Following Instructions

I don’t know about you, but one of the most maddening things I find about people is that they don’t listen or follow instructions. We all know that happens so often in everyday life. We know that people are told things and don’t listen. It could be to do with our health or money, but we often ignore the advice we are given. Sometimes, people are given guidelines but ignore them and just do it their way.

I am writing to point people to what God says in the Bible. But God wants them to listen and to follow His instructions for life. For instance, Jesus said one day, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father, but by Me” (John 14.6 – the Bible). If you follow that instruction, you will become a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ.

Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it

Passage to read - Psalm 78:12-54

Verse 35 – ‘then they remembered that God was their Rock, and the Most High God their Redeemer’

Are you into history? Do you find it fascinating to talk to old people about their memories? I often forget that old people once were young (sounds pretty obvious) and that they faced lots of situations in life and can teach us so much. One of the problems of being energetic and busy is that you don’t take time to think and learn from others. Maybe you are like that.

Through the Bible in 66 Days - 2 Samuel

Everybody loves a hero. King David was brave and handsome a brilliant musician, poet, leader and warrior. He was everything a good king should be. He loved God, ruled fairly, obeyed God’s commands and brought wealth, peace and joy to the people. But his story reminds me that the higher we rise the further we can fall. 

In the story of second Samuel we are confronted with the sins of David and the subsequent consequences for him and his family. He slept with another man’s wife, got her pregnant and then planned the man’s death so nobody would find out. He ended up

marrying her. His family was torn apart by these terrible choices. When He eventually repented of his sin, God forgave him but his rule as a king was never the same again. In fact, as you trace his family records we discover that the family suffered many things as a result of David’s sin.

So, what can we learn from a king whose life was a mixture of success and fear, good and bad, love and hate, inner peace and turmoil?

How to change your life in a moment

I remember once that my attention was caught by a Scottish Widows advertising campaign slogan, it said...

‘Change your life today’! 

That seems a bit dramatic - Is it really possibly to have a personal revolution in a day?

Being honest there are not many things that cause a transformation in a day; but it could happen. Let me give you one example  there are others. For instance, you could meet an individual who changes your life for ever. The love of your life! You have just been introduced or your paths have only crossed but immediately your heart is captured and things are never quite the same again. 

For some people their first encounter with Jesus of Nazareth changed them from that day forward. His grace and love captured their hearts. The voice of God stirred their spirit and they became aware of their failings and sin. The feeling of guilt was crushing as they discovered how rebellious they were by nature and why life hurt so much. The outcomes and consequences of sins were devastating but what blew them away was that 'Christ died for our sins'. He, the holy Son of God paid in person the full price God required to clear the guilty and forgive the fallen.

The words of the Bible, despite being shocking in their starkness and truthfulness, ring true to reality and are in tune with the human conscience. 

Let me remind you of the blunt, basic but honest truths of the Bible:

In respect of wrong that is found in every human being: 

‘All have sinned’

‘The soul that sins shall die’

‘The wages of sin is death’ 

Sinful people 'will be cast into hell’

In supporting the claim that Jesus is the only means of rescue (salvation) 

Jesus said ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the Father (God) but by me’

'Neither is there salvation in any other' (only Jesus)

'Through this man (Jesus) is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins'

In explaining what you need to do to take advantage of God’s rescue plan

'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved'

'Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved'

'Repent and believe the gospel'

The truth is there!

The choice is will you believe!

Your life could be changed, in a moment!

Last Days

Over 30 years ago a young couple and their family had a little time free, before going to Brazil as missionaries, to help me in Cornwall do some personal evangelism. We went to a popular beach at Bude and positioned ourselves in the car park and gave gospel leaflets to people passing by. One holiday maker saw us and approached us saying, “Are we in the last days then?” to which I replied “It depends which last days you are thinking about”. He engaged in conversation with us and told us that for the past five years he had been associating with Jehovah Witnesses in Derbyshire. We spoke about the Bible and the Person of Christ. He surprised us by saying, “I am fast coming to the realization that the Jehovah of the Old Testament in the Jesus of the New”. I replied “That’s great! You are half way there”. What did I mean by that? He had come to understand that Jesus is not only the Son of God but also God the Son. What he needed to do was to acknowledge that he was a sinner for whom Christ died and to ask His forgiveness and receive Him as his Lord and Saviour. How lovely it would be if he went all the way!

A message for everyone in Liverpool

The first man Adam died, the oldest man Methuselah died, the wisest man Solomon died, the meekest man Moses died. 

Patriarchs, prophets, princes, princesses, prime ministers, presidents, politicians, philosophers, peasants and paupers all die. 

The mighty Pharaohs passed away, the conquering emperors of Rome had to succumb to this mighty foe, Alexander the Great could not withstand the onslaught of death. 

The rich, the poor, the famous, the unknown, the wise and unwise, the religious and the heathen, the terrorist and the law abiding alike must fall beneath its cruel stroke.

Why does life hurt so much?

It’s our aim in this article to address some of the questions that people ask in life and to discover what the Word of God (the Bible) has to say about it. We place real confidence in the Bible because we have become convinced that the Bible is God’s communication to men and women and we wish people to benefit from what God has said.

I’m sure that most would agree that life hurts! That hurt can be caused by the normal progression from youth to old age and all the problems that come with ageing. Sickness also brings its heartaches! Natural disasters are devastating and destructive! To say nothing of the dreadful treatment that people endure at the hands of their fellow man. War and acts of terror produce unimaginable horrors. I’m sure that at times we all question why life is such a difficult and a hurtful experience.

Is there an appropriate response to this? The first thing I’d like to say is that “it's not personal”. What I mean is that we are not usually suffering as individuals because of something specific we have done. Before I go any further let me qualify that statement.  There are times in life when we do reap what we sow. There actually are consequences to our actions! But all the awful things that happen in the world are not usually the direct result of our personal actions.

My main thought when I say it’s not personal is this: ;people don’t die as a result of some sinful thing that they have done; old age doesn’t come because you did something wrong. The fact that we die, that we have sickness, that we grow old is explained to us in the Bible. The bible states that all of these conditions and circumstances exist because sin came into the world. As a result of Adam, the first man in the world, disobeying God the floodgates to all that was evil and damaging were opened. The fact that all of this is the result of the first man’s rebellion to God is explained by the biblical statement “by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin”,; Romans 5:12.

The Bible clearly teaches that God gave man a choice:

Obey Him,

Enjoy His presence,

Enjoy all that He created for him….

But, there is a but, God warned him that the day he ate of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that he would die. And that is what happened! Adam didn’t die physically but he died as far as his relationship with God was concerned. He was dead spiritually. Sin, death, pain and suffering became the normal experience of life. He had to work by the sweat of his brow for everything. Childbirth became a painful experience for the woman and the earth was cursed. So life hurts as a result; a fact that we know only too well.

However, what is quite incredible about the biblical story of salvation is that God had already a plan in place. God’s plan to provide forgiveness and to offer salvation to men and women was devised long before time began, 1 Peter 1: 19,20.

God had always planned to send His ‘Son to be the Saviour of the world’. He made sure in the writings of the Old Testament, the first half of the Bible, that we would know Him when he visited earth. In the Old Testament, God told the prophets how to identify His Son. There were specific facts such as what family He would be born into, His distinctive and sinless lifestyle and His mode of death. Normally how people will die is an unknown fact but God was making a point in defining how Jesus would die in advance (see Psalm 22:16, Zechariah 12:10, Luke 2: 34,35 – all of these passages of scripture speak of crucifixion which at the time was unknown and of the piercing of the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus). All of this information was so that when He came we would know Him.

To me the greatest and most amazing thing about this whole thing is that God came to earth in person. He was a real but sinless man. He suffered, He hurt and He endured death to pay for our sin. God wants us to be forgiven therefore the price and the legal penalty for our sin was dealt with by the Lord Jesus Christ when He died upon the cross.

The Bible explains it like this:  “Christ died for our sins.”, 1 Corinthians 15:3, “He was despised and rejected of men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”, Isaiah 53:3.

Today God offers us not hurt but forgiveness;

Today God offers us love.

The Bible tells us, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, John 3:16. The greatest proof of the love of God is that, “God commends his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”, Romans 5:8.

I want to point you to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, if you pray to God, today, confessing your sins He will forgive you.

I trust that you will do this.

May God bless you!

This blog is written by Stephen at

Why do we have a sense of justice?

We now live in a society where the general opinion about whether things are right or wrong can at times be vague.

I believe that, in the Bible, God has given us clear information about what is right and what is wrong. There is a reality about things being just or unjust.

Here are some things to consider:

·      Why do children cry “that’s not fair” or “it’s not right”!

·      Is there is an inbuilt awareness of fairness in a child!

·      Why is it common for people to have a really well developed feeling for what is right and what is        wrong?

The Bible gives us the explanation. It teaches that God “has written His law in our hearts”. God gave us this inbuilt awareness of right and wrong. Holy scripture (the Bible) teaches that we have a conscience. It teaches that we have an inbuilt knowledge within ourselves and a knowledge about ourselves. We automatically can clarify the reality of the rightness or wrongness of the things that we say, feel and do.

For example, most of us feel impulsively that to tell blatant lies is wrong. We instinctively know that to remove property that belongs to someone else is wrong. The Bible teaches these principles but somehow we know them to be true! Is that significant or co-incidental?

The ‘ten commandments’ teach that you shouldn’t steal, you shouldn’t lie, and that you shouldn’t take somebody else’s wife and so on. The list defines prohibitions as well as teaching positive things that we should do. Things like loving God with all your heart and with all your soul and all your mind (and Jesus summarized the rest by saying “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” – Matthew 22:39).

You may say to yourself, “I’m not really sure why we all know those things?” Let me come back to what the Bible says - God has planted within us an awareness of right and wrong. Just look across society for a moment. People are very interested in equal rights and equal opportunities. We are very concerned that disabled people are cared for, that ethnic minorities aren’t disadvantaged, that there is religious freedom, freedom of thought and freedom of belief. We campaign for the rights of the unborn child plus we debate people’s rights for free speech. Public behavior is monitored ensuring that people do not overreach themselves and inflict damage on other people or their property. In all of this we try to balance the rights of a society to be free and yet free of criminal activities.

These things are right. I believe we are like this in society because God has implanted in us an awareness of things that are very important to Him - a consciousness of right and wrong and of the realities of living in a way that is fair and equitable. God describes Himself as a just, as well as righteous, doing right. He is a God of light; God is love, a God who is eternal and a God who is all-knowing!

We wouldn’t know these things if God hadn’t revealed them to us in the Bible. This is why the Bible is such a key book for us to read. In fact it is God’s message to humanity and it’s an amazing thing that we have it so freely available despite some societies today that still restrict access to the Word of God.

Let me leave you with a statement from the Bible, the Bible says this, “For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God”, 1 Peter 3:18. This verse is saying that if God was being just, if God was being fair He would punish is for our sin, He would penalize us, He would judge us for breaking His law because we are guilty. But the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into the world and suffered for sins to bring us to God. He personally suffered the penalty for sin by dying for us. Three days later He was brought up back to life. His resurrection is sufficient evidence that the price for sin was fully paid. His resurrection establishes that you can take advantage of salvation. You do this by confessing your sin (to God, not a religious representative) and asking God to forgive you. You are effectively asking for God’s blessing upon your life.

I wonder if you would take advantage of a God’s offer of salvation today. Will you come to Him for forgiveness and rest upon Him for salvation? You can know what it is to be forgiven and saved.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved – the Bible, Acts 16:31

For more information please visit our webpage www.seekthetruth.org.uk

Does It Matter Who Jesus Is?

Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? 

Why are Christians are so convinced that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and why is it deemed to be so important? It’s an excellent question! Christian belief is laid on a very solid foundation. First of all we believe that God has revealed information, to the prophets who wrote the Bible, to point us in the right direction. Our beliefs are not just based on human research or discovery. 

In other areas of life when we want to learn about something outside of our sphere of experience we seek information from a trustworthy source. So if you are researching space travel for the first time you would go to NASA or some other space agency to ask them questions. It is wise practice to go a reliable source. 

Would you die for a stranger?

On Wednesday the 19th. November 1997, the M.V. Green Lily ran aground on Bressay, near Grut Wick. After loading a cargo of approximately 3000 tonnes of frozen fish, bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Isles, the Croatian-born captain decided to set sail in foul weather, in spite of warnings from the Harbour Master not to leave the port at Lerwick, Shetland. Shortly after leaving the harbour, the ship suffered engine failure in a force 9 gale forecast to reach force 11 imminently and was left drifting in 50ft. waves, eventually running aground off Bressay.

Post-truth and Fake News

Every year the Oxford English Dictiounary introduce a new word to their word dictionary.

Back in November, Alison Flood wrote an interesting leader in The Guardian about post-truth, she wrote,’ In the era of Donald Trump and Brexit, Oxford Dictionaries has declared “post-truth” to be it's international word of the year. Defined by the dictionary as an adjective “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief”, editors said that use of the term “post-truth” had increased by around 2,000% in 2016 compared to last year. The spike in usage, it said, is “in the context of the EU referendum in the United Kingdom and the presidential election in the United States”.

Joy & Sadness - the offering of Christmas

Joy and sorrow are opposite emotional experiences that all of us know throughout our lifetime. Life is like a tapestry of bright and dark colours and often the bright parts shine the brighter when set against a dark background. 

I am reminded of Benjamin Malachi Franklin’s poem ‘Just a Weaver’, 

Life Rule - Always expect the unexpected!

Life is so unpredictable. At times this can be exciting but sometimes it is extremely frightening.

There are many situations in life that we cannot control. Illness, the weather, what other people do and say and how other people drive for example. Some things can be avoided and we can take precautions but many circumstances are outwith our control. The ultimate example being death. We may be able to take our life by force (it is tragic when someone gets to that level of despair) but we cannot and do not live for ever and have no power over the day of our death.

Jesus can change your life?

Photos courtesy of Storyblocks

It is reported that there are 7.5 billion people living on planet earth today and sad to say not many of them could say that they have never misappropriated something that belonged to another person i.e. that they have not committed theft.  Possibly, the same could be said about lying but that is another subject.  The eighth commandment is “Thou shalt not steal”, the sixth is “Thou shalt not kill” the seventh “Thou shalt not commit adultery”, so God is precise in giving us an exact code of moral conduct for life.  The definition of theft is to dishonestly appropriate property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it.  The word ‘theft’ covers many acts of misappropriation, larceny (theft of personal property), robbery, fraud (identity, benefits, expenses, mortgage, insurance etc), embezzlement and burglary.  The writer received six strokes of the cane at senior school for stealing apples from the school orchard therefore identifying himself with any other person that has violated the eighth commandment.  Other acts of misdemeanours before my conversion would be too shameful to share.  

What are you living for?

Jim Elliot was a boy who loved Jesus. He knew Christ from an early age and was never afraid to speak about Him to his friends. One day a friend of his parents asked him if he was going to be a preacher when he grew up. ‘I don’t know,’ Jim replied. ‘But I would like to tell someone about Jesus, that never heard of Him before!’ And that is just what happened.

When Jim grew up, he and his wife Betty (Elizabeth) were missionaries in Ecuador, where there were several different tribes of Indians living in the jungle. Some of them were being taught by missionaries already whilst others had never heard of Jesus. One of these tribes was a violent and murderous tribe called Aucas who had never had any contact with the outside world. They were great hunters of wild pigs, monkeys, and jaguars with their spears and bows and arrows.