The idea of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ is a lovely one, however, I find it difficult to actively pray for Christ's return when I think of the unsaved all around me. For them the Lord's return would not be a lovely prospect but would only herald the great day of His wrath for them.
I was in Israel recently and as such spent a number of days in Jerusalem. Our guide on the trip was a lovely Messianic Jew and I have precious memories of the trip and the lessons we learned from our guide. One day while standing below the temple complex she encouraged us to 'pray for the peace of Jerusalem' as taught in Psalm 122 v6. I had always taken this verse to mean that we should pray that Jerusalem would be a peaceful place i.e. the absence of violence. Our guide taught us that this command in Psalm 122 goes much further than that, it is in fact a prayer that the Prince of Peace would come and rule from Jerusalem, then and only then will Jerusalem have real peace.
As our guide offered this teaching my mind immediately went to the Model prayer.
'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.' Matthew 6 v10
Praying for the 'Prince of Peace to come' is just the same as praying 'Thy Kingdom come' for then and only then will God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. As I thought about these things I began to think that perhaps we as God's people should actually actively pray that the Lord Jesus would come back again as He has promised He will. As I though about this another scripture popped into my mind.
'He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.' Revelation 22 v20
It would seem that when the Apostle John was confronted with the promise of the Lord's return, 'behold I come quickly' he could not help but say, 'even so come Lord Jesus'. Should we be saying Amen to the Apostle John's prayer? Food for thought!
Friday, 16 July 2010
Wednesday, 14 July 2010
But that's not the point!
I was listening to a debate on BBC radio 5 live on the way to work the other morning. They had two people from the Church of England debating the latest thorny issue of making women bishops. One was meant to be a traditionalist/conservative and the other a more liberal minded cleric (who happened to be a woman priest). In my opinion after listening to them it was a liberal and an extreme liberal.The interviewer tried hard to bring in the even thornier issue of the ordination of 'gay' bishops but neither of them were having any of it and were not for biting.
What a mess this institution is in! It is riven by splits over gay priests and women priests, there is a Evangelical wing, an Anglo-Catholic wing and a Liberal wing. Their big problem is their abandonment of the literal interpretation of the Scriptures. I mean to say how else are we to understand the Bible, God says what He means and He means what He says.
They should not be debating as to whether or not they should have women bishops, that is not the point, they should not have women clerics of any kind. I do not say this out of any sort of male chauvinism but merely out of regard for what God's word teaches. The Bible is clear on this matter, the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit told the young Pastor Timothy.
'Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.' 1st Timothy 2 v 11-13
The letters of Paul to Timothy are often referred to as Pastoral Epistles, Paul was teaching this young preacher how to order the local Church. Why would we ever want to abandon God's order of things as revealed in His word?
What a mess this institution is in! It is riven by splits over gay priests and women priests, there is a Evangelical wing, an Anglo-Catholic wing and a Liberal wing. Their big problem is their abandonment of the literal interpretation of the Scriptures. I mean to say how else are we to understand the Bible, God says what He means and He means what He says.
They should not be debating as to whether or not they should have women bishops, that is not the point, they should not have women clerics of any kind. I do not say this out of any sort of male chauvinism but merely out of regard for what God's word teaches. The Bible is clear on this matter, the Apostle Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit told the young Pastor Timothy.
'Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.' 1st Timothy 2 v 11-13
The letters of Paul to Timothy are often referred to as Pastoral Epistles, Paul was teaching this young preacher how to order the local Church. Why would we ever want to abandon God's order of things as revealed in His word?
Monday, 14 June 2010
Made in China
Have you ever noticed that nearly everything we lift nowadays has three little words on the bottom? ‘Made in China’. Now I have a problem with this statement and it is not anything to do with a dislike for the Chinese. I have a problem with the use of the word ‘made’.
When we really sit down and think about it, people don’t really make anything, we just rearrange things that already are there. We speak about making lunch, but really we just prepare lunch. Sometimes we hear people bemoaning the decline of the British manufacturing industry and they say, ‘Britain doesn’t make anything anymore’, the truth is we never did, we might have rearranged things but we never made anything. The metals that go into manufacturing anything come from various ores already present in the earth, the food that we eat whether it is bread or beef is just rearranged soil nutrients, that we might prepare into a loaf or a sausage but we didn’t make them. Even things that are so called man-made like polyester or plastic are made from elements already in existence in nature.
The Scientist in the lab can experiment all day on chemicals and compounds, he can observe them and arrange them, taking bits out and adding bits in, he can arrange them and rearrange them but he cannot MAKE them. Man has never made anything that is make something from nothing. No Sir, only God can do that. In his introduction to his Gospel the Apostle John speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ (who is God) said.
‘All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.’ John 1 v3
God is the true source of all created things! The Greek word translated ‘made in this verse is the word ginomai, it literally means to come into existence or begin to be. No man has ever brought anything into existence this is the act of an omnipotent God. Let’s give credit where credit is due.
‘For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:’ Colossians 1 v16
Made in China? No! Rearranged in China would be better.
When we really sit down and think about it, people don’t really make anything, we just rearrange things that already are there. We speak about making lunch, but really we just prepare lunch. Sometimes we hear people bemoaning the decline of the British manufacturing industry and they say, ‘Britain doesn’t make anything anymore’, the truth is we never did, we might have rearranged things but we never made anything. The metals that go into manufacturing anything come from various ores already present in the earth, the food that we eat whether it is bread or beef is just rearranged soil nutrients, that we might prepare into a loaf or a sausage but we didn’t make them. Even things that are so called man-made like polyester or plastic are made from elements already in existence in nature.
The Scientist in the lab can experiment all day on chemicals and compounds, he can observe them and arrange them, taking bits out and adding bits in, he can arrange them and rearrange them but he cannot MAKE them. Man has never made anything that is make something from nothing. No Sir, only God can do that. In his introduction to his Gospel the Apostle John speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ (who is God) said.
‘All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.’ John 1 v3
God is the true source of all created things! The Greek word translated ‘made in this verse is the word ginomai, it literally means to come into existence or begin to be. No man has ever brought anything into existence this is the act of an omnipotent God. Let’s give credit where credit is due.
‘For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:’ Colossians 1 v16
Made in China? No! Rearranged in China would be better.
Wednesday, 9 June 2010
Eating Rubbish
‘Don’t be eating any rubbish before your dinner you’ll ruin your appetite!’ I’m sure we can all recall our parents saying this or something similar as we grew up. Diet is of course extremely important to our physical well being and our parents were right to make sure we have a sensible and balanced diet.
Just as our physical diet is important so is our spiritual intake. I wonder what you have been feeding on recently. There is an old saying ‘you are what you eat’ and it is very true. If we fill our minds with the garbage of this world then t will have a detrimental effect on our walk with God.
One area of real concern to me is in the area of music. Many young Christians are feeding on the diet of the music of this world, they listen to it on their ipods, in their cars, in their bedrooms and I am even hearing of God’s people who are going to the concerts where the current pop artists are performing.
I don’t listen to the music of this world, but I do try to keep culturally aware of what is out there as I need to be relevant to the young people I minister to. In the past few weeks I have become increasingly alarmed by this trend of worldliness and I decided to have a closer look at what some of today’s most popular acts are singing about. I was not surprised to learn that things have not change much in the pop world in that past 40 years, they are still pumping out a message of materialism and sexual perversion. Here are a few examples.
Rihanna
I saw some pictures recently of a Rihanna concert on a Christian’s facebok page, she doesn’t wear a whole lot when she is performing (maybe it’s warm up on that stage). Here are some lyrics from her song ‘Rude boy’.
Come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up?
Come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough?
Take it, take it, baby, baby,
Take it, take it, love me, love me.
I don’t thing I need to explain to anyone what that’s all about, it’s filth.
Then she has a song called bad girl, which is a glorification of materialism. Here are some lyrics.
Shopaholic is what they call ‘em
My addiction, my prescription
Gimmie shoes and give me bags
How much you want I need ‘em bad
This encourages the sin of self gratification, which is the oldest sin in the Bible, remember Eve, she saw, she wanted and she took.
Lady GaGa
My wife was in her hairdressers recently and the lady mentioned that she had taken her daughter to see Lady Gaga. She said she regretted taking her as the show was extremely raunchy and that Lady Gaga’s language was blue. This lady who told my wife this is not a Christian and she has enough wit to see how filthy Lady Gaga is and yet I hear of Christians going to see her. What are they thinking? Her are the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s song ‘I like it rough’.
Shiny and I know it
Don’t know why you wanna blow it
Need a man who likes it rough
Likes it rough, likes it rough.
Lovely!!! She also has a very popular song called ‘Just Dance’ this song glorifies the lifestyle of going to a club and getting smashed out of your head.
I’ve had a little bit too much, much
All of the people start to rush, start to rush by
How does he twist the dance? Can’t find a drink, oh man
Where are my keys, I lost my phone phone.
What’s going on on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can’t see straight anymore
Keep, it cool, what’s the name of this club?
I can’t remember but it’s alright, alright.
Sorry Miss Gaga (cause let’s face it your no lady) it is not alright to be so out of your head that you don’t know where you are. Why would a Christian want to listen this garbage?
Girls Aloud
What, Girls aloud, what’s wrong with Girls aloud? I’m risking it here talking about Girls Aloud, the nations sweethearts with sweetheart in chief Cheryl Cole as popular as Barak Obama. Well I’m sorry to say these girls are just as bad as all the rest, they strut about their concert stages in immodest clothing and dance in a provocative manner, it’s all about the sexuality. Here are some lyrics for their hit song ‘Jump’.
Your eyes, tell me how you want me
I can feel it in your heart beat
I know you like what you see
Hold me, I’ll give you all that you need
Wrap your love around me
You’re so excited, I can feel you getting hotter, oh baby.
Another song about sex and the sad thing about it is primary school children are going around singing this filth, you have to wonder do they know what they are singing, I fear many of them do.
This little trip through the song lyrics of three of the most popular acts has just been a drop in the ocean; there are multiple examples of this kind of rubbish being pumped out over our airwaves everyday. Surely as God’s people we should be saying No. No, I won’t listen to this stuff, No, I won’t go to these concerts, No, and I will not be conformed to this world. We should be conformed to the Word not the world.
‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’ Philippians 4 v8
Just as our physical diet is important so is our spiritual intake. I wonder what you have been feeding on recently. There is an old saying ‘you are what you eat’ and it is very true. If we fill our minds with the garbage of this world then t will have a detrimental effect on our walk with God.
One area of real concern to me is in the area of music. Many young Christians are feeding on the diet of the music of this world, they listen to it on their ipods, in their cars, in their bedrooms and I am even hearing of God’s people who are going to the concerts where the current pop artists are performing.
I don’t listen to the music of this world, but I do try to keep culturally aware of what is out there as I need to be relevant to the young people I minister to. In the past few weeks I have become increasingly alarmed by this trend of worldliness and I decided to have a closer look at what some of today’s most popular acts are singing about. I was not surprised to learn that things have not change much in the pop world in that past 40 years, they are still pumping out a message of materialism and sexual perversion. Here are a few examples.
Rihanna
I saw some pictures recently of a Rihanna concert on a Christian’s facebok page, she doesn’t wear a whole lot when she is performing (maybe it’s warm up on that stage). Here are some lyrics from her song ‘Rude boy’.
Come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up?
Come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough?
Take it, take it, baby, baby,
Take it, take it, love me, love me.
I don’t thing I need to explain to anyone what that’s all about, it’s filth.
Then she has a song called bad girl, which is a glorification of materialism. Here are some lyrics.
Shopaholic is what they call ‘em
My addiction, my prescription
Gimmie shoes and give me bags
How much you want I need ‘em bad
This encourages the sin of self gratification, which is the oldest sin in the Bible, remember Eve, she saw, she wanted and she took.
Lady GaGa
My wife was in her hairdressers recently and the lady mentioned that she had taken her daughter to see Lady Gaga. She said she regretted taking her as the show was extremely raunchy and that Lady Gaga’s language was blue. This lady who told my wife this is not a Christian and she has enough wit to see how filthy Lady Gaga is and yet I hear of Christians going to see her. What are they thinking? Her are the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s song ‘I like it rough’.
Shiny and I know it
Don’t know why you wanna blow it
Need a man who likes it rough
Likes it rough, likes it rough.
Lovely!!! She also has a very popular song called ‘Just Dance’ this song glorifies the lifestyle of going to a club and getting smashed out of your head.
I’ve had a little bit too much, much
All of the people start to rush, start to rush by
How does he twist the dance? Can’t find a drink, oh man
Where are my keys, I lost my phone phone.
What’s going on on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can’t see straight anymore
Keep, it cool, what’s the name of this club?
I can’t remember but it’s alright, alright.
Sorry Miss Gaga (cause let’s face it your no lady) it is not alright to be so out of your head that you don’t know where you are. Why would a Christian want to listen this garbage?
Girls Aloud
What, Girls aloud, what’s wrong with Girls aloud? I’m risking it here talking about Girls Aloud, the nations sweethearts with sweetheart in chief Cheryl Cole as popular as Barak Obama. Well I’m sorry to say these girls are just as bad as all the rest, they strut about their concert stages in immodest clothing and dance in a provocative manner, it’s all about the sexuality. Here are some lyrics for their hit song ‘Jump’.
Your eyes, tell me how you want me
I can feel it in your heart beat
I know you like what you see
Hold me, I’ll give you all that you need
Wrap your love around me
You’re so excited, I can feel you getting hotter, oh baby.
Another song about sex and the sad thing about it is primary school children are going around singing this filth, you have to wonder do they know what they are singing, I fear many of them do.
This little trip through the song lyrics of three of the most popular acts has just been a drop in the ocean; there are multiple examples of this kind of rubbish being pumped out over our airwaves everyday. Surely as God’s people we should be saying No. No, I won’t listen to this stuff, No, I won’t go to these concerts, No, and I will not be conformed to this world. We should be conformed to the Word not the world.
‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’ Philippians 4 v8
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
Hated for just being there!
The Nation of Israel once again finds itself on the wrong side of international opinion and is being condemned for the actions it took earlier this week to defend it’s citizens when IDF teams boarded a flotilla of ships carrying supplies to the Hamas run Gaza strip.
To my way of thinking Israel actions were perfectly reasonable. Hamas has continued to smuggle rockets into Gaza under the banner of humanitarian aid and then fire those same rockets as Israeli citizens. Israel has the right to check these shipments to ensure that they are what they say they are. When boarding the flotilla the IDF team were carrying guns with paint balls and not live ammunition, they were only forced to use their back-up handguns as it got ugly and they came under attack. Do IDF members not have a right to defend themselves? This was a reasonable course of action by Israel and her armed forces.
But poor Israel just cannot win in the court of public opinion. There is a saying ‘you can please most of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.’ In the case of Israel they don’t seem to be able to please anyone any of the time. Why is this?
To understand this question we must understand that the nation of Israel is still God’s covenant people and are under His special protection, how else could they have survived as a nation through the onslaughts of Popery, Hitler and the Arab block. Satan as a hater of God hates God’s people and as Israel is God’s covenant nation he hates them with a passion. He is behind all of the world’s hatred toward the Jews and he is inciting the Arabs to try and wipe Israel out.
I have news for an Israeli hating world they are not going anywhere. God has promised them that land and there is still more of it to be occupied by them in a day yet to come. The world should remember God’s words to Abraham, them that bless thee I will bless and them that curse thee I will curse.
‘In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:’ Genesis 15 v18
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Difficult to explain
For some time I have felt I should blog on the subject of election but to this point have held my counsel. I suppose my reluctance is based on the fact that I have many close friends who would not share my views on the subject and I have no desire to offend or be insensitive.
When I was younger I referred to myself as a Calvinist, I think I did so more in an effort to make it clear that I was not an Arminian rather than being a convinced Calvinist. I did not want anyone to think I belonged to the ‘lost again’ brigade, but I always struggled with the Calvinist notion of limited atonement. I could never get away from verses like, ‘He tasted death for everyman’, ‘he would have all men to be saved’ and ‘he is not willing that any should perish’. Calvinists of course have their explanations of how these verses should be understood but I am never comfortable with a system of doctrine that has to explain away clear biblical statements like these.
With a few more years behind me I have come to the conclusion that both systems of interpretation have holes in them and I believe there is a more biblical way too look at all the subjects of mans depravity, the nature of election, the scope of the atonement, God’s movings in Grace and the eternal security of believers. This short blog is in no way an attempt to answer any or all of these questions and perhaps I will pick some of these topics up in the future but for now I just want to throw out two thoughts about a verse that I think must be difficult for reformed theologians to explain.
‘Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:’ 2 Peter 1 v10
Problem.1
Why is this verse even there? If the Calvinist is correct, God has ordained by His will alone who will be saved and He sees to it that they are saved. If this is the case why on earth would we be encouraged to make our calling and election sure. The fact that this verse is in the Bible shows quite clearly shows that we have to place our faith in Christ’s finished work, as a deliberate act of our will, yes and we would never would have done it left to ourselves without the drawing of the Spirit but we still had it to do.
Problem.2
I am a great believer in taking note of the order of scripture. For example sometimes our Saviour is referred to as Jesus Christ, this emphasises His humanity, sometimes He is referred to as the Lord Jesus, this emphasises His Deity and sometimes He is referred to as Christ Jesus and here His office as Messiah is being emphasised. Notice the order in the verse, we are asked to make our calling 1st and election 2nd sure. Now if Calvinism is right surely the election comes before the calling, but that is not how the Spirit of God inspired Peter to put it. The election we are told was determined in eternity past but the effectual call is a more recent event. But Peter here suggests that it is the other way around that election follows the call.
This is where we really get down to understanding this whole debate, what is election? We have been conditioned to believe that election is to do with salvation but I’m not so sure. The Lord Jesus is described as being elect and He certainly does not need salvation, there are angels described as elect angels, but angels know nothing of salvation and the nation of Israel is described as an elect nation but we know that all Jews are not saved. So election must have more to do with God choosing individuals for a purpose, to do some task for Him.
I must admit I have not fully developed all of my views on this subject but I have reached a milestone and that is this, I do not agree with Calvin or Arminius!
When I was younger I referred to myself as a Calvinist, I think I did so more in an effort to make it clear that I was not an Arminian rather than being a convinced Calvinist. I did not want anyone to think I belonged to the ‘lost again’ brigade, but I always struggled with the Calvinist notion of limited atonement. I could never get away from verses like, ‘He tasted death for everyman’, ‘he would have all men to be saved’ and ‘he is not willing that any should perish’. Calvinists of course have their explanations of how these verses should be understood but I am never comfortable with a system of doctrine that has to explain away clear biblical statements like these.
With a few more years behind me I have come to the conclusion that both systems of interpretation have holes in them and I believe there is a more biblical way too look at all the subjects of mans depravity, the nature of election, the scope of the atonement, God’s movings in Grace and the eternal security of believers. This short blog is in no way an attempt to answer any or all of these questions and perhaps I will pick some of these topics up in the future but for now I just want to throw out two thoughts about a verse that I think must be difficult for reformed theologians to explain.
‘Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:’ 2 Peter 1 v10
Problem.1
Why is this verse even there? If the Calvinist is correct, God has ordained by His will alone who will be saved and He sees to it that they are saved. If this is the case why on earth would we be encouraged to make our calling and election sure. The fact that this verse is in the Bible shows quite clearly shows that we have to place our faith in Christ’s finished work, as a deliberate act of our will, yes and we would never would have done it left to ourselves without the drawing of the Spirit but we still had it to do.
Problem.2
I am a great believer in taking note of the order of scripture. For example sometimes our Saviour is referred to as Jesus Christ, this emphasises His humanity, sometimes He is referred to as the Lord Jesus, this emphasises His Deity and sometimes He is referred to as Christ Jesus and here His office as Messiah is being emphasised. Notice the order in the verse, we are asked to make our calling 1st and election 2nd sure. Now if Calvinism is right surely the election comes before the calling, but that is not how the Spirit of God inspired Peter to put it. The election we are told was determined in eternity past but the effectual call is a more recent event. But Peter here suggests that it is the other way around that election follows the call.
This is where we really get down to understanding this whole debate, what is election? We have been conditioned to believe that election is to do with salvation but I’m not so sure. The Lord Jesus is described as being elect and He certainly does not need salvation, there are angels described as elect angels, but angels know nothing of salvation and the nation of Israel is described as an elect nation but we know that all Jews are not saved. So election must have more to do with God choosing individuals for a purpose, to do some task for Him.
I must admit I have not fully developed all of my views on this subject but I have reached a milestone and that is this, I do not agree with Calvin or Arminius!
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Advertising Murder
While listening to Radio 5 Live on the way to work this morning I heard of a company that provides abortions called ‘Marie Stopes International’ planning to run a television advert promoting their services. This advert will first be aired on Channel 4 on the 24th May.
The fact that such an advert is to be allowed on our television screens shows just how far from God our society has departed. Many no doubt will rightly challenge the decision to allow this ad to run but I fear this is a mere skirmish compared to the real issue. The real issue is we live in a society where the murder of innocent babies is legal. It is hard to believe in a so-called civilised society that 215,975 abortions were carried out in Britain in 2008, in fact 1 in 5 pregnancies now end in abortion.
Our Nation should take note of the judgement that fell on another nation that was guilty of the blood of innocents. In the Old Testament the Children of Israel departed from the true God and began to follow the false gods of the pagan nations around them. One of those false gods was called Molech. The worshippers of Molech made a brazen image of a god with his arms out stretched. This image was then heated to be red hot and people sacrificed their babies by placing them onto the burning hot out stretched arms of the image. This was known as ‘making them pass through the fire’. The sad refrain over and over again in the Old Testament record is typified in the following quote from 2 Kings.
‘Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.’ 2 Kings 16 v2-3
The God then was called Molech, today the method has changed and so has the name of the god, it is now called convenience, but it is the same wicked spirit at work. One in five women now find the child in their womb to be inconvenient, it will encroach on their lifestyle, it will hold back their careers or it will give them stretch marks (how awful for them). What an inconvenience! So they sacrifice their unborn child to the God of Convenience.
Surely our land is ripe for the judgement of God. If the blood of righteous Abel cried out from the ground to God there must be an even greater cry from the blood of innocents butchered in our land.
‘O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.’Habakkuk 3 v2
The fact that such an advert is to be allowed on our television screens shows just how far from God our society has departed. Many no doubt will rightly challenge the decision to allow this ad to run but I fear this is a mere skirmish compared to the real issue. The real issue is we live in a society where the murder of innocent babies is legal. It is hard to believe in a so-called civilised society that 215,975 abortions were carried out in Britain in 2008, in fact 1 in 5 pregnancies now end in abortion.
Our Nation should take note of the judgement that fell on another nation that was guilty of the blood of innocents. In the Old Testament the Children of Israel departed from the true God and began to follow the false gods of the pagan nations around them. One of those false gods was called Molech. The worshippers of Molech made a brazen image of a god with his arms out stretched. This image was then heated to be red hot and people sacrificed their babies by placing them onto the burning hot out stretched arms of the image. This was known as ‘making them pass through the fire’. The sad refrain over and over again in the Old Testament record is typified in the following quote from 2 Kings.
‘Twenty years old was Ahaz when he began to reign, and reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem, and did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD his God, like David his father. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the heathen, whom the LORD cast out from before the children of Israel.’ 2 Kings 16 v2-3
The God then was called Molech, today the method has changed and so has the name of the god, it is now called convenience, but it is the same wicked spirit at work. One in five women now find the child in their womb to be inconvenient, it will encroach on their lifestyle, it will hold back their careers or it will give them stretch marks (how awful for them). What an inconvenience! So they sacrifice their unborn child to the God of Convenience.
Surely our land is ripe for the judgement of God. If the blood of righteous Abel cried out from the ground to God there must be an even greater cry from the blood of innocents butchered in our land.
‘O LORD, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy.’Habakkuk 3 v2
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