Sex Crimes go unpunished!

"Nearly 99 out of 100 sexual offences go unpunished, official figures reveal", The Metro Thursday 10th Jan 2013. These recent news headlines caught my attention! I was astounded to read that on average nearly half-a-million people claim to have been victims of sex crimes; however just one in ten of those are recorded by the police. Many girls do not go to the police when they have been attacked as they feel that they will not be taken seriously. This is a terrible reflection of the state of morals in our society. Is it the result of trivializing sex in our culture and the value of it's enjoyment within marriage? Do people feel that as anything goes sexually that we should not be surprised when things get out of hand and what could be considered liberty in one setting becomes a crime in another? The bible says 'righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach unto any people' (Proverbs 14. 34). We need to repent of our personal sexual sins (actual and virtual through pornography and the Internet), care for those who are vulnerable and recognise that when standards drop so do the safeguards that protect us from our own evil. Sexual sin and crime starts when we reduce our moral guard and refuse to obey the standards that God has defined for us in His Word, the Bible. 

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Needless deaths - could it be different?

We are all affected when we hear of someone being murdered in the course of their work life. This is especially pertinent when the victims are people involved in public duties i.e. police, nurses, teachers, firemen etc. We feel that our freedom has been violated and we are more vulnerable as a result. The murders of PC Nicola Hughes and PC Fiona Bone are just the most recent examples of the violent and sick society that we live in. Sadly this is not a lone incident, as it is not long since we mourned the death of PC David Rathband who found life impossible to go on living after losing his sight  as a result of violent crime in July 2010.

Can we do anything to change the course that society is on or is it just something that we have to live with?

I know that what I believe is not popular but I believe that it is the truth. The Bible teaches that 'righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a reproach to any people". Our society is now so far removed from the word of God (the Bible) that the basic principles that govern behaviour and cultivate a good society have been lost. The reason we need laws, police etc is because we all have a bias to do what is self centred and wrong. Thankfully this does not manifest itself in the grosser forms of evil in every individual but we all do things that are wrong and have the capacity to do all sorts of evil.  The Bible states the case plainly when it says 'for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God'. God's standard is majestic and not just at the level of rule keeping and ticking boxes.  The bible teaches that the heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked. This is the potential that we saw unleashed in these acts of violence.

What can we say then about good citizens like PC Hughes and PC Bone? They, like us, had a sense of justice, they wanted to improve society and they gave their lives to see that happen. As one of their senior officers promised when he was being interviewed his aim is to make sure they did not die in vain. My prayer is that they will succeed in this.

As I close can I give you some hope. Things can be different! This is precisely what the message of Jesus, his death and resurrection is all about. Christ died for our sins, he knew that we could not save ourselves or improve our society without his redeeming grace and forgiveness. He is willing to forgive those who confess their sin and accept his forgiveness. When this happens in the experience of the individual they become a whole new person, old things pass away, all things become new. Believe me, I have seen it in the lives of the most unlikely individuals.

Yes we do need great police officers on the beat, we need laws and law enforcement to prevent tragedies like we have witnessed reoccuring but we need to preach the life changing and soul saving gospel of Jesus Christ to reform the people of our country from the inside out.

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Identity

A Thesaurus gives the following words to help us understand the various meanings of the word identity. These are Individuality; Uniqueness; Distinctiveness; Characteristics; Self; Character; Personality. Each person of the six-billion-plus inhabitants of planet earth is unique and it has been so from the beginning of creation and will be for time immemorial. Determining factors of individual identity in times past has been by fingerprints, or a biometric identification of the iris in the eye. More recently, the unique DNA of persons has been used to accurately identify people.

The Discovery Sculpture by Artist Lucy Glendinning in Abington Street, Northampton, U.K. was erected as a Memorial to Francis Crick as a tribute to his work. It stands eight metres high in the form of the double helix, the shape of the DNA chain. A male body on the end of one and a female on the other. Crick was born in 1916 at Weston Favel, Northampton and attended the local Grammar School for Boys. His academic studies took him to London, Cambridge and America. He died there in 2004. It is quite apparent that he followed Darwin on Evolution and rejected the Bible and the Creationist doctrine. He could only see a person as a body, not having soul or spirit.

Wikipedia says, ‘In 1960, Crick accepted a fellowship at Churchill College, Cambridge, one factor being that the new college did not have a chapel. Sometime later a large donation was made to establish a chapel and the fellowship elected to accept it. Crick resigned his fellowship in protest.’  He referred  to himself as a sceptic and an agnostic with "a strong inclination towards atheism".

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1962 was awarded to Francis Crick, James Watson, and Maurice Wilkins for their discovery and work.

It is amazing that this man of great academic achievement and who understood the minute details of the building blocks of life could not identify the One that created all things, nor giave to Him the credit for such a marvellous work of Creation. “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” All creation is a witness to the power and wisdom of God. A number of scientists have moved away from the Big-Bang theory to a position of Intelligent Design, yet not fully coming out to identify the Son of God as designer and maker of all things. John the disciple and Apostle had no difficulty in identifying Him, he said, “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 11:5, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all.” The Bible commentator Matthew Henry comments on this verse:

“(1.) We know not what is the way of the Spirit, of the wind (so some), we know not whence it comes, or whither it goes, or when it will turn; yet the seamen lie ready waiting for it, till it turns about in favour of them; so we must do our duty, in expectation of the time appointed for the blessing. Or it may be understood of the human soul; we know that God made us, and gave us these souls, but how they entered into these bodies, are united to them, animate them, and operate upon them, we know not; the soul is a mystery to itself, no marvel then that the work of God is so to us.

(2.) We know not how the bones are fashioned in the womb of her that is with child. We cannot describe the manner either of the formation of the body or of its information with a soul; both, we know, are the work of God, and we acquiesce in his work, but cannot, in either, trace the process of the operation. We doubt not of the birth of the child that is conceived, though we know not how it is formed; nor need we doubt of the performance of the promise, though we perceive not how things work towards it. And we may well trust God to provide for us that which is convenient, without our anxious disquieting cares, and therein to recompense us for our charity, since it was without any knowledge or forecast of ours that our bodies were curiously wrought in secret and our souls found the way into them; and so the argument is the same, and urged to the same intent, with that of our Saviour (Mt 6:25), The life, the living soul that God has given us, is more than meat; the body, that God has made us, is more than raiment;  let him therefore that has done the greater for us be cheerfully depended upon to do the less.”

In our day Identity Fraud is a massive problem regarding Passports, Credit Cards and Social Services etc. where security is breached. It is one thing to suffer loss as a result of such things, but it is another thing, to suffer eternal loss of one’s soul because of the fraudulent evolution teaching. We must identify that God’s Word is true from cover to cover and trust the Lord Jesus Christ to save us. Everyone that does that, God identifies them as the children of God, born of the Spirit of God and will live with Him for all eternity.

When Jesus went up to Jerusalem to die on the cross, as He entered the city, some said, “Who is this?” They did not know Him. I trust that you have identified who He is and own Him personally as your Lord and Saviour. Some may say, “How can I do that?” The scripture says, “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” Call upon Him now and tell Him that you want to be forgiven of your sin and that you want to be saved.  God bless.     

Written for Stephen G Baker by Stan Burditt

Rioting - should we be surprised

I watched an interview on Sky news yesterday where four young men described what they had done, when out rioting and looting. Their body language seemed to show some sense of guilt but their attitude and conversation indicated no remorse or regret.   I was wondering if the current lack of teaching of morals in society has played a big part in this way of thinking. Should we be surprised that that the rioters do not think that they did anything wrong? I believe that everyone is responsible for their own actions but there is a sense in which we have set people up for this crazy way of thinking. We spend years teaching amoral principles in our schools, colleges and universities. Things such as - there is no absolute moral code, we are free agents to believe what we want and right and wrong depends on circumstances! Most people would defend our right to believe whatever we want i.e. we create our own framework which is flexible depending on our persuasions in life. But this approach does not work in business, on the street or in money matters to name just a few examples. We all know in our hearts that we need structures, rules and parameters to maintain a civilised society.  The outcome of the current philosophy is that everyone does what is right in their own eyes. This ends in anarchy, social disorder and chaos!  I know that a high percentage of society are decent people trying their best and they are disgusted at what they have seen recently. The truth is that most of the rioters are either young people or from a sector of society where behavioural boundaries are non existent or very weak.    We need to get back to recognising that at the very least the principles of the biblical moral code are good for our society. No other structure has been discovered that works. 

 I believe that at an individual level the only hope we can give society is the change that comes through the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  The change to better our lives and improve society starts within individuals. Look at the effect of christianity on societies over the centuries; the results are seen in hospitals, healthcare provision, schools, social care and many more benefits to any given society. As stated already nothing else effectively and permanently changes people for their good and the good of society. Biblical christianity recognises the flawed nature of humanity and offers the death of Jesus Christ as the power of God for salvation (the Bible - Romans 1.16). The change is firstly internal but if it is real (and there have been many false claims in the name of Christianity) it must manifest itself in behaviours and activity in society.   I appeal with our civic leaders and the general public to consider this message as it is the only hope that we have to offer. External reforming of society, improved conditions and better economic conditions all have a part to play but these will never reform the moral state of society. If individuals do not come to know the reforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ then there is no hope. In periods of economic depression and social upheaval (which we all know are unavoidable due to the cyclical nature of world affairs and the greed of the human heart) we will always end up with social disorder but things can be different. The choice lies in the hands of the individual. We have been warned once again by these recent events!