If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. 

And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you. But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. 

If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

For more information visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Something for everyone! - 1 John 2:12-17

As we continue to work our way through John's First Epistle we discover that John is interested in each member of God's family. If you are not a believer bear in mind that you only become a member of God's family when you are born into it at conversion (see John chapter 3). John addresses the little children, the fathers and the young men. Everyone in the family of God can be satisfied and blessed as a result of the work of God in their life. 

There are important lessons in this passage for every believer in Jesus Christ. One of the big ones is that this world is only temporary but God and his purposes are for ever. Make sure you invest in the right thing!

1 John 2:12-17

12 I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

13 I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

14 I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

For more information visit www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Before you come to a conclusion - check the evidence!

Not so long ago I read a piece on ‘The Bible Society’s debt to Arthur C Clarke' in the Independent Newspaper. The author had obviously carried out some good research about the society and highlighted some key statistics which would be very interesting to a number of people.

I was then quite amazed that the writer then chose to violently misrepresent the teaching of the very book that the society has spent so long translating and making available to the world. For example he chose to ignore that the Bible and Christianity had developed more education programs, opened more hospitals and changed more societies for the good than the current world atheistic belief has ever done. 

Societies that have been successful (in theory) in establishing an atheistic state have generally produced as corrupt societies as capitalist ones but they have neither been ultimately successful or survived in the long run. All of this however only looks at the outcomes of the opposing world views without actually discussing the validity or plausibility of the views. 

Consider for a moment the genuineness of the biblical documents; the writer called them ‘stories, myths, legends etc. I would have imagined that any intelligent person would accept the validity and historicity of the Bible. Even Professor Dawkins accepts the validity of the record and recommends that every child should read it (“Richard Dawkins, the atheist author of The God Delusion, believes that children should grow up reading the Bible”. The Times May 10th 2007) despite the fact that he does not like what it says. The biblical record has been consistently proven to be accurate in terms of history, archaeology and even in the realm of science despite the fact that the modern scientific world view is split between evolutionary belief and the biblical record of Creation (see The Genesis Enigma: Why The Bible Is Scientifically Accurate by Dr Andrew Parker, published by Doubleday). 

In terms of the New Testament record, especially regarding the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth and the claims to his resurrection, there is clear evidence and logic that it speaks the truth even if many do not wish to follow through with the logical question that ‘if this actually happened what does it mean for me?’ Many clever people have attempted to discredit and disprove the historical accuracy of the account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ but have been persuaded by the evidence that he must have risen from the dead (A couple of examples come to mind; see the end of this article for details). How an individual responds to that information is up to them but I believe that the evidence is there to be found. 

As far as the conclusions regarding the Old Testament I do understand the concerns and issues unbelievers have with what seems to be the severity of the God of the Bible. I am not sure if you have read the whole biblical record and sought to understand the complete picture before coming to a conclusion. A careful analysis of the Bible will show that among many things God is both holy (just, righteous and morally pure) and loving. One characteristic does not cancel out the other; in fact his goodness and love of what is right demands that he deals justly with acts of sin and wrongdoing. 

Where people assume that God is acting out of order a careful analysis of the facts will persuade them that he was acting to maintain what is right. If a judge in our times was confronted with evil behaviour, child abuse, rape or one of a whole range of anti-social behaviours that were illegal and detrimental to the good of society we would not question his ‘goodness’ when he passed sentence and 

enforced a punishment that met the severity of the crimes. But when facing the examples of God’s judgment on nations who engaged in the very same activities we question his goodness because he acts justly and righteously to deal with behaviour which breaks his laws and damages society. I am not sure if we are being consistent in our approach to the issues.

Ultimately God has revealed Himself in the Bible and is warning us that we are in danger of his coming justice and judgment as a result of our moral defection and sin (all of us). He has made provision for us all to flee from his coming judgement through the sacrifice of His own dear Son, Jesus. His offer to clear the legal case against us and to offer us pardon, forgiveness and salvation is 

still on the table. That doesn’t sound like a vengeful, demanding, capricious, merciless and tyrannical God to me. 

This is the alternative argument to the atheistic viewpoint: people should know what it is so that they can decide for themselves where the truth lies. 

Note referred to: examples of legal minds who set out to disprove the resurrection and were convinced that it must be true – this is a limited list, there are many more examples. 

Dr. Greenleaf, Royal Professor of Law at Harvard University, was one of the greatest legal minds that ever lived. He wrote the famous legal volume entitled, A Treatise on the Law of Evidence, considered by many the greatest legal volume ever written. Dr. Simon Greenleaf believed the Resurrection of 

Jesus Christ was a hoax. And he determined, once and for all, to expose the "myth" of the Resurrection. After thoroughly examining the evidence for the resurrection — Dr. Greenleaf came to the exact opposite conclusion! He wrote a book entitled, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice. In which he 

emphatically stated: "it was IMPOSSIBLE that the apostles could have persisted in affirming the 

truths they had narrated, had not JESUS CHRIST ACTUALLY RISE  FROM THE DEAD , . . ." 

(Simon Greenleaf, An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice, p.29). 

Dr. Greenleaf concluded that according to the jurisdiction of legal evidence the resurrection of Jesus Christ was the best supported event in all of history! And not only that, Dr. Greenleaf was so convinced by the overwhelming evidence, he committed his life to Jesus Christ!). 

Dr. Benjamin Gilbert-West and Lord Littleton were from Cambridge. They were so fed up with Christianity they wanted to destroy it, they took leave of absence to study and write books to refute both the resurrection and the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. As a result of their study, they too became ardent believers and wrote: "Reject not, until you have examined the evidence." 

Dr. Frank Morrison, a lawyer and engineer, was brought up in a rationalistic background. He liked Jesus, but thought the resurrection was a myth that was tacked on. He, too, wanted to write a book to refute it, but in the process of writing, he like the others committed his life to Christ. His findings are in the book "Who Moved the Stone"?