The Rise of Christianaphobia

In our society a trend of ‘christianaphobia’is rising. Christianity is accused of some amazing things and to such an extent that it turns the values of Christianity on its head. In a large circulation Regional Newspaper in England Christianity was recently accused of being the source of the 'tide of disrespect engulfing us'. On a very basic level the principles of Christianity (if practiced) would ensure that peace and harmony ruled on earth as all people would act in the way Jesus Christ described (forgiving, loving etc). It is obvious however that all people have not accepted the salvation that Jesus Christ offers and that sin in the heart of humanity (as also established by Judaism) still results in evil and hurt for all concerned.

The writer chose to focus on one part of the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Other records in the Gospels state that the Lord Jesus did not come to 'destroy the law' as received under Judaism but to 'fulfill it'. This means that the individual who loves the Lord God expresses this in respect of others and respect for authority. The Lord Jesus never undermined the authorities of the day and indeed he encouraged his disciples to 'render to Caesar' the things that belong to Caesar i.e. revenue, tax, civil obedience etc.

The rest of the New Testament (see Romans 13) supports the principal that Christians are expected to obey the authorities and that political powers have been ordered by God and have executive powers from God to rule (with all that that implies). I would suggest kindly that should one choose to take a closer look at the Bible (and in particular the books of Isaiah and Revelation) they would discover that the Lord Jesus Christ has promised to return to planet earth one day and that he himself will dispense summary and immediate judgment on wrongdoing and evil (Revelation 21:8). Sadly unbelief in him is one of the crimes that will qualify for his judgment. This may seem harsh but essentially unbelief is the worst crime of all because of what it leads to. God is light therefore unbelief leaves you in moral darkness. God is truth therefore unbelief leaves you with all that is false. God is life therefore unbelief leaves you with death. God is holy therefore unbelief leaves you with sin, imperfection and that is wicked. Ultimately unbelief leads to all the grosser wicked sins that we readily accept are wrong and harmful. Thankfully today we all have the opportunity to 'believe in the Lord Jesus Christ' to be saved. In that day it will be too late.

So in closing I want to pass on to the readers of this blog a ‘Global Warning’ (excuse the pun). This is not about the effect of the mismanagement of our planet and its resources (important though that is) but about a longer lasting issue. This planet will come to the end of its life cycle one day (see the Bible – 2 Peter 3). However your and my spiritual life will never end. The warning is that if we do not actively get back to God then we will find that we are, on death, forever at a distance from God (and all that God is, love, justice, peace etc). How can we come to God? The answer is in honestly seeking the truth, obeying his command in the word of God. This is to repent of our sin (turn away from it) and place our personal faith in Jesus Christ.

Dare to be different

In the last week I have met a lot of people who are not prepared to think for themselves. They are following the current trend in our society to 'rubbish' belief in God and to ridicule the idea that there might be some validity to faith. If you are reading this blog you are probably not one of these people but you may come across them on a daily basis. Just remember that faith is only as good as the one in whom you trust. This is why it is so important to understand the integrity of the Bible and the historical basis of the facts stated therein.

The Bible states in Psalm 118:8 'It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man'. (incidentally this is the central verse to the whole Bible when you divide it up by the number of chapters and verses - interesting and significant!). The Bible also states that it is better that your faith 'should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God'.

Will you dare to be different? Read the word of God today (The Bible). Start in the New Testament and read the four gospels. Discover the truth concerning the Son of God (Jesus) becoming man and dying 'for the ungodly' (that's all of us, as we did not know God by nature and were disobedient to Him). He (the Lord Jesus) is worthy of your trust and he died to be your Saviour. Pray to him today, search for him in prayer and in reading the Bible. Admit your guilt before God and 'call upon the name of the Lord' and you will be saved. Email me at stephen.baker1@virgin.net and I will be delighted to try to help you.

I'm dying to sit down and have a break

Ever been so busy and in such chaos that you wondered if you would ever make sense of things again. We have been like that in our house this week. We moved into a new house in July and had an extremely busy summer which resulted in us not being in the house much for seven weeks. Then we hit September and chaos reigned. Joiners, plasterers, carpet layers, tilers, plumbers, electricians; you name it - if they had a trade we invited them in to see if they could help. We are nearly at the end now but I thought that we would never get there. Some days you couldn't find the floor never mind a bed.

Maybe your life is a bit like my house. You feel that there is not a lot of order in it. You wouldn't be surprised if you never got it straightened out. In fact it seems impossible to make any sense out of it. Well I have news for you. God can straighten out your life. A man called John is recorded in the Bible as preaching that the Lord Jesus came to make crooked lives straight (the Bible calls it salvation).

But to get it you have to want it!
And to want it you need to understand why you need it.
If you understand what is wrong (our sin and disobedience to God) then you will quickly gather why only God and His Son, Jesus can help you.

The Bible puts it like this. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Do you know that you are wrong?
Do you want to be forgiven?
Do you accept that you cannot obtain forgiveness anywhere else except from God who you have offended?

Then rest on what the Lord Jesus did for you when he took the punishment for sin upon the cross and know his great salvation today.

Expecting the unexpected

Life is so unpredictable. At times this can be very exciting and sometimes it can be very frightening.

We knew that the rainfall was going to be heavy. We have procedures in place to warn of floods. But as mere mortals we cannot control the rain and have to try to cope with what is inevitable as well as possible.

There are many other situations like this in life. Illness cannot be avoided at times and many circumstances are outwith our control, the ultimate being death. We may be able to take our life (by force - it is very sad when someone gets to that level of despair) but we cannot and do not live for ever and we have no power over the day of our death.

There is hope however. The only man who ever lived who had control over death was Jesus, the Son of God. Not only did he bring at least three people back to life (see the Bible - John 11/Luke 8.41-56/Luke 7.11-18) but he voluntarily sacrificed his life when he died on the cross. I am not only referring to his going to the cross willingly but that when it came to his death, life did not ebb away (as it would with us) but that he consciously sacrificed his life that we might have life (see Luke 23.46).

The profound message of Christianity is this.

Sin has consequences morally in the Court of Heaven. God is loving and unfailingly holy. His distaste of sin is such that it would be an affront to his character to allow beings into his presence who have been marked by sin. The dilemma is that God wants to share life with his creatures but his creatures by willful disobedience have distanced themselves from Him.

Enter, the Son of God. The divine plan was this. The Son of God would become man as a result of a miraculous conception but a normal birth. His life of thirty years would be clear evidence not only of his divinity (His miracles etc) but of His holiness and flawless character. As man He could die but as He was without sin (fault) His death would be payment for guilty humanity. God could still be holy and yet in His love offer individuals pardon and forgiveness.

So how do you get this forgiveness. Well God treats his creatures as thinking individuals. He has given them the capacity to choose. The offer is on the table. Consider, grieve about and admit your sin to God (not a Priest nor anyone). Believe and depend on what the Lord Jesus has done and accept Him as your Saviour.

I cannot describe the change that you will find when you come. It cannot be defined in words. It does not guarantee a problem free existence. It will bring about changes in your lifestyle (not enforced changed as a result of rules but changes in interests and desires for the better). It will mean your guilty status before God has been resolved. You will be saved for ever.

Read the Bible, seek the Lord while He may be found.