What a crazy mixed up world we live in.
See previous post where a 25 years old male can sleep in the same room, use same toilets and changing rooms as young girl guides just when he thinks he would like to be a girl.
Now a stupid woman PR Consultant, (what can you expect) wants the story of Sleeping beauty stopped at her daughter’s school because it shows a prince kissing a young girl on the cheek.
Other children’s books are being removed in libraries here in the
U.K and U.S.A as the stories may be harmful to children.
I wonder how many children over the decades have been harmed (if any) compared as to how many children have been abused as a consequence of this politically correct madness
Wednesday 29 November 2017
Tuesday 28 November 2017
If you have turned to this post I beg you to read the story which follows. It is hard for many of us to believe this could have come to pass in the United Kingdom, especially when it has been approved and embraced by a (so called) Conservative government. It just reveals how facile Theresa May is when she boasts of being a Vicar’s daughter and regular Church attender.
I thought after a run of weak Prime Ministers having a woman leader might be an improvement, especially when the last and first woman leader was such an outstanding leader who made Britain an influential power on the world stage.
Just to assure you, this really is a true story. (read on)
Girl guiding UK will allow biological males to share showers, toilets, changing rooms and overnight accommodation with its female members as a result of its transgender policy.
The age groups within the movement suggest that a 25-year-old man could share facilities with girls as young as 15.
LEADERS OF GUIDING GROUPS HAVE ALSO BEEN ADVISED NOT TO WARN PARENTS WHEN THEIR DAUGHTER WILL BE ASKED TO SHARE FACILITIES WITH BOYS OR MEN.
Women, and men who identify as women, are allowed to join Girl guiding up to the age of 25. Men who say they are women are also able to become leaders of Guide groups, known as Brown Owls.
As a result, these guidelines mean that teenage girls could be put in danger by being forced to share personal facilities and accommodation with sexually mature men.
Organisations such as the Girl Guides are reacting to the guidance of senior Government figures who want to use children in their campaign to promote acceptance of transgender lifestyles.
Prime Minister Theresa May has committed the Government to allowing people to change gender without a medical reason, REMOVING
PROTECTIONS AGAINST THOSE WHO ACT IN BAD FAITH.
MRS MAY HAS ALSO PLEDGED TO USE COMPULSORY RELATIONSHIPS EDUCATION IN ENGLISH PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO ENSURE LGBT ISSUES ARE TAUGHT WELL TO CHILDREN BETWEEN FIVE AND ELEVEN YEARS OLD.
Controversially, parents of Guides as young as five would not automatically be told if their daughter was sharing facilities with a boy who thinks that they are the wrong gender
Education not indoctrination
Education Secretary and Equalities Minister Justine Greening, who is in a same sex relationship with an LGBT activist, will oversee both the demedicalisation of transgenderism and promotion of LGBT relationships, including same-sex marriage, in schools.
Neither of these policies were in the last Conservative Party manifesto.
Catholic Bishops have urged the Secretary of State to refocus and deliver on her manifesto promises in respect of the admissions cap in education.
Last night critics warned that allowing transgender Guides, particularly those in their teens, to share accommodation and personal facilities on trips posed a threat to the safety and privacy of girls.
David Davies, Conservative MP for Monmouth in South Wales, said: ‘If transgender girls who are physically male are going to be sharing facilities, it’s going to make some girls threatened and uncomfortable and the Guides shouldn’t be doing that.’
Left-wing feminist campaigner Julie Bindel added: ‘This is not a moral panic. The concern that I and many feminists have about boys invading bedrooms, tents and showers, is that disproportionately the victims of sexual violence are girls and women, and overwhelmingly, the perpetrators are boys and men. 'This signifies the end to girl-only space and the safety of girls in single-sex organisations.’
Girlguiding chiefs have told leaders who traditionally say grace before meals at camps to leave out references to God for fear of upsetting non-Christians or atheists.
Official advice on the organisation’s website also said that the singing of songs with ‘faith-based lyrics’ around the camp fire should be banned.
Set up in 1910, the charity has no official link with any religion but its values have been widely seen as broadly Christian, and many of its leaders are Christians who hold meetings in church halls.
Critics reacted with fury to the advice, with one former Guide leader saying it would have ‘devastated’ the Christian founders of the movement, Lord Baden-Powell and his wife Olave.
General Synod member Alison Ruoff said: ‘I was a Guide leader and if we had a day-long hike and we were eating, we would always have grace.
‘The idea of dropping it is an absolute nonsense, absolutely appalling.
‘The Guides are being very foolish in trying to whitewash Christianity, and they must not.’
Girlguiding, formerly the Girl Guides Association, said ‘it may be traditional’ to say or sing grace – the prayers that Christians
use to thank God for food and drink – but added: ‘Consider how this might make members who are from a different faith – or have no faith – feel.’
It suggested that leaders who wanted to say something before a community meal should ‘try to think of a statement that doesn’t make reference to any particular god or faith’.
On singing, the guidance added: ‘Some songs may have faith-based lyrics. Would it be possible to change the words to songs?’
Girlguiding’s chief executive Julie Bentley said the organisation has ‘always been open to girls of all faiths or none,’ and that the organisation had updated its guidance on saying grace and using songs as part of the changes it had made to its pledge.
Last year, girls who responded to a survey run by Girl guiding stressed how important it was to have a girl-only safe space. But under its overhauled regime, the advice to Guide leaders is that girl-only spaces should now be open to transgender members.
Saturday 25 November 2017
Whose side is the Church on—Jesus or the world? Luke 14 v.25/34
By the term ‘Church’, I mean the entire membership at all levels in all denominations.
This may at first seem a ridiculous and pointless question, but I ask all who hear or read, (for it is in a fuller version on the internet) to think of your own belief, faith, and most importantly consider your response.
Whenever Jesus preached He had two effects on His listeners, they were either saved or offended and stopped listening. If I should inadvertently offend anyone I ask you to consider why you are offended; is it because something said makes your conscience feel guilty or makes you feel uncomfortable because it is being pointed out you are doing something you should not be?
It has been my privilege and joy to be able to take services at a large number of Churches in and around Bedford, but few have congregations above 30. When I revisit some time later, I notice it is smaller. Some of course will have gone to be with the Lord, but other just have fallen away, perhaps disheartened by what they are not hearing. We should be asking why? How many are followed up to find the cause of leaving; that may be able to help us do better. Remember the parable of the lost sheep, and how heaven rejoices when one sinner returns to follow Christ.
In our gospel passage, Jesus said we have to give Him first consideration in life, even above family. He used the word ‘hate’ our dearest, but in the understanding of that time this meant loving less. He had not intention of us hating our own family; that would have been against all else He had preached.
An example of what He was getting is what happens very often in families where a parent does not want their child to become a Christian, or even a bit religious. Husbands and wives are vulnerable too, as a lot of men object to their wives spending time at Church. One wonderful lady in a past Church of mine had a husband who worked on an oil rig and was away for long periods, but he found she was attending Church regularly and told her she had a choice, him or the Church. From her position she chose him to preserve the marriage and think of the children; she had such a personality many were influenced by her.
Much Christian work has been stifled because children say they want Sundays for other things - sport, parties - so whole families are kept away from Christian services. But of course we rationalise it - we don't want to make Christianity too hard otherwise it might put them off, so we have to make it convenient. But that's not what Jesus says here.
Jesus expects us to put Him before all else. This does not mean living a sort of monastic life, but it does mean we may have to change some ways of our life. He does however give us a choice, if you follow me He said.
Jesus said, ‘Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.’ This is the demand to put Christ before self. To carry a cross was a public statement that the one was to die.
Jesus was calling on His followers to die to their own indulgence and follow the way of life He had laid down,
which will inevitably mean going against the tide of society’s culture; not engaging in any activity which is contrary to Holy Scripture.
Modern man/woman want to challenge this and point out it is the 21st century and they have the right to join that culture, but Jesus said unless you follow all that I taught you "cannot be my disciple." Jesus is not willing to enter into a debate He wants to take your life mind, body and soul.
When you give your life to Christ, you change your way of living. You cannot live the same old life. You cannot go on living for the world. You cannot go on letting materialism and secularism control your thinking and your way of living. You now live for Christ. You now live in the fellowship of the church. He does however give us a choice, if you follow me
Today the Church is very ready and willing to accommodate the modern attitude and change the gospel message. The problem with that is you try to appeal to a generation and indulge them when there is little chance of a seismic change of mind, and in the process lose, as we are doing, the more established older generation. People to day are not prepared to deny the temptations we face; it means you really do become non conformist
If however we look at the Pentecostal Churches, especially those led by lack pastors, and even evangelical churches in the main denominations, there is massive support from all age ranges. We don’t need to change the Bible and adopt gimmicks which offer small returns, just get back to the Bible
We must strive to tell how Jesus can make such a difference in a person’s life, having a divine presence in all our hours of need and worry.
Jesus said, ‘I will build my Church’, and on the day of Pentecost it was born. The foundation of the Church was the teaching of the Apostles who of course were taught by our Lord Himself.
Twelve men who revolutionised the world having committed their lives to Jesus with whom they had lived, seen die, and come back to life.
So if we can truly claim to be an Apostolic Church, we must teach all that commanded that Jesus commanded, social, moral, and spiritual. In other words, the pure Christian gospel
We tell how God took a young Jewish girl and caused her to conceive by the power of the Hoy Spirit; that when this child became man He performed miraculous deeds and eventually gave His life by a cruel death on a Cross, in order that God would forgive people of their sins: that three days later would rise from the dead as a sign that one day all who believe in Him and accept Him as Saviour, would live eventually with Him in heaven.
Only Christianity has a Cross at the centre of its faith. Only Jesus suffered an horrific death on the Cross, a death made for criminals who were made to parade through the streets with a crown on his head beaten 39 times with a leather belt fitted with metal studs to cut the skin, stripped of clothes and nailed through His hands and feet on the cross, and all for the sake of paying the penalty for the sins you and I commit.
He could have refused to go there, but went willingly so we could be forgiven and put back in to a relationship with God and made us fit for heaven, where we will live on day with Him. God said this is what man has shown and done to my Son; this is what I have done, and showed by raising Him to life again.
The gospel is the power of God leading to salvation for all who believe. This means more than just believing there is a God, the devil accepts that. It is not enough to just hear and say you believe, it demands a response. God wants all people to turn to Him. This means some sacrifices have to be made by us, not a lot to ask when you consider the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
If you read the Church of England’s report of General Synod you could be forgiven for thinking you were reading a secular document. Bishops suggesting we override the bible; make accommodation for all kinds of morality.
There is now an obsession for changing gender and the Church is willing to adapt services to accommodate people. God said ‘I knew you from the womb’ ,He would therefore know whether a boy or girl so why are we joining in this mad obsession to change gender even involving children of five It is utter madness and irresponsibility.
In the latter verses Jesus was stressing the need to think of the consequences of following Him and used two analogies of a builder who starts to build a house without thinking if he has the means to finish it. Or of a king going to war without assessing if he has the resources to meet the enemy he is attacking.
So with a Christian there is the need to count the cost. Christ said, ‘If you are going to follow me, you have to go back and take your stand with me no matter what it costs.’ They may laugh, they may sneer, they may not understand. You may stand out like a sore thumb. But you absolutely refuse to cheat, to lie, be immoral, even if it costs you your life.
You get up on a Sunday morning, and the weather is bad, you don’t feel full of vigour, so you decide you will miss church. If it were a football game, or similar activity, it doesn’t matter how it rains or snows, you would be right there. But let a little bad weather come up, and coming to Church is too much.
In the Christian life you have to discipline yourself. We are to discipline our minds so that we keep our minds on Christ, and Christ is first in our thinking.
Jesus never sought quantity, He chose quality, and it is more profitable to have a faithful reliable few than many who are totally indifferent to the call and demands of our Lord and whose hearts are not full of love for God.
The Lord doesn’t ask his hearers to make some vague decision, about some vague kind of discipleship following a vaguely known Master. He does not plead with them to come; he commands them, It is going to be a life changing and costly decision to follow him. It will mean taking up your cross each day; this why we must count the cost first.
Tolerance can become counter productive. We’ve been reaching out to others for years now We need to go back to being selective, exclusive and mysterious, which will call people to wonder; that is the only way we can once again become desirable; that is the only way great loves stories are born. We don’t want part-time believers. The church may attract when it has fancy services where free meals are served and receive a tenuous popularity, what we seek is absolute love and total devotion to God and a continuous presence.
There are too many nominalists who feel they may come to church a few times a year and can claim to be Christians, they were confirmed with a bishop’s hands on their heads, they were baptized by an impeccably orthodox preacher, they joined a lively church and attended more often than that. All seemed good for a while, but then troubles came, their friends had no time for Christianity and soon they gave up. They had failed to count the cost of coming to Christ. Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
This is why a person must count the cost before committing themselves or will end up totally disillusioned.
By the term ‘Church’, I mean the entire membership at all levels in all denominations.
This may at first seem a ridiculous and pointless question, but I ask all who hear or read, (for it is in a fuller version on the internet) to think of your own belief, faith, and most importantly consider your response.
Whenever Jesus preached He had two effects on His listeners, they were either saved or offended and stopped listening. If I should inadvertently offend anyone I ask you to consider why you are offended; is it because something said makes your conscience feel guilty or makes you feel uncomfortable because it is being pointed out you are doing something you should not be?
It has been my privilege and joy to be able to take services at a large number of Churches in and around Bedford, but few have congregations above 30. When I revisit some time later, I notice it is smaller. Some of course will have gone to be with the Lord, but other just have fallen away, perhaps disheartened by what they are not hearing. We should be asking why? How many are followed up to find the cause of leaving; that may be able to help us do better. Remember the parable of the lost sheep, and how heaven rejoices when one sinner returns to follow Christ.
In our gospel passage, Jesus said we have to give Him first consideration in life, even above family. He used the word ‘hate’ our dearest, but in the understanding of that time this meant loving less. He had not intention of us hating our own family; that would have been against all else He had preached.
An example of what He was getting is what happens very often in families where a parent does not want their child to become a Christian, or even a bit religious. Husbands and wives are vulnerable too, as a lot of men object to their wives spending time at Church. One wonderful lady in a past Church of mine had a husband who worked on an oil rig and was away for long periods, but he found she was attending Church regularly and told her she had a choice, him or the Church. From her position she chose him to preserve the marriage and think of the children; she had such a personality many were influenced by her.
Much Christian work has been stifled because children say they want Sundays for other things - sport, parties - so whole families are kept away from Christian services. But of course we rationalise it - we don't want to make Christianity too hard otherwise it might put them off, so we have to make it convenient. But that's not what Jesus says here.
Jesus expects us to put Him before all else. This does not mean living a sort of monastic life, but it does mean we may have to change some ways of our life. He does however give us a choice, if you follow me He said.
Jesus said, ‘Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.’ This is the demand to put Christ before self. To carry a cross was a public statement that the one was to die.
Jesus was calling on His followers to die to their own indulgence and follow the way of life He had laid down,
which will inevitably mean going against the tide of society’s culture; not engaging in any activity which is contrary to Holy Scripture.
Modern man/woman want to challenge this and point out it is the 21st century and they have the right to join that culture, but Jesus said unless you follow all that I taught you "cannot be my disciple." Jesus is not willing to enter into a debate He wants to take your life mind, body and soul.
When you give your life to Christ, you change your way of living. You cannot live the same old life. You cannot go on living for the world. You cannot go on letting materialism and secularism control your thinking and your way of living. You now live for Christ. You now live in the fellowship of the church. He does however give us a choice, if you follow me
Today the Church is very ready and willing to accommodate the modern attitude and change the gospel message. The problem with that is you try to appeal to a generation and indulge them when there is little chance of a seismic change of mind, and in the process lose, as we are doing, the more established older generation. People to day are not prepared to deny the temptations we face; it means you really do become non conformist
If however we look at the Pentecostal Churches, especially those led by lack pastors, and even evangelical churches in the main denominations, there is massive support from all age ranges. We don’t need to change the Bible and adopt gimmicks which offer small returns, just get back to the Bible
We must strive to tell how Jesus can make such a difference in a person’s life, having a divine presence in all our hours of need and worry.
Jesus said, ‘I will build my Church’, and on the day of Pentecost it was born. The foundation of the Church was the teaching of the Apostles who of course were taught by our Lord Himself.
Twelve men who revolutionised the world having committed their lives to Jesus with whom they had lived, seen die, and come back to life.
So if we can truly claim to be an Apostolic Church, we must teach all that commanded that Jesus commanded, social, moral, and spiritual. In other words, the pure Christian gospel
We tell how God took a young Jewish girl and caused her to conceive by the power of the Hoy Spirit; that when this child became man He performed miraculous deeds and eventually gave His life by a cruel death on a Cross, in order that God would forgive people of their sins: that three days later would rise from the dead as a sign that one day all who believe in Him and accept Him as Saviour, would live eventually with Him in heaven.
Only Christianity has a Cross at the centre of its faith. Only Jesus suffered an horrific death on the Cross, a death made for criminals who were made to parade through the streets with a crown on his head beaten 39 times with a leather belt fitted with metal studs to cut the skin, stripped of clothes and nailed through His hands and feet on the cross, and all for the sake of paying the penalty for the sins you and I commit.
He could have refused to go there, but went willingly so we could be forgiven and put back in to a relationship with God and made us fit for heaven, where we will live on day with Him. God said this is what man has shown and done to my Son; this is what I have done, and showed by raising Him to life again.
The gospel is the power of God leading to salvation for all who believe. This means more than just believing there is a God, the devil accepts that. It is not enough to just hear and say you believe, it demands a response. God wants all people to turn to Him. This means some sacrifices have to be made by us, not a lot to ask when you consider the sacrifice Jesus made for us.
If you read the Church of England’s report of General Synod you could be forgiven for thinking you were reading a secular document. Bishops suggesting we override the bible; make accommodation for all kinds of morality.
There is now an obsession for changing gender and the Church is willing to adapt services to accommodate people. God said ‘I knew you from the womb’ ,He would therefore know whether a boy or girl so why are we joining in this mad obsession to change gender even involving children of five It is utter madness and irresponsibility.
In the latter verses Jesus was stressing the need to think of the consequences of following Him and used two analogies of a builder who starts to build a house without thinking if he has the means to finish it. Or of a king going to war without assessing if he has the resources to meet the enemy he is attacking.
So with a Christian there is the need to count the cost. Christ said, ‘If you are going to follow me, you have to go back and take your stand with me no matter what it costs.’ They may laugh, they may sneer, they may not understand. You may stand out like a sore thumb. But you absolutely refuse to cheat, to lie, be immoral, even if it costs you your life.
You get up on a Sunday morning, and the weather is bad, you don’t feel full of vigour, so you decide you will miss church. If it were a football game, or similar activity, it doesn’t matter how it rains or snows, you would be right there. But let a little bad weather come up, and coming to Church is too much.
In the Christian life you have to discipline yourself. We are to discipline our minds so that we keep our minds on Christ, and Christ is first in our thinking.
Jesus never sought quantity, He chose quality, and it is more profitable to have a faithful reliable few than many who are totally indifferent to the call and demands of our Lord and whose hearts are not full of love for God.
The Lord doesn’t ask his hearers to make some vague decision, about some vague kind of discipleship following a vaguely known Master. He does not plead with them to come; he commands them, It is going to be a life changing and costly decision to follow him. It will mean taking up your cross each day; this why we must count the cost first.
Tolerance can become counter productive. We’ve been reaching out to others for years now We need to go back to being selective, exclusive and mysterious, which will call people to wonder; that is the only way we can once again become desirable; that is the only way great loves stories are born. We don’t want part-time believers. The church may attract when it has fancy services where free meals are served and receive a tenuous popularity, what we seek is absolute love and total devotion to God and a continuous presence.
There are too many nominalists who feel they may come to church a few times a year and can claim to be Christians, they were confirmed with a bishop’s hands on their heads, they were baptized by an impeccably orthodox preacher, they joined a lively church and attended more often than that. All seemed good for a while, but then troubles came, their friends had no time for Christianity and soon they gave up. They had failed to count the cost of coming to Christ. Take myself and I will be ever, only, all for Thee.
This is why a person must count the cost before committing themselves or will end up totally disillusioned.
Saturday 18 November 2017
1 THESSALONIANS 4 V 13 TO 5/V11
I want you to turn with me to Paul’s 1st Letter to the Thessalonian Church, which is the set Epistle for this Sunday.
In this 4th Chapter, Paul answers a question most people have asked at some time of their life, more so as they get older. What happens to me when I die? Here, Paul is responding to that problem which is disturbing this young Church. Paul had established this Church and most of the members had come from worshipping idols, but had become committed and devoted Christians.
Paul had only three weeks with them before he was driven out of the city by opposing Jews, so had not had time to fully explain as much as he would have liked. They had been told about the death of Jesus and His resurrection, and how He would one day return and claim all His believers, but they were afraid that some of their members would die before Jesus returned and so miss being with Him in heaven.
In this passage before us, Paul deals with this important doctrine of the Church, one which is mentioned 300 times in the New Testament. Whilst it is a vitally important message which non believers should hear, it is also very desirable that Christians should hear and be reminded of, and reassured what the gospel states concerning our eternal future.
Paul begins by saying he does not wish us to be unaware of what happens to those who have fallen asleep. Here he is referring to Christians as asleep to make the point that they will awake from the grave when Christ returns. Paul states whilst we may grieve when we lose someone dear, which is in fact what Jesus did when His friend Lazarus died, we are not like unbelievers who have no future hope.
When the Bible speaks of ‘hope’, it is not the vague meaning we might have when we say I hope you have a good day; it is something more positive. Christians do have the belief and expectation that whilst there is parting, there will be reunion with those we have lost for a while.
We have been considering our future so far as believers; what can we say to unbelievers.I have been using the word ‘Christians’ in the biblical sense. Most people would like to call themselves Christians if they are not atheists or members of another faith; that is not how the Bible sees it.
A Christian in the truest sense is someone who believes Jesus died on the Cross, and rose again. His death was the price He paid that our sins may be forgiven so that our relationship with God can be restored. His risen state is to assure us that we too will rise with Him, provided we accept Him as Lord and Saviour, and commit ourselves to live as God has shown us how, that is to be in the words of the Bible.
So if unbelievers have no hope, what is the consequence? People scoff at talk of the return of Christ and of a Day of Judgement. Such talk becomes the butt of their jokes and is dismissed out of hand. Later in our passage Paul states they will suffer wrath because they will have rejected the only means of escape for any of us, and that is Jesus.
This is a sombre warning for us all and should make us concerned for those members of our families who have rejected Christ. It should make us want to do all we can to persuade them to turn with us to a Saving Lord.
The Bible is very clear that there will be a Day of Judgement, a day of accountability, a day when all the books will be opened, a day when all the wrongs will be righted, a day when justice will be done.
Jesus always made two distinctions. He spoke of tares and wheat; of sheep and goats in today’s gospel reading; of two roads, one leading to eternal life and the other to destruction. He spoke of heaven and hell in equal measure.
For many people today hell is a forbidden word in the religious sense. I was at a clergy meeting and at the Church there was a mural which had faded and when I asked why it had not been restored I was told by a fellow Minister that it depicted sinners being consigned to hell and he added, but we don’t preach about hell now do we. I answered that I did and he looked at me with complete horror. But Jesus did too; you can read His words in this book.
Jesus used different terms in which to describe hell, but simply it means just being separated eternally from God. It is strange that whilst people dispute any notion of hell as ridiculous they use the word constantly for all kinds of things and in all situations.
One of the great questions that people have to the Christian faith is, how can a loving God send people to hell. It is not that God does or wants to send anyone to hell; it is rather people choose that course by ignoring God and all He stands for. It may be something you have felt, you can’t understand how the Bible can teach that there is such a place.
The Bible teaches quite clearly that there will be a final Day of Judgement, a final day when we will be held accountable, and Jesus left us with a clear message of the alternatives.
In verse 15, Paul mentions having had a word from the Lord, something which the Lord revealed to him personally, so we may be assured that what Paul is telling us can be relied upon. Those who die are in conscious fellowship with Christ in the first stage, and will rise with Christ with new bodies when He returns.
I have never been to Hong Kong, but my son can tell me about it, because he has lived there. There is only one person who has died, experienced life after death, and is able to tell us about it, and that is Jesus. What he says we can rely on. He speaks the truth. Paul is one of the chosen spokesmen for the risen and ascended Christ.
After a funeral service people offer words of comfort to the bereaved; Paul is saying here we should do so, but as Christians, not in the same way, we can comfort one another with the assurance of a further meeting with the deceased. Of course we will grieve when those we love die and were separated from them, for now. But the nature of our grieving can and should be rather different from the hopeless grief of unbelieving people.
Having set out the future Paul then answers the question of when this will happen by pointing out that God in His wisdom does not reveal this. Therefore there will be no time for preparation .He says it will be like a thief who comes in the night unannounced, or like a woman delivering a baby; both events come on suddenly and can be painful.
When Jesus returns it will be just the same, His coming will be sudden and painful for those not having believed in Him. It will be like the householder who gets burgled and has no insurance; he was intending to get cover but just didn’t get around to doing so. Families will be divided with one taken and one left, some destined to be with Him others not. Paul is not trying to frighten or threaten, he is actually reassuring believers who may be feeling insecure.
Paul talks about light and darkness with believers being children of light; we don’t live recklessly as unbelievers do, but we stay sober and awake. He uses the metaphor of being drunk and fallen asleep referring to unbelievers living in a dark world.
Drawing upon the Old Testament where the Lord is portrayed as a warrior wearing armour, so the Christian puts on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation.
I realise this passage is one which can be a message which disturbs, and even distresses, but the doctrine
of judgement is one of the basic and fundamental doctrines of the Church and is put in the Bible to help and save us; it helps to explain some of the seeming unfairness in the world.
If there was no doctrine of judgement, it would mean that we live in an unfair world, one in which the evil and guilty would have prospered, where there would be no distinction between goodness by the countless millions who served the Lord faithfully, often in much hardship, and the barbarism of men like Hitler and others like him. Heaven and hell are clear demonstrations that God is a just God.
The passage ends with words of encouragement. The Christian Church is a community of mutual comfort and Paul is urging them to give one another help in their anxieties with the fundamental truths of the gospel, that the Jesus who is coming again is the very same person who died and rose again.
The supreme result of the death and resurrection of Jesus is to bring us into a personal union with Him, one which neither death, nor bereavement, nor judgement can ever destroy.
So let us be comforted by these words; and let us try to bring to know Christ those nearest and dearest to us who have yet to find Him. We must let it be known no one is beyond redemption, and God will receive all who turn to Him who accept that Jesus died for them and their forgiveness.
I want you to turn with me to Paul’s 1st Letter to the Thessalonian Church, which is the set Epistle for this Sunday.
In this 4th Chapter, Paul answers a question most people have asked at some time of their life, more so as they get older. What happens to me when I die? Here, Paul is responding to that problem which is disturbing this young Church. Paul had established this Church and most of the members had come from worshipping idols, but had become committed and devoted Christians.
Paul had only three weeks with them before he was driven out of the city by opposing Jews, so had not had time to fully explain as much as he would have liked. They had been told about the death of Jesus and His resurrection, and how He would one day return and claim all His believers, but they were afraid that some of their members would die before Jesus returned and so miss being with Him in heaven.
In this passage before us, Paul deals with this important doctrine of the Church, one which is mentioned 300 times in the New Testament. Whilst it is a vitally important message which non believers should hear, it is also very desirable that Christians should hear and be reminded of, and reassured what the gospel states concerning our eternal future.
Paul begins by saying he does not wish us to be unaware of what happens to those who have fallen asleep. Here he is referring to Christians as asleep to make the point that they will awake from the grave when Christ returns. Paul states whilst we may grieve when we lose someone dear, which is in fact what Jesus did when His friend Lazarus died, we are not like unbelievers who have no future hope.
When the Bible speaks of ‘hope’, it is not the vague meaning we might have when we say I hope you have a good day; it is something more positive. Christians do have the belief and expectation that whilst there is parting, there will be reunion with those we have lost for a while.
We have been considering our future so far as believers; what can we say to unbelievers.I have been using the word ‘Christians’ in the biblical sense. Most people would like to call themselves Christians if they are not atheists or members of another faith; that is not how the Bible sees it.
A Christian in the truest sense is someone who believes Jesus died on the Cross, and rose again. His death was the price He paid that our sins may be forgiven so that our relationship with God can be restored. His risen state is to assure us that we too will rise with Him, provided we accept Him as Lord and Saviour, and commit ourselves to live as God has shown us how, that is to be in the words of the Bible.
So if unbelievers have no hope, what is the consequence? People scoff at talk of the return of Christ and of a Day of Judgement. Such talk becomes the butt of their jokes and is dismissed out of hand. Later in our passage Paul states they will suffer wrath because they will have rejected the only means of escape for any of us, and that is Jesus.
This is a sombre warning for us all and should make us concerned for those members of our families who have rejected Christ. It should make us want to do all we can to persuade them to turn with us to a Saving Lord.
The Bible is very clear that there will be a Day of Judgement, a day of accountability, a day when all the books will be opened, a day when all the wrongs will be righted, a day when justice will be done.
Jesus always made two distinctions. He spoke of tares and wheat; of sheep and goats in today’s gospel reading; of two roads, one leading to eternal life and the other to destruction. He spoke of heaven and hell in equal measure.
For many people today hell is a forbidden word in the religious sense. I was at a clergy meeting and at the Church there was a mural which had faded and when I asked why it had not been restored I was told by a fellow Minister that it depicted sinners being consigned to hell and he added, but we don’t preach about hell now do we. I answered that I did and he looked at me with complete horror. But Jesus did too; you can read His words in this book.
Jesus used different terms in which to describe hell, but simply it means just being separated eternally from God. It is strange that whilst people dispute any notion of hell as ridiculous they use the word constantly for all kinds of things and in all situations.
One of the great questions that people have to the Christian faith is, how can a loving God send people to hell. It is not that God does or wants to send anyone to hell; it is rather people choose that course by ignoring God and all He stands for. It may be something you have felt, you can’t understand how the Bible can teach that there is such a place.
The Bible teaches quite clearly that there will be a final Day of Judgement, a final day when we will be held accountable, and Jesus left us with a clear message of the alternatives.
In verse 15, Paul mentions having had a word from the Lord, something which the Lord revealed to him personally, so we may be assured that what Paul is telling us can be relied upon. Those who die are in conscious fellowship with Christ in the first stage, and will rise with Christ with new bodies when He returns.
I have never been to Hong Kong, but my son can tell me about it, because he has lived there. There is only one person who has died, experienced life after death, and is able to tell us about it, and that is Jesus. What he says we can rely on. He speaks the truth. Paul is one of the chosen spokesmen for the risen and ascended Christ.
After a funeral service people offer words of comfort to the bereaved; Paul is saying here we should do so, but as Christians, not in the same way, we can comfort one another with the assurance of a further meeting with the deceased. Of course we will grieve when those we love die and were separated from them, for now. But the nature of our grieving can and should be rather different from the hopeless grief of unbelieving people.
Having set out the future Paul then answers the question of when this will happen by pointing out that God in His wisdom does not reveal this. Therefore there will be no time for preparation .He says it will be like a thief who comes in the night unannounced, or like a woman delivering a baby; both events come on suddenly and can be painful.
When Jesus returns it will be just the same, His coming will be sudden and painful for those not having believed in Him. It will be like the householder who gets burgled and has no insurance; he was intending to get cover but just didn’t get around to doing so. Families will be divided with one taken and one left, some destined to be with Him others not. Paul is not trying to frighten or threaten, he is actually reassuring believers who may be feeling insecure.
Paul talks about light and darkness with believers being children of light; we don’t live recklessly as unbelievers do, but we stay sober and awake. He uses the metaphor of being drunk and fallen asleep referring to unbelievers living in a dark world.
Drawing upon the Old Testament where the Lord is portrayed as a warrior wearing armour, so the Christian puts on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation.
I realise this passage is one which can be a message which disturbs, and even distresses, but the doctrine
of judgement is one of the basic and fundamental doctrines of the Church and is put in the Bible to help and save us; it helps to explain some of the seeming unfairness in the world.
If there was no doctrine of judgement, it would mean that we live in an unfair world, one in which the evil and guilty would have prospered, where there would be no distinction between goodness by the countless millions who served the Lord faithfully, often in much hardship, and the barbarism of men like Hitler and others like him. Heaven and hell are clear demonstrations that God is a just God.
The passage ends with words of encouragement. The Christian Church is a community of mutual comfort and Paul is urging them to give one another help in their anxieties with the fundamental truths of the gospel, that the Jesus who is coming again is the very same person who died and rose again.
The supreme result of the death and resurrection of Jesus is to bring us into a personal union with Him, one which neither death, nor bereavement, nor judgement can ever destroy.
So let us be comforted by these words; and let us try to bring to know Christ those nearest and dearest to us who have yet to find Him. We must let it be known no one is beyond redemption, and God will receive all who turn to Him who accept that Jesus died for them and their forgiveness.
Wednesday 15 November 2017
Transgender issues come before education in Oxford School
A respected Christian maths teacher at a school in Oxfordshire is facing discipline for 'misgendering' a student.
Joshua Sutcliffe, from Oxford, began working at the school in September 2015 and currently teaches children aged 11-18. He has achieved excellent results, with his Key Stage 3 students outperforming every parallel class.
But on November 2, a complaint was made that Joshua referred to a pupil as a 'girl', rather than the desired boy.
Although born as a girl, the pupil had self-declared as ‘male’. Joshua had not been given any formal instruction on how to refer to the pupil. An investigation began immediately, during which Joshua was prevented from teaching and forced to spend all his time ‘in isolation’ in the staff room. He is now suspended, pending a further investigation
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting Joshua said:
“This case is one of a flood of cases we are encountering where teachers are finding themselves silenced or punished if they refuse to fall in line with the current transgender fad.
“We all know how much we change during our teenage years. It is vital that during those years we help our children to live in the biological sex they were born rather than encouraging them to change ‘gender’. If we encourage them to change gender it is not kind and compassionate; it is cruel.
“What we need is a culture in our schools which gives emotional support to children through puberty without encouraging them to make life-long decisions against their natural born biological sex.
"If we collude in the transgender delusion we do not serve our children well, we harm them.”
Following the week-long investigation, the school found that Joshua ‘misgendered’ the pupil, ‘demonstrating discriminatory behaviours’ and ‘[contravened] the school’s equality policy’. The school recommended dealing with the matter of ‘misconduct’ under the disciplinary policy.
Since the pupil started at the school, Joshua has tried to balance his sincerely held Christian belief that biological sex is God-given and defined at birth, with the need to treat sensitively the pupil. He avoided the use of gender-specific pronouns, and instead referred to the pupil by the pupil’s chosen name. Joshua admits saying “Well done girls” when he addressed a group of students including the pupil in question. The pupil became irate at this and Joshua sought to defuse the situation and apologised.
Whilst working at the school, Joshua also began running a successful Bible club, which was attended by over 100 pupils before being shut down by the school 18 months after its inception. He was initially told by the Headteacher that the Bible club could not run without a register and a curriculum. Yet, after producing the required documents, the Head still insisted on cancelling the club. During this time, the school’s LGBTI club, mindfulness club, and Qigong club continued running without a register or curriculum.
Following a grievance meeting initiated by a deputy headteacher, it was found that the Bible club could continue running but only when the school was satisfied that it could be run in such a way that upheld the school’s policies. Determined to comply with the conditions and have the club reinstated, Joshua made numerous attempts over the following five weeks to follow instructions to reinstate the Bible club to be run in a way which upheld the school’s policies. After ignoring the issue over this period, the Head agreed to a meeting where the issues would be discussed.
A respected Christian maths teacher at a school in Oxfordshire is facing discipline for 'misgendering' a student.
Joshua Sutcliffe, from Oxford, began working at the school in September 2015 and currently teaches children aged 11-18. He has achieved excellent results, with his Key Stage 3 students outperforming every parallel class.
But on November 2, a complaint was made that Joshua referred to a pupil as a 'girl', rather than the desired boy.
Although born as a girl, the pupil had self-declared as ‘male’. Joshua had not been given any formal instruction on how to refer to the pupil. An investigation began immediately, during which Joshua was prevented from teaching and forced to spend all his time ‘in isolation’ in the staff room. He is now suspended, pending a further investigation
Andrea Williams, chief executive of the Christian Legal Centre which is supporting Joshua said:
“This case is one of a flood of cases we are encountering where teachers are finding themselves silenced or punished if they refuse to fall in line with the current transgender fad.
“We all know how much we change during our teenage years. It is vital that during those years we help our children to live in the biological sex they were born rather than encouraging them to change ‘gender’. If we encourage them to change gender it is not kind and compassionate; it is cruel.
“What we need is a culture in our schools which gives emotional support to children through puberty without encouraging them to make life-long decisions against their natural born biological sex.
"If we collude in the transgender delusion we do not serve our children well, we harm them.”
Following the week-long investigation, the school found that Joshua ‘misgendered’ the pupil, ‘demonstrating discriminatory behaviours’ and ‘[contravened] the school’s equality policy’. The school recommended dealing with the matter of ‘misconduct’ under the disciplinary policy.
Since the pupil started at the school, Joshua has tried to balance his sincerely held Christian belief that biological sex is God-given and defined at birth, with the need to treat sensitively the pupil. He avoided the use of gender-specific pronouns, and instead referred to the pupil by the pupil’s chosen name. Joshua admits saying “Well done girls” when he addressed a group of students including the pupil in question. The pupil became irate at this and Joshua sought to defuse the situation and apologised.
Whilst working at the school, Joshua also began running a successful Bible club, which was attended by over 100 pupils before being shut down by the school 18 months after its inception. He was initially told by the Headteacher that the Bible club could not run without a register and a curriculum. Yet, after producing the required documents, the Head still insisted on cancelling the club. During this time, the school’s LGBTI club, mindfulness club, and Qigong club continued running without a register or curriculum.
Following a grievance meeting initiated by a deputy headteacher, it was found that the Bible club could continue running but only when the school was satisfied that it could be run in such a way that upheld the school’s policies. Determined to comply with the conditions and have the club reinstated, Joshua made numerous attempts over the following five weeks to follow instructions to reinstate the Bible club to be run in a way which upheld the school’s policies. After ignoring the issue over this period, the Head agreed to a meeting where the issues would be discussed.
Friday 10 November 2017
! THESSALONIANS 4 V 13 TO 5/V11
I want you to turn with me to Paul’s 1st Letter to the Thessalonian Church, which is the set Epistle for this Sunday.
In this 4th Chapter, Paul answers a question most people have asked at some time of their life, more so as they get older. What happens to me when I die? Here, Paul is responding to that problem which is disturbing this young Church.
Paul had established this Church and most of the members had come from worshipping idols, but had become committed and devoted Christians. Paul had only three weeks with them before he was driven out of the city by opposing Jews, so had not had time to fully explain as much as he would have liked. They had been told about the death of Jesus and His resurrection, and how He would one day return and claim all His believers, but they were afraid that some of their members would die before Jesus returned and so miss being with Him in heaven.
In this passage before us, Paul deals with this important doctrine of the Church, one which is mentioned 300 times in the New Testament. Whilst it is a vitally important message which non believers should hear, it is also very desirable that Christians should hear and be reminded of, and reassured what the gospel states concerning our eternal future.
Paul begins by saying he does not wish us to be unaware of what happens to those who have fallen asleep. Here he is referring to Christians as asleep to make the point that they will awake from the grave when Christ returns. Paul states whilst we may grieve when we lose someone dear, which is in fact what Jesus did when His friend Lazarus died, we are not like unbelievers who have no future hope.
When the Bible speaks of ‘hope’, it is not the vague meaning we might have when we say I hope you have a good day; it is something more positive. Christians do have the belief and expectation that whilst there is parting, there will be reunion with those we have lost for a while.
We have been considering our future so far as believers; what can we say to unbelievers.
I have been using the word ‘Christians’ in the biblical sense. Most people would like to call themselves Christians if they are not atheists or members of another faith; that is not how the Bible sees it. A Christian in the truest sense is someone who believes Jesus died on the Cross, and rose again. His death was the price He paid that our sins may be forgiven so that our relationship with God can be restored. His risen state is to assure us that we too will rise with Him, provided we accept Him as Lord and Saviour, and commit ourselves to live as God has shown us how, that is to be in the words of the Bible.
So if unbelievers have no hope, what is the consequence? People scoff at talk of the return of Christ and of a Day of Judgement. Such talk becomes the butt of their jokes and is dismissed out of hand. Later in our passage Paul states they will suffer wrath because they will have rejected the only means of escape for any of us, and that is Jesus. This is a sombre warning for us all and should make us concerned for those members of our families who have rejected Christ. It should make us want to do all we can to persuade them to turn with us to a Saving Lord.
The Bible is very clear that there will be a Day of Judgement, a day of accountability, a day when all the books will be opened, a day when all the wrongs will be righted, a day when justice will be done.
Jesus always made two distinctions. He spoke of tares and wheat; of sheep and goats in today’s gospel reading; of two roads, one leading to eternal life and the other to destruction. He spoke of heaven and hell in equal measure.
For many people today hell is a forbidden word in the religious sense. I was at a clergy meeting and at the Church there was a mural which had faded and when I asked why it had not been restored I was told by a fellow Minister that it depicted sinners being consigned to hell and he added, but we don’t preach about hell now do we. I answered that I did and he looked at me with complete horror. But Jesus did too; you can read His words in this book.
Jesus used different terms in which to describe hell, but simply it means just being separated eternally from God. It is strange that whilst people dispute any notion of hell as ridiculous they use the word constantly for all kinds of things and in all situations.
One of the great questions that people have to the Christian faith is, how can a loving God send people to hell. It is not that God does or wants to send anyone to hell; it is rather people choose that course by ignoring God and all He stands for. It may be something you have felt, you can’t understand how the Bible can teach that there is such a place.
The Bible teaches quite clearly that there will be a final Day of Judgement, a final day when we will be held accountable, and Jesus left us with a clear message of the alternatives.
In verse 15, Paul mentions having had a word from the Lord, something which the Lord revealed to him personally, so we may be assured that what Paul is telling us can be relied upon. Those who die are in conscious fellowship with Christ in the first stage, and will rise with Christ with new bodies when He returns.
I have never been to Hong Kong, but my son can tell me about it, because he has lived there. There is only one person who has died, experienced life after death, and is able to tell us about it, and that is Jesus. What he says we can rely on. He speaks the truth. Paul is one of the chosen spokesmen for the risen and ascended Christ.
After a funeral service people offer words of comfort to the bereaved; Paul is saying here we should do so, but as Christians, not in the same way, we can comfort one another with the assurance of a further meeting with the deceased. Of course we will grieve when those we love die and were separated from them, for now. But the nature of our grieving can and should be rather different from the hopeless grief of unbelieving people.
Having set out the future Paul then answers the question of when this will happen by pointing out that God in His wisdom does not reveal this. Therefore there will be no time for preparation .He says it will be like a thief who comes in the night unannounced, or like a woman delivering a baby; both events come on suddenly and can be painful.
When Jesus returns it will be just the same, His coming will be sudden and painful for those not having believed in Him. It will be like the householder who gets burgled and has no insurance; he was intending to get cover but just didn’t get around to doing so. Families will be divided with one taken and one left, some destined to be with Him others not. Paul is not trying to frighten or threaten, he is actually reassuring believers who may be feeling insecure.
Paul talks about light and darkness with believers being children of light; we don’t live recklessly as unbelievers do, but we stay sober and awake. He uses the metaphor of being drunk and fallen asleep referring to unbelievers living in a dark world.
Drawing upon the Old Testament where the Lord is portrayed as a warrior wearing armour, so the Christian puts on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation.
I realise this passage is one which can be a message which disturbs, and even distresses, but the doctrine
of judgement is one of the basic and fundamental doctrines of the Church and is put in the Bible to help and save us; it helps to explain some of the seeming unfairness in the world.
If there was no doctrine of judgement, it would mean that we live in an unfair world, one in which the evil and guilty would have prospered, where there would be no distinction between goodness by the countless millions who served the Lord faithfully, often in much hardship, and the barbarism of men like Hitler and others like him. Heaven and hell are clear demonstrations that God is a just God.
The passage ends with words of encouragement. The Christian Church is a community of mutual comfort and Paul is urging them to give one another help in their anxieties with the fundamental truths of the gospel, that the Jesus who is coming again is the very same person who died and rose again.
The supreme result of the death and resurrection of Jesus is to bring us into a personal union with Him, one which neither death, nor bereavement, nor judgement can ever destroy.
So let us be comforted by these words; and let us try to bring to know Christ those nearest and dearest to us who have yet to find Him. We must let it be known no one is beyond redemption, and God will receive all who turn to Him who accept that Jesus died for them and their forgiveness.
I want you to turn with me to Paul’s 1st Letter to the Thessalonian Church, which is the set Epistle for this Sunday.
In this 4th Chapter, Paul answers a question most people have asked at some time of their life, more so as they get older. What happens to me when I die? Here, Paul is responding to that problem which is disturbing this young Church.
Paul had established this Church and most of the members had come from worshipping idols, but had become committed and devoted Christians. Paul had only three weeks with them before he was driven out of the city by opposing Jews, so had not had time to fully explain as much as he would have liked. They had been told about the death of Jesus and His resurrection, and how He would one day return and claim all His believers, but they were afraid that some of their members would die before Jesus returned and so miss being with Him in heaven.
In this passage before us, Paul deals with this important doctrine of the Church, one which is mentioned 300 times in the New Testament. Whilst it is a vitally important message which non believers should hear, it is also very desirable that Christians should hear and be reminded of, and reassured what the gospel states concerning our eternal future.
Paul begins by saying he does not wish us to be unaware of what happens to those who have fallen asleep. Here he is referring to Christians as asleep to make the point that they will awake from the grave when Christ returns. Paul states whilst we may grieve when we lose someone dear, which is in fact what Jesus did when His friend Lazarus died, we are not like unbelievers who have no future hope.
When the Bible speaks of ‘hope’, it is not the vague meaning we might have when we say I hope you have a good day; it is something more positive. Christians do have the belief and expectation that whilst there is parting, there will be reunion with those we have lost for a while.
We have been considering our future so far as believers; what can we say to unbelievers.
I have been using the word ‘Christians’ in the biblical sense. Most people would like to call themselves Christians if they are not atheists or members of another faith; that is not how the Bible sees it. A Christian in the truest sense is someone who believes Jesus died on the Cross, and rose again. His death was the price He paid that our sins may be forgiven so that our relationship with God can be restored. His risen state is to assure us that we too will rise with Him, provided we accept Him as Lord and Saviour, and commit ourselves to live as God has shown us how, that is to be in the words of the Bible.
So if unbelievers have no hope, what is the consequence? People scoff at talk of the return of Christ and of a Day of Judgement. Such talk becomes the butt of their jokes and is dismissed out of hand. Later in our passage Paul states they will suffer wrath because they will have rejected the only means of escape for any of us, and that is Jesus. This is a sombre warning for us all and should make us concerned for those members of our families who have rejected Christ. It should make us want to do all we can to persuade them to turn with us to a Saving Lord.
The Bible is very clear that there will be a Day of Judgement, a day of accountability, a day when all the books will be opened, a day when all the wrongs will be righted, a day when justice will be done.
Jesus always made two distinctions. He spoke of tares and wheat; of sheep and goats in today’s gospel reading; of two roads, one leading to eternal life and the other to destruction. He spoke of heaven and hell in equal measure.
For many people today hell is a forbidden word in the religious sense. I was at a clergy meeting and at the Church there was a mural which had faded and when I asked why it had not been restored I was told by a fellow Minister that it depicted sinners being consigned to hell and he added, but we don’t preach about hell now do we. I answered that I did and he looked at me with complete horror. But Jesus did too; you can read His words in this book.
Jesus used different terms in which to describe hell, but simply it means just being separated eternally from God. It is strange that whilst people dispute any notion of hell as ridiculous they use the word constantly for all kinds of things and in all situations.
One of the great questions that people have to the Christian faith is, how can a loving God send people to hell. It is not that God does or wants to send anyone to hell; it is rather people choose that course by ignoring God and all He stands for. It may be something you have felt, you can’t understand how the Bible can teach that there is such a place.
The Bible teaches quite clearly that there will be a final Day of Judgement, a final day when we will be held accountable, and Jesus left us with a clear message of the alternatives.
In verse 15, Paul mentions having had a word from the Lord, something which the Lord revealed to him personally, so we may be assured that what Paul is telling us can be relied upon. Those who die are in conscious fellowship with Christ in the first stage, and will rise with Christ with new bodies when He returns.
I have never been to Hong Kong, but my son can tell me about it, because he has lived there. There is only one person who has died, experienced life after death, and is able to tell us about it, and that is Jesus. What he says we can rely on. He speaks the truth. Paul is one of the chosen spokesmen for the risen and ascended Christ.
After a funeral service people offer words of comfort to the bereaved; Paul is saying here we should do so, but as Christians, not in the same way, we can comfort one another with the assurance of a further meeting with the deceased. Of course we will grieve when those we love die and were separated from them, for now. But the nature of our grieving can and should be rather different from the hopeless grief of unbelieving people.
Having set out the future Paul then answers the question of when this will happen by pointing out that God in His wisdom does not reveal this. Therefore there will be no time for preparation .He says it will be like a thief who comes in the night unannounced, or like a woman delivering a baby; both events come on suddenly and can be painful.
When Jesus returns it will be just the same, His coming will be sudden and painful for those not having believed in Him. It will be like the householder who gets burgled and has no insurance; he was intending to get cover but just didn’t get around to doing so. Families will be divided with one taken and one left, some destined to be with Him others not. Paul is not trying to frighten or threaten, he is actually reassuring believers who may be feeling insecure.
Paul talks about light and darkness with believers being children of light; we don’t live recklessly as unbelievers do, but we stay sober and awake. He uses the metaphor of being drunk and fallen asleep referring to unbelievers living in a dark world.
Drawing upon the Old Testament where the Lord is portrayed as a warrior wearing armour, so the Christian puts on the breastplate of faith and love and the helmet of salvation.
I realise this passage is one which can be a message which disturbs, and even distresses, but the doctrine
of judgement is one of the basic and fundamental doctrines of the Church and is put in the Bible to help and save us; it helps to explain some of the seeming unfairness in the world.
If there was no doctrine of judgement, it would mean that we live in an unfair world, one in which the evil and guilty would have prospered, where there would be no distinction between goodness by the countless millions who served the Lord faithfully, often in much hardship, and the barbarism of men like Hitler and others like him. Heaven and hell are clear demonstrations that God is a just God.
The passage ends with words of encouragement. The Christian Church is a community of mutual comfort and Paul is urging them to give one another help in their anxieties with the fundamental truths of the gospel, that the Jesus who is coming again is the very same person who died and rose again.
The supreme result of the death and resurrection of Jesus is to bring us into a personal union with Him, one which neither death, nor bereavement, nor judgement can ever destroy.
So let us be comforted by these words; and let us try to bring to know Christ those nearest and dearest to us who have yet to find Him. We must let it be known no one is beyond redemption, and God will receive all who turn to Him who accept that Jesus died for them and their forgiveness.
Sunday 5 November 2017
1Thessalonians 2 v 1 ff
Paul had been on a mission with Silas and Timothy and chose to visit Thessalonica. This was a proud capital city of Macedonia with a large population, a fine harbour, and was a busy trade centre, strategically situated on the main highway between East and West across Europe.
The three missionaries preached in the Synagogue for three weeks and converted a number of people, mostly Greeks but also Jews. Instigated by Jewish opponents, rioters attacked supporters of Paul, causing Paul Silas and Timothy to have to leave the city. Timothy was later sent back by Paul to review things and found the Christians were responding well, causing Paul to write two Letters to the Thessalonians Christians, of which this is the first one
Turning to the Epistle, in verses ¾ Paul is positively stating that they preached the gospel as those approved by God, and as those committed in speaking in order not to please their human audience but to please God, and God did approve of their inner motives and integrity.
This morning I want to consider what makes for a true Christian. If we follow the teaching of the Bible, that is what we will achieve.
1 Thessalonians is one of the oldest books in the New Testament. Scholars date it at approximately 50-51 A.D., meaning that it was written only 18 years after Jesus’ life and death. As such it is one of the earliest pictures we have of the Christian church in the very beginning. This, together with other Scripture, tells us why Christianity spread so far and fast, without all the modern means of communication we have, and why the Church was so successful.
Most people would think of a successful Church as one which had a large congregation, well financed, perhaps in a big building, but that could be a complete misconception. Here was a Church which started off with people new into the faith, but such was their commitment and enthusiasm, it made others want to join them.
Such was the vibrancy of their faith that it had spread widely and people were speaking of their devotion, their past practises were behind them. The result here was that the believers shared the good news widely through the area, telling what God had done for them. The friends of those believers began to ask questions about what had happened to make such a change in those believers’ lives.
Paul commended them for the main element of a Christian life, faith love and hope. For a faith that works, a love which labours and a hope which endures. Faith is not merely belief, it is something that changes you, making you turn from what is wrong to that which is right; love which causes you to work for the gospel; and hope which makes you steadfast in the faith and enable to endure. This is the whole Christian life, which begins in faith, continues in love, and culminates in the hope of eternal life.
There is a story of a farming village which was desperate for rain to fall. They decided to have a prayer meeting to pray for rain and one young woman went to the meeting carrying an umbrella. That is faith.
So we may think of a successful Church as one where there is commitment, enthusiasm, and the teaching is that of that given by the Apostles, passed down to us in the New Testament.
This is Christianity in its purest and rawest form, stripped of centuries of man influenced additions and ritual, which transformed the ancient world. This is how it was in the beginning. This is what makes a successful Church. It is not a religious club united by common interest; it is a people chosen by God, receiving power through Jesus Christ, who demonstrates this in faith. We all have to consider how deep our commitment is to Jesus Christ
God does not choose large Cathedrals to perform His plans, nor pick rich influential people. He chose a humble Jewish village girl to bear the Saviour of the world. None of the Apostles had a degree between them, they were ordinary working men. God acts when people respond to His Son. It can be in the smallest of Churches; God acts when people turn to Him
Now let us consider what we mean when we say a person is a Christian, in the Biblical sense.
For most people a Christian is someone who is not of another faith, or is an atheist; that is not the Bible’s definition. A Christian is someone who is a fully devoted follower of Jesus. You are not born a Christian nor are you a Christian simply because you were born into a Christian family, or in a Christian country. The heart itself must be changed so that you become a follower of the Lord.
In order for a person to be converted two things must happen first—something from God’s side and then something from the human side; but God’s side must always come first.
Paul wrote, ‘our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction’. The Word was preached with the power of the Holy Spirit.
People come to know Jesus by various means when the Holy Spirit touches them. The most effective way is through preaching, although there are other ways such as someone close telling them of their own faith, or by a message on a poster, the London City Mission touched many by their message posters on the London underground, but the majority come to know the Lord by preaching
When the Word is based on Bible preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit, it produces deep conviction in the hearts of the hearers and people become convicted of their sin and their need for a Saviour, and accept Jesus as that Saviour who died on the Cross that they be forgiven of all sin.
A Christian is someone who responds to the gospel message.
I had a lady who attended my Church infrequently and one day she said to me I always feel you are getting at me when I come. I told her that as I could never foretell when she would come, and as I prepared my sermons in advance, it may be someone higher than me was getting to her. God does use men to speak on his behalf.
It is quite interesting to watch the different reactions. Most people are listening intently whilst others look as if they wished it was all over. The reason is that some are willing to have an open heart and let God speak to them, which He does through the preacher. This explains why some members of a family are Christians and others are not.
Jesus always warned that following Him would be costly and involve suffering. Such may be the mild kind of mockery or losing friends. It may lead to suspension from work or similar penalty when there is a government which does not want any opposition to its legislation, as we have seen in our own country. On the other had it may mean violence, imprisonment or even murder, in non Christian lands as we read of in Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt or other Middle Eastern lands.
These Thessalonian believers faced suffering having come to Christ from idol worship, in a culture which did not appreciate Christianity, but such was their faith and devotion that they triumphed and the Christian faith spread far and wide around them.
Paul who had suffered much in the gospel cause called on them to follow his example and be imitators of him, which they did. Many of us are inspired by people who leave a great impression upon us, and whilst we may not match up to their brilliance, we can benefit by following a similar path, and it is good to do so. A lot of young people imitate footballers or pop stars with dreams of becoming the X factor, neither of which materialise nor do them any good.
We all owe it as a duty and a privilege to be able to do something in the cause of evangelism in however small a way. This can be done by simply letting friends know you attend Church, ordering your life in a way which clearly demonstrates you are a Christian, and you don’t have to go to the other end of the earth to do so.
Remember Jesus told one man to go to his own town and tell what the Lord had done for him. We just start living for Christ in our daily lives to show others what a difference he makes. Having responded to Gods’ Word you live it on a daily basis and others will notice. Robert Louis Stevenson once said he lived opposite two Salvation Army people and it changed his life.
A Christian is a person who’s changed life changes others, because of a commitment to be like Jesus and to follow him wherever he heads.
You have to come tp Church with ears and mind open so God can enter your heart, and strive for the fruits of the Spirit, namely love, joy kindness peace and gentleness, faithfulness and self control. I have seen too many who have the opposite characters and do not reflect any credit on the Church.
So let us pray that we will always hear sound doctrine preached, and pray for the Holy Spirit to be upon us, and then we must depend on the Lord to give people the grace to respond with saving faith, and so that we may be true Christians worshipping in a successful Church.
Paul had been on a mission with Silas and Timothy and chose to visit Thessalonica. This was a proud capital city of Macedonia with a large population, a fine harbour, and was a busy trade centre, strategically situated on the main highway between East and West across Europe.
The three missionaries preached in the Synagogue for three weeks and converted a number of people, mostly Greeks but also Jews. Instigated by Jewish opponents, rioters attacked supporters of Paul, causing Paul Silas and Timothy to have to leave the city. Timothy was later sent back by Paul to review things and found the Christians were responding well, causing Paul to write two Letters to the Thessalonians Christians, of which this is the first one
Turning to the Epistle, in verses ¾ Paul is positively stating that they preached the gospel as those approved by God, and as those committed in speaking in order not to please their human audience but to please God, and God did approve of their inner motives and integrity.
This morning I want to consider what makes for a true Christian. If we follow the teaching of the Bible, that is what we will achieve.
1 Thessalonians is one of the oldest books in the New Testament. Scholars date it at approximately 50-51 A.D., meaning that it was written only 18 years after Jesus’ life and death. As such it is one of the earliest pictures we have of the Christian church in the very beginning. This, together with other Scripture, tells us why Christianity spread so far and fast, without all the modern means of communication we have, and why the Church was so successful.
Most people would think of a successful Church as one which had a large congregation, well financed, perhaps in a big building, but that could be a complete misconception. Here was a Church which started off with people new into the faith, but such was their commitment and enthusiasm, it made others want to join them.
Such was the vibrancy of their faith that it had spread widely and people were speaking of their devotion, their past practises were behind them. The result here was that the believers shared the good news widely through the area, telling what God had done for them. The friends of those believers began to ask questions about what had happened to make such a change in those believers’ lives.
Paul commended them for the main element of a Christian life, faith love and hope. For a faith that works, a love which labours and a hope which endures. Faith is not merely belief, it is something that changes you, making you turn from what is wrong to that which is right; love which causes you to work for the gospel; and hope which makes you steadfast in the faith and enable to endure. This is the whole Christian life, which begins in faith, continues in love, and culminates in the hope of eternal life.
There is a story of a farming village which was desperate for rain to fall. They decided to have a prayer meeting to pray for rain and one young woman went to the meeting carrying an umbrella. That is faith.
So we may think of a successful Church as one where there is commitment, enthusiasm, and the teaching is that of that given by the Apostles, passed down to us in the New Testament.
This is Christianity in its purest and rawest form, stripped of centuries of man influenced additions and ritual, which transformed the ancient world. This is how it was in the beginning. This is what makes a successful Church. It is not a religious club united by common interest; it is a people chosen by God, receiving power through Jesus Christ, who demonstrates this in faith. We all have to consider how deep our commitment is to Jesus Christ
God does not choose large Cathedrals to perform His plans, nor pick rich influential people. He chose a humble Jewish village girl to bear the Saviour of the world. None of the Apostles had a degree between them, they were ordinary working men. God acts when people respond to His Son. It can be in the smallest of Churches; God acts when people turn to Him
Now let us consider what we mean when we say a person is a Christian, in the Biblical sense.
For most people a Christian is someone who is not of another faith, or is an atheist; that is not the Bible’s definition. A Christian is someone who is a fully devoted follower of Jesus. You are not born a Christian nor are you a Christian simply because you were born into a Christian family, or in a Christian country. The heart itself must be changed so that you become a follower of the Lord.
In order for a person to be converted two things must happen first—something from God’s side and then something from the human side; but God’s side must always come first.
Paul wrote, ‘our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction’. The Word was preached with the power of the Holy Spirit.
People come to know Jesus by various means when the Holy Spirit touches them. The most effective way is through preaching, although there are other ways such as someone close telling them of their own faith, or by a message on a poster, the London City Mission touched many by their message posters on the London underground, but the majority come to know the Lord by preaching
When the Word is based on Bible preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit, it produces deep conviction in the hearts of the hearers and people become convicted of their sin and their need for a Saviour, and accept Jesus as that Saviour who died on the Cross that they be forgiven of all sin.
A Christian is someone who responds to the gospel message.
I had a lady who attended my Church infrequently and one day she said to me I always feel you are getting at me when I come. I told her that as I could never foretell when she would come, and as I prepared my sermons in advance, it may be someone higher than me was getting to her. God does use men to speak on his behalf.
It is quite interesting to watch the different reactions. Most people are listening intently whilst others look as if they wished it was all over. The reason is that some are willing to have an open heart and let God speak to them, which He does through the preacher. This explains why some members of a family are Christians and others are not.
Jesus always warned that following Him would be costly and involve suffering. Such may be the mild kind of mockery or losing friends. It may lead to suspension from work or similar penalty when there is a government which does not want any opposition to its legislation, as we have seen in our own country. On the other had it may mean violence, imprisonment or even murder, in non Christian lands as we read of in Nigeria, Pakistan, Egypt or other Middle Eastern lands.
These Thessalonian believers faced suffering having come to Christ from idol worship, in a culture which did not appreciate Christianity, but such was their faith and devotion that they triumphed and the Christian faith spread far and wide around them.
Paul who had suffered much in the gospel cause called on them to follow his example and be imitators of him, which they did. Many of us are inspired by people who leave a great impression upon us, and whilst we may not match up to their brilliance, we can benefit by following a similar path, and it is good to do so. A lot of young people imitate footballers or pop stars with dreams of becoming the X factor, neither of which materialise nor do them any good.
We all owe it as a duty and a privilege to be able to do something in the cause of evangelism in however small a way. This can be done by simply letting friends know you attend Church, ordering your life in a way which clearly demonstrates you are a Christian, and you don’t have to go to the other end of the earth to do so.
Remember Jesus told one man to go to his own town and tell what the Lord had done for him. We just start living for Christ in our daily lives to show others what a difference he makes. Having responded to Gods’ Word you live it on a daily basis and others will notice. Robert Louis Stevenson once said he lived opposite two Salvation Army people and it changed his life.
A Christian is a person who’s changed life changes others, because of a commitment to be like Jesus and to follow him wherever he heads.
You have to come tp Church with ears and mind open so God can enter your heart, and strive for the fruits of the Spirit, namely love, joy kindness peace and gentleness, faithfulness and self control. I have seen too many who have the opposite characters and do not reflect any credit on the Church.
So let us pray that we will always hear sound doctrine preached, and pray for the Holy Spirit to be upon us, and then we must depend on the Lord to give people the grace to respond with saving faith, and so that we may be true Christians worshipping in a successful Church.
Thursday 2 November 2017
A few weeks ago a Senator returned to the United States Congress following an absence caused by a Democratic activist who shot the Senator whilst engaged in a Republican v Democrat baseball game. The Senator responding to a welcome stated how he had trusted in God answering his prayers, and was applauded by members. He then referred to the prayerful support he had received from them and was further applauded.
Can anyone in this country possibly imagine such an event like that happening in the Houses of Parliament in this country? Most people and members of Parliament would be horrified at the very thought of ‘doing God’; we would be getting told how dreadful it was and how offensive to members of other faiths and atheists and transgender people, etc and etc.
A young idealistic Vicar, (and I suggest an ambitious one) has just banned the singing of Onward Christian soldiers in his Church building on Remembrance Sunday, as it might offend non Christians. I would have thought that would be a good thing to remind them we are a Christian country, but with silly little men like him we soon will not be. Men (and women) died to make it possible to sing such hymns, and to make it possible for people to make idiotic statements.
I thought when we got rid of David Cameron a little more common sense would prevail on the moral side, but I read the new Prime Minister Theresa May has decreed children of tender age are to be given lessons on same sex marriage and homosexuality with the parents prevented from withdrawing them from such lessons. I would have thought dive years old are too young to confuse them with any sexual lessons.
There was a report published recently which referred to the fact that black pupils were not getting the same opportunities as white ones.
At the same time a personable young black student at Sheffield University who was studying social science to fulfil his ambition to be a social worker, was dismissed from his course. His offence was that on his private facebook page, he just said he thought marriage should be between a man and a woman. He did not condemn or say anything offensive, nor did he disclose where he was studying; but merely because that was his sincerely held religious belief. his career was effectivley ended. To exacerbate the situation, the person sitting in judgement on the University panel was an LGBT activist, who did not declare her interest.
On appeal to the High Court another woman Judge, dismissed his appeal thereby indicating a Christian cannot enjoy free speech. How do you think the University would have acted if a Muslim student had made an identical statement?
So a parent cannot express a preference for their child being given lessons which might be offensive to them, and some intellectual can decide whether a student can study to be a social worker.
I have read that President Trump has rescinded much of the damage done by his predecessor, and restored some traditional teaching. Could we borrow him for a period to put this country on a responsible course?
Can anyone in this country possibly imagine such an event like that happening in the Houses of Parliament in this country? Most people and members of Parliament would be horrified at the very thought of ‘doing God’; we would be getting told how dreadful it was and how offensive to members of other faiths and atheists and transgender people, etc and etc.
A young idealistic Vicar, (and I suggest an ambitious one) has just banned the singing of Onward Christian soldiers in his Church building on Remembrance Sunday, as it might offend non Christians. I would have thought that would be a good thing to remind them we are a Christian country, but with silly little men like him we soon will not be. Men (and women) died to make it possible to sing such hymns, and to make it possible for people to make idiotic statements.
I thought when we got rid of David Cameron a little more common sense would prevail on the moral side, but I read the new Prime Minister Theresa May has decreed children of tender age are to be given lessons on same sex marriage and homosexuality with the parents prevented from withdrawing them from such lessons. I would have thought dive years old are too young to confuse them with any sexual lessons.
There was a report published recently which referred to the fact that black pupils were not getting the same opportunities as white ones.
At the same time a personable young black student at Sheffield University who was studying social science to fulfil his ambition to be a social worker, was dismissed from his course. His offence was that on his private facebook page, he just said he thought marriage should be between a man and a woman. He did not condemn or say anything offensive, nor did he disclose where he was studying; but merely because that was his sincerely held religious belief. his career was effectivley ended. To exacerbate the situation, the person sitting in judgement on the University panel was an LGBT activist, who did not declare her interest.
On appeal to the High Court another woman Judge, dismissed his appeal thereby indicating a Christian cannot enjoy free speech. How do you think the University would have acted if a Muslim student had made an identical statement?
So a parent cannot express a preference for their child being given lessons which might be offensive to them, and some intellectual can decide whether a student can study to be a social worker.
I have read that President Trump has rescinded much of the damage done by his predecessor, and restored some traditional teaching. Could we borrow him for a period to put this country on a responsible course?
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